Discharge it Yourself Exhaust Headers
Pre-built custom headers can fall into the thousands of dollars, which has created a House Production for those who demand to dash off their own. Fabricating your own headers can be an attractive project and a great cash-saver for those who demand custom tubes for an odd-ball engine/chassis combination.
The Plan
The concept persist headers is to associate the engine's definite cylinders in sync so that their exhaust gases may be ducted into a unmarried tube. There is a parcel of science to header drawing, nevertheless the basics come down to this: a exceptional locate of headers Testament be bulky enough tubes to evacuate all of the engine's exhaust gases at altitudinous RPM, however own lingering and narrow Sufficiently tubes to retain celerity so those gases Testament deed at low RPM.
Header Type
The headmost circumstance you occasion to decide on before constructing headers is true what amiable you'll be building. There are scores of designs on the marketplace, nevertheless here are the basics:
Unequal-length shorty headers: These are the oldest and most basic type and are the easiest To erect. Tack weld them into place after trial fitting and TIG (or alternately, MIG) weld them together. If you can't TIG weld, then send them out to someone who can.
Finishing
Tri-Y headers: This type links the primary tubes of cylinders that fire out of sync with each other, and (debatably) do a better job of scavenging than equal lengths. While difficult To erect, the look and sound of Tri-Ys are classic, and performance is good.
180-degree headers: The science behind these are complex (and they're a nightmare To erect) but performance is unmatched. If you don't already know what 180s are, then stay away; it's easy to make a mess of the design and wind up with a brand new pile of scrap tubing.
Construction
Always use a do-it-yourself header kit; it'll have all the flanges, tubes, collectors and pre-bent tubing you'll need to achieve the task. You could try to assemble all of the parts and tubing yourself, but having to chop your own flanges isn't worth the $50 you'll save over a kit.
When constructing the headers, start at the flange and fit your pipes by trial and error until they converge on the header collector. This type simply connects the engine to a tube with the shortest possible primary tubes and is the least efficient type.Equal length headers: These can either be full length or shorty headers and have additional length on the rear or center cylinder's tubing. While more difficult To erect, this type encourages "scavenging," or the evacuation of one cylinder's gasses by the passage of anothers.
Chrome plating the headers will get them looking good, but the plating tends to flake off over time. Instead, go for any one of the ceramic-metallic powder-coatings on the market today. Ceramic coatings look similar and will increase horsepower by helping to keep the header's head contained inside its tubes.
