...and I thought bloody knuckles would be shown up in here.

thanks for the insight.

 

Though I have remflex gaskets on hand, as well as some felpro, I went ahead and installed the copper ones.. well, half the engine is done anyway.. new wires (went with Taylor 8.2's), new cap and rotor.. new plugs, cleaned TB, insulated the airbox and ducts for the ram air.. discovered a blown cv.. staged the conclusion of my 'poor man's safe transmission flush' (doing pan drop within a week of each other, then another a month later), staged for oil change, diff service, and last but not least, coolant flush..

I'm halfway done.. will finish it tomorrow, and go in search of a new cv joint..

The bolts rock.. big time.. the 12pt head is super easy to grab hold of in tight spots, and the spigot/shank that the set screw drives down bites in like a *****.. I ground a slot in one, on cylinder 6's port, so I could put a screwdriver in it to get it started (its tight in that location, and its the worst one to get at on the engine)... That was a bad idea.. had to sacrifice that bolt in the name of discovery, and thanked the deities of summit that 14 came in the package and not just 12..

Time will tell how the bolts, and how the copper gasket hold up.. I can say this, though: that booger is nicely torqued and that copper slab is flat on both the header and the heads.. I gotta good feeling about this..

 

Whoops.. can't edit threads on my phone, so I'll add another:

Not cylinder 6.. the front bolt on cylinder 8..

Also, unreg, I could not apply anti-seize.. the design won't allow it, and it wouldn't matter if it did, because after you seat the bolts and drive the spigot, the bolt is spent.. there is no second chance.. I discovered this with my sacrificed bolt.. I still think they will work though.. word of caution for others who select this bolt: make sure the bolts are seated in the chase, and before you drive the spigot.. otherwise, you will 'flower' the end of the thing and only be using whatever threads are biting above the split.

 

Hey drew, did you ever give any consideration to safety wiring your header bolts?

 

"These fasteners are made of only the finest alloys allowing the same fastener to be used
over and over while providing the same locking ability time and time again."

I found that in the PDF: http://www.percyshp.com/techinfo/SplitLock/TechInfo.pdf so now I'm wondering about the reality disconnect. Is the promotional literature misleading, or have you bought a different product? Hmmm...

 

I could possibly ruin another bolt to see if the same thing happens, but the cross hatched foot of the bolt spreads when the spigot is sunk, and, which was the one bolt I sacrificed, one of the quarter slivers south of the hatch gives more than the others- which creates a thread misalignment when they are extracted (though, it extracted just fine)..

even after releasing the tension of the spigot, and backing the bolt out, once it was in my palm, the one quarter sliver bounced back to it's spread condition- slightly... Who knows, maybe even the threads in the chase could right it and it could be used again... good for me, I don't need to try it... well, unless these copper gaskets don't work.. then I will..

I'm about to go out and finish my project.. If I think about it, I'll snap some pics..

 

FAIL... copper gaskets wouldn't do it..

FAIL... Remflex wouldn't do it...

Success... I chopped a felpro into six separate gaskets.. that's four single port gaskets, and two double port gaskets.. but, with a twist...

those felpro are aluminum faced cardboard.. they aren't anymore.. they are copper backed, sandwiched with copper RTV, aluminum face dag-gone gaskets.. dang it..

I ended up using two stage 8 bolts on each side.. the fancy dancy 12pt, spigot loaded, set screw locking bolts were too difficult to ratchet down on the back bolt of cylinder 5, the front bolt on cylinder 7, the back bolt on cylinder 6, and front bolt on cylinder 8.. If they would have been hex head, I would have been able to use them- but the 12pt proved too difficult..

After wrestling the wheel shrouds out, I managed to get the headers off.. again.. So, I got those abortions of gaskets on each port, and torqued them to spec... with the wheel shrouds out, it is very easy to hear and sometimes see a leak.. nothing.. notta.. not even a hint of a leak..

let her warm up to full operating temperature.. slapped her in gear and eased around the block.. still, no leak.. took her down a country road running the hell out of it.. no leak.. watched the a/f gauge- hovering around 14.4~14.5- just like it did while it was leaking.. this is good news though.. It means the engine is trimming, and not pumping excess fuel at me because it thinks it's running lean like it no doubt did when it was leaking upwind of the o2...

It's a dang good thing to drive around without hearing that pft pft pft.. or tsk tsk tsk.. or flogging ANYTHING but a nicely running engine..

If you're having a helluva time sealing off a header, my little Frankenstein of a gasket may be the route to take..

Unreg, PM me your mailing address if you want a look at those bolts.. I have one that hasn't been mauled.. you can see first hand.. I really like them, but, I think they would be better if they were hex heads..


If you're REALLY REALLY having a hard time sealing up a header, I'll wager two sets of felpro gaskets, with a copper RTV sandwiched copper gasket would be the mac daddy.. or, if you're lucky enough to find a hollow copper gasket and not stamped, I bet that would be the best route..

 

Man oh man, it sounds like you went right to the gates of hell to get that job done! I'm guessing you've got warped flanges, and that's why you've had to fight so hard?

Thanks for the offer of the spare bolt! I appreciate it, but I figure you might just as well hang on to the thing just in case -- your report of what you found is sufficient to satisfy my curiosity.

 

no doubt they are warped.. I didn't lay them on a flat, but I'm certain that is the case.. The heads are fine, though. It was apparent when the old gaskets came off, and I pieced them back together on the bench.. there were places the gasket looked almost new, then on the opposite side of the same port, it was blown.. I know they were torqued down right, so that kinda leaves only one cause in my mind.. they simply weren't pinched evenly..

given, the blown gaskets were paper, and not metal faced or impregnated..

I never torqued down the remflex, to be honest, because when it was put into place, it was pinched nicely on the back of the block, but gaping on the front.. It likely would have worked had I cut it up and installed it in parts.. in actuality, that was my next move, but I figured I'd leave them intact and try them after I tried the chopped felpro/copper jobs..

If I get another leak, those Hedmans are gone gone gone.. I should have bought a quality set of headers instead of cheaping out.. I wouldn't be having these issues had I done that..

 

I can't tell you how many times I've heard that from folks who bought Hedmans. It seems that no amount of care in installation and maintenance can prevent those flanges from warping, usually within a few years and sometimes within several months of installation.

Eh, live and learn, eh? And, hey, if nothing else you've already got those high zoot Remflex critters for the next headers. Gotta find those silver linings!