exhaust AND brake questions....im dyin here :(

[HazMat404]

alright...god, what else can go wrong. well i rebuilt my engine about a month and a half ago. i could never get my exhaust to seal up right. i tried my o/r pipe and my stocker. neither worked. ive tried gaskets too and none worked. well i bring all my stuff to the exhaust shop and they take a look at it. the guy tells me that the collector on the aftermarket headers i have (bbk shorties and i also brought my mac headers) are too small. that it will never seal up cause it is smaller than stock. i dont get it. why would they sell headers that dont even match up to the stock pipe?? i even have two sets and they dont match. im picking up some LT's and an hpipe from a fox body but i dunno if they will line up with the rest of my exhaust. i dunno about the lengths and everything. so i dont know whether to put the stock headers back on to just get rid of my exhaust leak and get it all workin together. i doubt my pops wants to undergo the LT header swap cause we'd probably have to lift the engine again and he wasnt too fond of that when we had to take it out to be rebuilt in the first place. dunno what to do with that.....ideas??

now the brake problem. well...at about 35mph and up, my brakes seem to be rubbing. i noticed when my car was on stands that when i rolled the front left wheel, it rubbed on something and only really made one complete turn before stopping. i want to say my rotor is warped but i dunno. they are stock on the car so i was thinking about gettin new ones but does that sound like the problem at all?? i really havent noticed it because the weather hasnt been nice enough to roll down the window til about a week or so ago but i can hear the "rubbing" noise from the front left at 35mph and up. any lower and it seems to go away. it is definately somethign with the braking because if i push down the clutch it still does it.

so im pissed about my exhaust and now this. any one got any ideas for me??

 

[DirtyD916]

i would get one of those measuring tools. . .i cant think of there name. . . .its like a wrench with two bars that come to together and very accurectly measure the width and diameter of an object such as rotors to check for warps. Umm ant think of its name, but other then that just upgrade your brake system. Its expensive but it is something that all people should do.

 

[HazMat404]

well i definately dont have the money to upgrade my brake system now. i was either thinkin about having my rotors turned or get new ones. that is after i make sure all the bolts and whatnot are still where they are supposed to be and nothing came loose.

my biggest problem is my exhaust tho....dont care toooooo much bout the brakes right now cause theya re workin fine but it is something that will be addressed soon

 

[Jerry Leaming]

what is your head and engine combo?
Need some more info to help with the exhaust.
Are all the parts new?
Did they leak before the engine rebuild?
Did you change anything ie. heads headers h-pipe motor mounts?
Trying to head you in the right direction.

 

[HazMat404]

ur right...ok, well its a stock bottom end with stock (ported) heads. i did the rebuild and decided to put headers on cause it was easy. never had an exhaust leak before this with the stock headers but now these leak bad as i explained above. the parts were used but were used on a 95 gts (i cant get ahold of the guy anymore to ask what kinda hpipe he used). the hpipe, heads and motor mounts were exactly the same from before the rebuild.....cant think of anything else.

pretty much i just swapped out the headers and now the major leak. it has to do with the collector size being too small but i cant believe no one has ever run into that problem before.....i mean, they are made for 94-95 from bbk.

 

[Rootus]

pretty much i just swapped out the headers and now the major leak. it has to do with the collector size being too small but i cant believe no one has ever run into that problem before.....i mean, they are made for 94-95 from bbk.

I think whoever told you they're too small is smoking crack. They're ball & socket joints, there is quite a range of sizes that will fit.

Dave

 

[Jerry Leaming]

I ran into the same problem with my flowtech h-pipe.
The h-pipe end of the ball/flange was to small. I tried and tried to get it to seal and couldn't
I took mine off and took it down to the local muffer shop and had them enlarge the ball flang to the proper size.
Take a header down with you to make sure they line properly and then reinstall the unit it.

Hope this helps.

 

[HazMat404]

well its the header ball that is too small. the hpipe socket engulfs pretty much the entire ball of the header. i mean, i used a hi temp exhaust gasket for about a week and that worked but it burned through and started to leak again. i was kinda tryin to think of a metal that i can use to seal it up by myself??

 

[RIO5.0]

Have you tryed to use any gaskets in the connection yet??? Get some 2 1/2" I.D. exhaust gaskets....maybe a couple each side, slide em in and reef it up...I use these on my connection....

Are you running like Mac to BBK connection or something???

Hit the parts store for some thick gaskets...Even some header gaskets should be able to fit in there, specially if you say theres a large leak..there like 1/8" thick..

This may sound ghetto...but i seen these asbestos wicks at a hardware store, the mothers are really thick....they use em in the Kerosene heaters.... That'll plug the mother...

 

[HazMat404]

well i did try to use a paper gasket and it worked for a week before it burned through. then i tried to use a metal gasket and it wasnt big enough cause it leaked on the sides. the guy said that there is nothing that he would have that could help me and id have to make something for myself but he couldnt think of anything.

headers on my car are bbk and the o/r hpipe is mac. the extra set of headers i have are mac too but they are the same exact size as the bbk headers. ive been debating on trying to get two metal gaskets and do a lil tape/glue job on them so they will seal up to the size i was (wish i could take a pic of the gasket so you can see where it leaked out on the side) but i think that might work. i just dont wanna spend $20 just to see it not work. i just wish those paper gaskets sealed up for longer than a week . i might just hit up a hardware store now to see if they have that asbestos stuff. ill let ya know in an hour or so

 

[Jerry Leaming]

Have you tried a new h-pipe?
I could see the h-pipe side swelling to a bigger size but the header ball shrinking doesn't make any since.
I'm asumming that the bbk and the mac header ball flanges are the same size?
Are they the same size as the stock header?
I've never seen a problem on the header end only the h-pipe side.
Something you have is the wrong size either the header or the h-pipe.
Your best bet will be to remove the componants and compare them to stock.

 

[RIO5.0]

You don't have a 3" H set-up???? That could pose a problem and would make sense on the fit-up...

My stock headers to a Mac H was a dead-nuts fit??? somethings wack...

 

[HazMat404]

ok...lets see if i can make this not complicated. the hipes i have (stock and o/r) both fit up to my stock headers. the bbk i have on now dont fit up to either one. seems like its too small. they are 94-95 chrome bbk unequal shorties. i also have fox body mac headers that my buddy gave me (same size at the collector as the bbk's). the stock ones look bigger at a comparison just at the collector tho.

none of it makes sense tho. the stock hpipe looks perfect just as it was stock and yet it still leaks. i bought an asbestos substitute thats like 1/8" thick so im gonna cut that tomorrow and try it. if it doesnt work then im just gonna put the stock headers on til spring when the long tubes go on. i cant believe that these dont line up right. im so lost with it. i might go steal my buddy's camera tonight so i can take pictures.

 

[Jerry Leaming]

????????????????

Got me stumped.

Are you sure you have 94-95 headers?
They are different than fox style than could be your problem.
Pics might help
I'm assuming the stock headers and o/r pipe didn't leak.?

 

[HazMat404]

i know for a fact they are 94-95 bbk unequal shorties. have the bung and all. the stock headers and o/r pipe and stocker hpipe fit very well.

i have stumped about everyone i have put this across. its kinda something you have to see in person on how the pipes dont seem to match up even tho there shouldnt be any problems....im gonna grab the camera now and ill take pics in about 30 min

 

[jeremyb]

I have 94-95 BBK unequal shorties and had no fitment problems with the stock H or the Bassani X.

I have the same brake problem you described. I had the rotors turned and it helped for a couple of weeks then I was back to the same problem. It causes my steering wheel to shake when braking. Getting the rotors turned was a waste of money- I plan to just replace the rotors since I too don't want to pay for the upgrade right now.

 

[HazMat404]

so how are the rotors from ebay. i know the cross drilled/slotted ones are pointless but they do look really cool. they range from $80 to $200. which ones are good ones and what should i watch out for so i dont get f'd over.

btw, im gonna try some makeshift gaskets tomorrow made out of an asbestos substitute. we will see if it holds up and doesnt burn up. if that doesnt work then im pickin up my LT's on saturday and i might just try to put them in on sunday. we will see how it goes tomorrow tho

 

[Jerry Leaming]

Good Luck,

Tell us what happens.

 

[94_Teal_GT]

www.tirerack.com has Brembo rotors plain for 46.00ea front and 37.00ea rear.

If you have to have crossdrilled, they also have Brembo C/D for 203.00/pair front 152/pair rear. However, they don't recommend them for track use or race compound pads. Nor are the warranteed against cracking or warping. So if Brembo doesn't warrantee their crossdrilled items, I'd be wary of ebay stuff. Just my thoughts. Tirerack also have Powerslot and Brembo Slotted Rotors, prices are in the ebay range you mentioned.