BlueRiver86

Finally had the car looked at since it started making god awful noises in June, it was a cracked header, something I never even thought of, but seems to be pretty common, especially on '86s. I'm just going to have it welded, but it seems like the car will finally be road worthy (small oil leaks I can deal with)

mark944turbo

Yea, the headers on any 951 have a tough job. Lots of heat cycles and having to line up with the rest of the extensive exhaust system which all changes shape with heat. I just put a system together a few days ago and it literally takes hours getting everything to fit perfectly so that nothing is under constant stress.

I have had luck with rewelded 86 headers, so I would go with that solution. Make sure the shop has a good welder though, and that they back purge with argon to keep the inside in good shape.

BlueRiver86

MIG weld them right, as they are stainless?

mark944turbo

Mig welding works, they are stainless yes.

JoeN951

i was told they had to be tig welded because of the high heat that goes thru them., stronger weld needed ??? or do i have that backwards...

mark944turbo

Tig welding is more controllable but a good welder using a mig will be better than a bad welder with tig. There are plenty of mig welded headers out in the world doing fine.

lart951

If welded they will crack again. Just pawn an arm or a leg and buy the SFR stg II..

shiners780

Daniel, I saw your car in person today at Eksten's (they were mounting a new set of tires for me.) I gotta tell you, that color is actually pretty cool. Good luck with the headers, I hope you get the bugs worked out of it soon so you can enjoy the beast.

JDeitz951

I just had my 2-3 header welded by Markus Blaszak. He added an expansion joint so it will never break again (fingers crossed). I also had to wrap them with thermo-tec fabric, as the factory shielding had to come off.

samluke

I have good 1-4 manifold with expansion joint for sale if anyone needs one. From my experience welding a cracked exhaust is only a temporary fix. You should drill the ends of the crack to take away the stress raiser before welding, but even then I doubt the fix will work for long without it cracking either in the same place or somewhere else. There's aa good chance you will spend the time, money and effort welding, and then shortly after end up buying a replacement anyway.

jacklet

tig'd mine up long ago-no probs and i do not have the expansion joint but my other set cracked right at the flanges where it mounts to the head

BlueRiver86

Thanks Jim, the color looks much better in person IMHO. Pictures don't do it justice. I'm just going to have it welded. I called Lindsey to get a replacement, but they were out, so I think i'm just going to try welding, worst case, it cracks again and I have it replaced then.

Hopefully i'll run into you next time i'm down there.

rhesus

wasn't there a recall on the header or am i crazy?

951North

If there were I'd be immensely impressed if a non safety recall was honoured 21 years after the fact... Didn't 87+ models have expansion joints?

BlueRiver86

Yeah, I'll just take my 20 year old car back to the dealer.

The 87+ had the expansion joints, thats why the 86 is so prone to cracking.