Yeah, bench idea good. I wrapped them back up and put in box. I guess the gaskets could be grey, but looked more black to me. Dont know why I got so many of them, worried they gave me what they had left to get rid of them.

Any leaks, retightening yet?

 

Hard to say, haven't been under there in a few weeks. Sounds like it, sad to say.

Will give more info when I get a chance to check it over.

 

I picked up a "tick" last week on the driver's side, so I reached through the wheel well and snugged up the manifold bolts. But with the dusting of snow we got, I didn't crawl under to see how the collector joints were doing. I'll get a tarp out this weekend and take a better look at everything.

 

Never had a manifold leak with mine. Used those Stage 8 Locking bolts and they would have to snap off locking ring to move. Were a ****** to put on. Bolts go right in, its getting the locking piece to stay, while putting the clip on. They want to fall off or fly off when you can reach them. Simply hell where under a pipe. But once on, not moved in two years.
Have to see what they are like to remove now. Having son do the job, so I got a new set of locking bolts and showed him how they work, hopefully he has patience to get it right.

Far as collectors, mine leaked second day and were pia whole time. Once a month I was tightening them. Sounds like yours are better already.

 

my collector bolts keep coming loose.

 

outlw - do you have one of the new "bulletproof" sets? If not, you'll need to contact Hedman about getting a warranty replacement.

 

mine show they were made in June 2012

 

I first contacted Hedman about the collector leaks on July 5th, and they didn't have a solution for it until early August. And, they didn't have the bugs worked out of their fabrication process until early October. So, if yours were made back in June, you definitely have the older design with the thinner collector material.

By the way... The jury is still out on the new, thicker collectors. Although I'm optimistic, nobody has actually had them installed long enough to confirm that the problem won't crop up again.

 

I guess I forgot to post pics of the new vs. old headers. So, here you go.

This shows just how much distortion there was in the collectors after several tightenings over about 5500 miles and just under a year.



These are a couple of new/old comparisons. Notice the thicker metal in the new collector. Also notice how much the old collector had shrunk. I wonder if the added restriction effected performance at all.

 

Nice pics. My new set looks like yours. As far as a 6-12 set, got to be old style. I would email Hedman as they will continue to loosen. The bolts are not coming loose, the flanges are pulling towards each other, sueezing the pipe down and sliding. Mine are touching right now. Hope these new ones dont move. Doubt there was much restriction as the pipe is still larger than stock y pipe restriction.

 

Exactly how mine looked...

I noticed that I hear some exhaust now that the headers have been on for a while. I haven't even had the time to go underneath and try to tighten them to see if that's the problem.

Now that I just got my Taurus SHO to commute to work with, I can lay the truck up for a while getting the new driver's side header installed, and see what's going on, if the new collector is crushing like the old ones... Will keep everyone informed ...

 

I have a set I purchased about a year ago that I have not yet installed. Hedman part number 89660 I believe. The painted headers. I was planning to install them in the next month or so. I was thinking, would it be beneficial to weld something inside the collector to strengthen it? Or will hedman send me a replacement set even though they haven't been installed yet? I just want to do this project once and be done. I don't mind retightening the bolts once in awhile, but don't want to pull them off again. Good thing I didn't get them coated yet I guess.

 

Got pics of the headers? And are you going to paint them with high temp paint? The paint that comes on them burns off real quick.

 

I can post some pics. Gotta dig them out of the garage. I was going to use some black high temp paint.

 

I was thinking, has anyone thought of having v band connections welded to their headers? Im thinking about doing that before I put them on. Cutting the ball flanges off and replacing them with a v band connection. V bands are used alot for turbos, and diesel exhausts, and seem to work great. I've found them anywhere from $20 to $50 for a kit to do one side. I might just try it and report back for anyone looking for a for sure fix to the ball flange problem. I did some roaming on a few other forums and were not the only ones having a problem with these flanges.