slimsoftball Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 I spent the last day and a half finally installing my new ASM headers. I took my time and planned it out well. Cut off my old pipes in front of the cats. Welded the new collectors on myself. The first one looked a little ugly, but I got the hang of it and the second one looks prettier. I get everything all buttoned up and back together. Start the truck to make sure there are no leaks. Sure enough, I hear the tick tick tick sound of a leak. No biggie I thought, I am a first time welder, shouldn't be too hard to fix. Guess what it was not my welds leaking, they were fine. Yes, that is a BIG A$$ hole in my $779 headers I waited a month and a half for. Not sure how I didn't notice it before I put them on. Of course now I am stuck. Too late to put the old stuff back on, remember I cut my old exhaust up. What now? Send this picture to ASM and hope they send me just one new one and let me send this one back. I could easily just hit it with the welder real quick and fix it but these things were almost $800. They should not have to be rigged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Yeah, not good. I'd call and talk to Ben at ASM. He's been on here before and sounds pretty reasonable. Also, get rid of those carbon gaskets. They won't last 5000 miles. Get copper ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsoftball Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 (edited) They are actually Seal-4-good gaskets made of some sort of "dead soft" aluminum. They are guarunteed not to burn out. Well see. This header thing really pisses me of though. It couldn't be the passenger one that is easy to get on and off. Had to be the drivers side header that took about 2 hours to inch those flange bolts on a millimeter at a time. Edited March 27, 2005 by slimsoftball (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommay248 Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 i just ordered those headers too. im really excited. how do they sound other than the tick? any noticeable power? and what is this gasket probelm? should i ditch the ones they send and get copper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsoftball Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 I haven't driven it yet so I can't describe the ride yet. I just started it up while I still had it on the jackstands so I could get under there and look for leaks. The increased heat really burns up gaskets. The ones provided don't last long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwalls54 Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 was it fun getting those bolts in???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bseen Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 I am running the aluminum gaskets also and have taken the header or pipe off 7 or 8 times and they are great with no leaks. That suxs about the hole mine looked good and very happy with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsoftball Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 was it fun getting those bolts in???? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desrtrat Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 is there any way to weld up that hole ?? i'ts hard to tell from the pic. i would contact asm with the pic. and see what they say. if you can weld it up then that thing and see how it goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsoftball Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 (edited) I just decided it wasn't worth the hassle of taking them off and putting a new one on. So I welded that hole up. No more leak. I got her all buttoned up and on the road again. I can definately feel the difference. What I thought was a leak at the collector of my JBA headers turned out to be a huge crack in the pipe. Anyway, I still have a tiny leak at the top of the passenger side collector but I will get that fixed next weekend. Damn amateur welders Overall I am very happy with the results. Especially since I did it all myself. MILLER TIME! Next weekend........the heads go on...... Edited March 27, 2005 by slimsoftball (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwalls54 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 uh mabey you should have put heads on first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsoftball Posted March 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 (edited) Nah, easy to take out the manifold bolts, it is the collector bolts that are a PITA. The easiest way to do the manifild bolts is take off both the front wheels and wheelwells. Then you have a straight shot at all the bolts. Piece of cake. I really didn't have the time to do them both this weekend so I decided to get the headers done. Besides the heads I have are used and I still don't have them all cleaned up. I didn't have any help this weekend either and I would prefer to have someone around to help me lift the blower off and back on. Edited March 28, 2005 by slimsoftball (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 I always dropped my shaft when messing with the driver's side collector bolts. Saved more time than it took to drop. Still slow, but better. I can't believe that you remove the wheels. Never had a problem getting to the bolts from the top. I use a small step ladder to help me get up and in there. You may not need the step ladder though. Of course, I am learning that you R branchers always do things the hard way. I think that I would have done both at the same time though. You could have loosely mounted the headers, once the heads were removed. You could almost stand in there. But, either way, as long as you get it done. Watch the temp sensor on the driver's side, it's very soft brass and will break off in the head - learned that the hard way. Of course, as you know, I learned a lot of things the hard way with my head install. In fact now, I have 2 mounted fire extinguishers in my garage. May as well start getting a BUNCH of paper towels twisted into little rolls now. That takes a while. Must've went through 50 of them. If you have compressed air, give yourself a headstart and blow the coolant out of the bolt holes. Just don't assume you got it all. I followed the LS1howto site to the letter. Even ground on one of the old bolts to use to clean out the threads. Are you doing ARP head studs? Much stronger than stock - and easier. No need to do the stretching of the stock type bolts. If not studs, I'd get the ARP bolts at least. I'd also add about 5-10 more ftlbs of tq for good measure since you're boosted. Erik has more on that. Have fun. Get you a new set of GM intake gaskets while you're at it. Can't hurt. Also, when you tighten your blower back down, make 4 passes. The 2-step tq, then two more. You will need more each time. Last thing. Tape down your knock sensor harness to the valley cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsoftball Posted March 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 I always dropped my shaft when messing with the driver's side collector bolts. Saved more time than it took to drop. Still slow, but better. I can't believe that you remove the wheels. Never had a problem getting to the bolts from the top. I use a small step ladder to help me get up and in there. You may not need the step ladder though. Of course, I am learning that you R branchers always do things the hard way. I think that I would have done both at the same time though. You could have loosely mounted the headers, once the heads were removed. You could almost stand in there. But, either way, as long as you get it done. Watch the temp sensor on the driver's side, it's very soft brass and will break off in the head - learned that the hard way. Of course, as you know, I learned a lot of things the hard way with my head install. In fact now, I have 2 mounted fire extinguishers in my garage. May as well start getting a BUNCH of paper towels twisted into little rolls now. That takes a while. Must've went through 50 of them. If you have compressed air, give yourself a headstart and blow the coolant out of the bolt holes. Just don't assume you got it all. I followed the LS1howto site to the letter. Even ground on one of the old bolts to use to clean out the threads. Are you doing ARP head studs? Much stronger than stock - and easier. No need to do the stretching of the stock type bolts. If not studs, I'd get the ARP bolts at least. I'd also add about 5-10 more ftlbs of tq for good measure since you're boosted. Erik has more on that. Have fun. Get you a new set of GM intake gaskets while you're at it. Can't hurt. Also, when you tighten your blower back down, make 4 passes. The 2-step tq, then two more. You will need more each time. Last thing. Tape down your knock sensor harness to the valley cover. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Maybe that is my problem, I am too tall. I have done headers from the top and through the wheel well. For some reason it is much easier for me through the wheelwell. Didn't even occur to me to take the shaft out to make life a little easier. Yea, I have a bunch of paper towels ready to go. I have heard that if you remove the plug in the block and drain the coolant you will have much less spillage when you take off the heads. I have read the LS1Howto artice about 50 times and have an air compressor also, so I should be alright. I didn't buy ARP bolts or studs. I have another set of stock ones and a torque angle meter so too late to change now. I got a bunch of new stuff since I have been in there a few times now. Got new rocker bolts (they,re cheap), intake gaskets, of course I got new head gaskets, plugs, and some other things I am sure I forgot. Yea, I got you on the 4 passes for the blower. I remember reading NakedAV"s thread about that on LS1Tech, went out and checked mine. Sure enough 2 of them were loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTex Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 GASKETS: I too had some "better" dead soft aluminum gaskets. They did work OK when I was NA. But the first day I really got on my Radix, I developed an exhaust leak. Guess what - it was the gasket.. Take a look at my dead soft aluminum gaskets. The heat and backpressure melted the heck out of them. I'm back to copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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