Hello all,
I've had my long tube OBXs on for over a year now. Fought and fought with getting the collectors to seal up but I think I have that behind me now. What I'm fighting with now is getting the headers to seal to the head. I used Ford Racing gaskets to start with, Fel Pro manifold gaskets, and now my two week old Remflex gaskets are leaking.

I have used the OEM style fasteners but am going to the Stage 8 bolts if someone could please tell me the best header gaskets I can get a hold of???


I love the way everything sounds but after sinking over a grand into an exhaust system I am beyond frustrated that I have to live with that "spitting" sound every time I stand on it!!!

Please, please, please give me a suggestion before I loose my mind and what's left of my checking account trying to correct this.......

 

I've been running sce copper gaskets with stage 8's for 2.5 years. Torque them done tight.

 

Sounds like a stress problem, - in more ways than one lol.

1. Well, exhaust system stress can factor. The stress I'm referring to is when you push and pull a system together in order to bolt together or weld. Exhaust systems/hardware need to fit like a glove or your asking for problems, - such as you describe. If you put this system together, you most likely know what I mean.

2. Transmission mount: These tend to wear out , go bad and vibrate the system. The exhaust damper on the Y beside Bank2Sensor2 reaches up and connects to a plate just below the trans mount. With a bad mount, the drivers side of the exhaust system takes the worst of it.
When the trans mount does wear out, the rear exhaust manifold studs take the hit and eventually shear.

3. All headers have to be torqued down from the center out, free from stress. Check the Trans mount (it's a easy and cheap fix) , loosen up your system if you can , before torquing the headers to the heads as described.

I think you get the idea.

Good Luck.

 

All good tips, stage 8's ought to be a good investment too. However, I've heard stock gaskets work best.

 

Right, stage 8's seem like the way to go. I've never used a locking kit personally, but know of many people who have. Regardless of what you use, tighten as described and you have to re-torque ever 50 miles. I didn't mention that in my last post..... - Anyway, torque WILL NOT stabilize with a NEW install (gaskets/system) until the third drive-cycle. You'll see. Re-tighten bolts every 50 miles, 3 times. Torque will be lost each stage. Now when you reach 200 miles on a fresh set of gaskets, - attempt to re-torque one more time (a forth). They shouldn't budge after 3 hot & cold cycles.

I'm running cheap paper Silicone gaskets and have a new set of factory triples on the shelf, -figuring I might need them. It's been 4-5 years and my cheap gaskets haven't failed yet.

Make sure you clean the threads in the heads first, - real well, then blow them out.

New bolts: - Always start these , run them in 4 or 5 threads and pull them back out. Then mount gasket and header. Or , you might have a hell of time starting the new bolts, - it can be almost impossible with limited room, - so run them in a little before hand so they start easy.

If you find stress on the system, you can remove some,-if not all thru a flex collar. Not a cheap one, they sell heavy duty braided flex collars @ Jegs.

 

Good info here!

 

ayy ive learned something!! good info jbrew

 

OBX lt on my truck here, used gaskets supplied, stayed with studs on heads never had a problem with leaks there, my leaks was because I was not supplied with the donut for header flange, until I got the OBX donut it leaked! I was using a regular manifold donut and that was not getting it!