Headers in rust prone areas
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Post Fiend
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13,710
Likes: 5
From: Manchester, CT
Gibsons warranty is only rot-through, but reports from SuperDutyScaler indicate that they were great when one of his headers had a problem from something else. And i believe his are quite a few years old. I just talked to one of my friends who i turn to for about every truck question i have, and he said just buy stainless and then coat them with some high temp paint and youll be fine
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,450
Likes: 70
From: South Jersey
my stainless Gibson headers are 5 years old on my F350 and they look almost brand new still. They only have a very small amount of surface rust that when i fell like it i just steel wool it off. My passenger side header had the ball flange warp so it was leaking and causing a tick, a call to Gibson and 10 minutes later i had a new one set out for free.
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,450
Likes: 70
From: South Jersey
acf6 when i installed the new passenger header i removed the drivers side one so i could clean it and paint it. I had a buddy of mine bring it to work and he soda blasted it and i then painted it with 1200degree silver VHT header paint. Its been a few months and the paint is holding out beautifully! I believe its because of the soda blasting that gave the stainless a nice surface for the paint to stick too
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Post Fiend
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13,710
Likes: 5
From: Manchester, CT
Sounds good.. thanks for the reply! I think for now im just going to leave them as they are... was told painting wont hurt, but its not really worth the time with the stainless headers. Thanks to everyone who posted here, there will be pictures of the install/them installed in a week or two 
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 23,174
Likes: 1,679
From: Stephensville WI
One of the things we used to do when installing headers was to coat the inside of the header with used motor oil and grease. When you fire up the engine the grease and oil will burn off, leaving a coating of carbon which will act as an insulator. This will keep your high temp paint looking a little better, or your chrome (for you motorcycle guys) from bluing.
If you use this method with modern vehicles, you might want to delay installing your catalytic converter until the truck stops smoking.
If you use this method with modern vehicles, you might want to delay installing your catalytic converter until the truck stops smoking.
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,450
Likes: 70
From: South Jersey
hey acf6 id start soaking your header bolts now with PB blaster! They only reason my original studs came out last month was because i used silver high temp anti seize five years ago when i reinstalled them. Also on the passenger side header if you use new studs the top two towards the back of them motor will need to have about 1/4 to 1/2 inch cut off because the tube from the header will hit it because of the bend in it. I took a i believe it was a 12mm tap and cleaned all the holes in the head and cleaned them with brake cleaner and then blew them dry with the air compressor. And make sure to install them with your fingers only!!! A steel stud will mess the threads in the aluminum head so fast it ain't funny! Ask my cousin what he had to do to his Chevy motor when he didn't do this and just used a socket instead.......
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Post Fiend
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13,710
Likes: 5
From: Manchester, CT
Sounds good, thanks for the tips. I've been spraying them twice daily with pb blaster...smells nice when i drive to work in the morning lol. The studs honestly don't look bad yet
Postmaster
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,202
Likes: 1
From: Illinois
Were your manifolds leaking? I'm dreading doing this job on my 6.0 because I did plow with it for 5yrs. We have the same salt drama here in IL. I will probably just pull the motor out next year and deal with it.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13,710
Likes: 5
From: Manchester, CT
yes, the two studs were already broken inside the head. all i had to do was half a spin with the ratchet and it broke the rust free and they fell out
found my exhaust leak though...
found my exhaust leak though...
Postmaster
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,202
Likes: 1
From: Illinois
Thanks, how many miles on the truck? How long have they been leaking?
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Post Fiend
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13,710
Likes: 5
From: Manchester, CT
64k on my truck, and i bought it with 35k 2 years ago. Been slowly leaking really as long as i can remember. was really hoping it wasnt going to come down to this, because now im really out of things i can do myself