Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Early V8 (1932-53)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-05-2018, 10:12 AM   #1
corvette8n
Senior Member
 
corvette8n's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: 36 miles north of Albany NY
Posts: 2,931
Default Red's headers welding question.

My Red's headers has a crack in the seam on the drivers side,what's the best way to fix this, I'm going to have to remove header and take it somewhere to be fixed. Does it need to be gas welded?,mig,tig,stick?, the answer will determine where I take it. The guy I bought the car from gave me a new set of headers in a box, but they look like aftermarket Chinese, no name or any info on box. I would rather get the Reds fixed.
Attached Images
File Type: jpeg image.jpeg (16.8 KB, 119 views)
corvette8n is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 10:29 AM   #2
revkev6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: western Mass
Posts: 365
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

they are just mild steel exhaust tubing so technically any of the above methods will work. they are probably mig welded to begin with so that will match up with what is there. tig welder will work well too.
revkev6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 04-05-2018, 11:02 AM   #3
j32
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Castleton.ny
Posts: 40
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

The headers from Reds that I have used are tig welded together. I
just finished a repair similar to yours for a gentleman with a set off a Ford Y Block. A tig weld repair would be the best imo.
j32 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 11:15 AM   #4
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

I find it kind of curious that you won't even try the "Chinese" headers, even after the "Red's" cracked on you. I have a set of what I believe to be "Chinese" headers that I bought second-hand, but have obviously never been used. The headers themselves seem to be quality pieces with properly spaced and drilled 3/8" and 7/16" bolt holes. The fasteners supplied with them were another matter; I couldn't get them to fit, no matter what I tried. A little measuring showed that the fasteners supplied were all 10 mm. Once I bought the proper sized American bolts, they went right on and I'm quite happy with them. I have experienced this with several "Chinese" products; the basic product is good, but then they "fumble on the five yard line" with something like this fastener deal.
tubman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 11:16 AM   #5
skidmarks
Senior Member
 
skidmarks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: newark, delaware
Posts: 3,735
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Tig if it super clean like media blasted inside and out. If you just clean it up on the outside mig weld it
skidmarks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 12:25 PM   #6
Ross F-1
Senior Member
 
Ross F-1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NM
Posts: 2,438
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Best to weld it while bolted up, or bolted to a flat plate.
__________________
'52 F-1, EAB flathead
Ross F-1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 02:07 PM   #7
corvette8n
Senior Member
 
corvette8n's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: 36 miles north of Albany NY
Posts: 2,931
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Dennis: I may try the Chinese header while the other one is off. I tried holding it next to the Red's to see if it looked the same, hard to tell not much room, funny I didn't find any fasteners or gaskets in the box. Of course this stuff was in the trunk for who knows how long.
corvette8n is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 02:28 PM   #8
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

No fasteners? I think you lucked out. I spent 3 days researching the best way to safely and cleanly enlarge he holes in the flanges until I came up with the bright idea of checking the fasteners; no wonder they wouldn't thread into the block. 10 mm is really close to 3/8" though.
tubman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2018, 06:29 AM   #9
JWL
Member Emeritus
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Fitzgerald, Georgia
Posts: 2,204
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

It has been my experience the TIG process often does not like what has previously been applied and what residue exists at the interior of the header. My suggestion is to take the Header to a professional level source and adhere to his advice.
JWL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2018, 09:58 AM   #10
4t8v8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: NW Arkansas
Posts: 523
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

I'm using Speedway center dump headers on my F1. The left one wouldn't clear the steering box. Got a couple of mandrel bends, bolted the header to a spare block, cut, fit and gas welded the joints. Got them Jet Hot coated. 8 years and no problems.
4t8v8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2018, 10:07 AM   #11
woodiewagon46
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Long Island,NY
Posts: 1,551
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Clean off the old weld and drill a small 1/16" hole at each end of the crack to keep it from migrating. Find someone with a TIG machine and weld it up. You are overthinking a simple repair!
woodiewagon46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2018, 12:07 PM   #12
Ronnie
Senior Member
 
Ronnie's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Canada Where it snows
Posts: 2,058
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

There are some replies here that are good and some not really reliable.Possibly made by fellows that are not welders,get an opinion from a real welder. My experience is it can be a crap shoot when you attempt to dive in with a tig. It has to be squeaky clean.Just sayin.

R
Ronnie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2018, 03:30 PM   #13
Bored&Stroked
Senior Member
 
Bored&Stroked's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 5,011
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

RE: Cheap Headers . . . Chinese or otherwise: Like a lot of products we see today, sometimes they "look good" on the outside, but are not necessarily manufactured that well on "the inside". I bought a set of cheap Bob Drake headers for my 32 Cabriolet a couple years ago (nobody else had anything in stock - went to Red's first). They looked just fine and fit well . . . so I threw them on and made an event I needed to be at. I spent the extra $$$ to have them ceramic coated (worth more than the headers themselves).

Later on, I had the car up on the rack (no muffler pipes on) and decided to shine a light up the header to see what I could see where the rear cylinder pipe met the main tube. Well - the main tube was NOT cut to match the down-tube profile at the mounting point. They'd simply grabbed a torch and burned a rough quarter-sized hole someplace in the general location of the down tube! What the heck? Talk about poor workmanship that one could NOT see . . . so off they came and I worked with Dave Havlir on a custom header setup (I wanted things done/routed in a specific manner). They were not cheap - but I'd already experienced "cheap" - and that was not the goal.

So - talk to your vendors about how well they match up the holes/cutouts on the down-tube to main tube transitions . . . cause you can't "fix them later" when you receive crap like I did.
Bored&Stroked is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2018, 04:24 PM   #14
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Tube fit up was the first thing I checked on my unknown "Chinese" headers. It was pretty easy, because they are "center-dumps". I was quite surprised to find they were almost perfect. "Center-dumps" are probably easier to make than end dumps, but still...
tubman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2018, 06:53 AM   #15
19Fordy
Senior Member
 
19Fordy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Coral Springs FL
Posts: 10,873
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Remember, all the header bolts may not be the same size. Use plenty of anti-seize.
19Fordy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2018, 07:30 AM   #16
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Red's headers welding question.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 19Fordy View Post
Remember, all the header bolts may not be the same size. Use plenty of anti-seize.
Yeah, the front two on each side are 7/16", while the rest are 3/8". None of them are 10 mm.
tubman is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:37 AM.