My F150 header project is underway (Updated)

I decided to try my hand at building a set of headers.
The plan was to make equal length primary tubes. It's not as easy as I thought it would be.
Thanks to Michael aka"96Mustang460cid" for the header build info..
The passenger side is tacked up and ready to be tig welded.
Here's some pics of the progress so far.
Guys go easy on me for building pretzel pipes .

[b]

I plan on having them done this weekend.
This deal has taken me forever.
I haven't been working on them much due to some back problems. I was feeling good yesterday so decided to some header building. My back is killing me right now
Here's some pics of where I'm at so far.
Passenger side is done.


Drivers side needs the collector lengthened and weled, evac tube installed, and painted.

Oh ya I decided to paint them instead of the ceramic coat. I didn't feel they looked good enough to spend the dough.
Ended up using that VHT ceramic paint.
mike

Looks darn good to me, especially considering all the obstacles. A lot tougher to do than it looks.

Looks great Mike. How many golf balls long are the tubes?

Nothing wrong with that...............and kudos for taking on the task and not griping about "nobody makes a header to fit my custom one-of project"..............A-plus fab skills in effect..............

richter69 wrote:Nothing wrong with that...............and kudos for taking on the task and not griping about "nobody makes a header to fit my custom one-of project"..............A-plus fab skills in effect..............

X2. Excellent work Mike. Those are gonna be awesome.









Doug...

Looks darn good there bud. Just remember how you did it, and we can do a set for my truck when you get out here this summer. Mine are going to point up so they should be a little easier to do.

looks good keep up the good work.

Nice job!! A buddy built a set for his altered and said it was his first and LAST set that he would build!!

It takes patience, nice fab work!!

Bill

looks dam good,you may be able to quit your day job one more to go

looks good mike you 1/3 the way the fun part is thw welding the hard to reach places

Thanks guys.
I just hope the drivers side goes good.
Jim I'm going to take them apart and weld each tube separate. I figure that will be the easiest.

mike

f250mike wrote:Thanks guys.
I just hope the drivers side goes good.
Jim I'm going to take them apart and weld each tube separate. I figure that will be the easiest.

mike

That's the way to go for sure.

Nice work, looks real good!

SOLID

I haven't done much more to them since my first post.
Going to the Bash and watching cars make passes has got me wanting to get them done.
I'm still undecided on painting or ceramic coating them.
At the Bash I was looking at Kerry Clarks headers and like the silver coating he has.
Just not sure I want to have $700 or $800 in headers on the old rusty truck.

f250mike wrote:I haven't done much more to them since my first post.
Going to the Bash and watching cars make passes has got me wanting to get them done.
I'm still undecided on painting or ceramic coating them.
At the Bash I was looking at Kerry Clarks headers and like the silver coating he has.
Just not sure I want to have $700 or $800 in headers on the old rusty truck.

Should be able to get them ceramic coated for somewhere between $275-$300 I would think.

Nice job there Mikey !! I think 'd need a couple of kits and a keg of beer just to get started thinking about it !! Yeah I think those would look sharp Silver coated !

I guess if I can get them coated for $300 the total cost would be around $600. About the same as Maddog or Hooker super comps in ceramic.

Updated with pics.

You did an awsome job, they look great! What size pipe? What did you use to cut the pipe? How hard was it to make sure you was cutting straight across the pipe?

I want to build a set of 2-1/4's for my F150.

Josh
The tubes are 2" with 3 1/2" collectors.
I used my makita cut off saw and a sawzall to cut the tubes. I have a belt sander to square up the cuts or change the angle. The belt sander makes things much easier.
I got a BBF header weldup kit and 3 combo bends to start with. I had the drivers side tacked up using what I had left but didn't like how it turned out. So I ordered 3 U bends and reworked a couple tubes.
The parts came from Speedway Motors. The prices are reasonable but it's not 2 1/4"

jones wrote:You did an awsome job, they look great! What size pipe? What did you use to cut the pipe? How hard was it to make sure you was cutting straight across the pipe?

I want to build a set of 2-1/4's for my F150.

Josh, save yourself a lof of trouble with the collectors and get a set of slip on collectors from Tim @ The Fab Shop. A sawzall works great for cutting the tubes, like Mike said, and either a belt sander or even a file to fine tune.

Finally done.
I fired it up a little while ago. Man those 2" tubes and 3 1/2" collectors make alot more noise than those hooker headers did.
here's a few more pics.

They came out great Mike! Did you end up painting or getting them coated?

NICE WORK !!!!