Grrrr...*****ing Flowtech headers

[stangman92gt]

I am so *****ing pissed off right now it's unbelievable . I have wasted half a day struggling to put a set of flowtech LT headers on my car, only to find the left side doesn't freakin FIT! These things have some stupid arrangement where there are slip tubes, you saw through the flange, etc etc. The rearmost tube goes outside of the steering shaft. Well that would be great if the MF didn't interefere directly with the steering shaft. I tried dimpling the header tube and that just bent it so it doesn't even try to line up.

Not to damn mention that Flowtech doesn't tell you that you have to buy a $94 mini-starter if your car didn't come with one, because no way no how are the right side header tubes going to fit around the older starter.

Who in the h*ll designed this crap?? I'm suprised Summit Racing would sully their reputation by selling this stuff. I don't care if the entire staff of Holley/Flowtech sees this... your stuff is junk that doesn't fit

So I've decided to cut my losses and buy BBK stuff, like I originally intended. Anyone care to share tips and tricks to get the one piece BBK's into place?

Thanks.

 

[detroitmuscle99]

yeah, umm, thats what you get for buying junk headers, should of coughed up a couple extra bucks for some bbk's, mac's or hooker's and you probably would be driving the car right now, sorry man, been there before, like the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

btw, thats why holley makes the hooker line because they work, flowtech is there economy headers

 

[70lightning]

I had good luck with flowtech, mabey it was a monday.

 

[TheUser]

that sucks. I think I've read other bad stories about poor quality of flow-tech, but I could be wrong. Surprised you didn't read anything of the sort at least once in the 5 years you've been here . Even if you didn't NEED a mini-starter w/ the long tubes, you'd probably want one for ease of installation/heat issues. You still might consider a mini-starter w/ your BBK's.

Sometimes it's just cheaper to cough up the money upfront to buy the better quality than to replace poor-quality items. I've definately been there and done that.

 

[blackstangt]

Wrong. All of it, no mini starter, no mods unless you want to, no problems for me at all, just put them in from underneath. The starter has to go in with the header, and you have to remove the steering shaft and put it through the middle of the huge gap between the header tubes on that side. Also that paint is gonna last all of 15 minutes, and those joints are not by any means flawless, sand or bead blast, weld, then hi temp paint (i'm using 1500 deg primer and 2000 deg header specific paint on top). In the end they will still be cheaper than any other header and as long as you dont scratch them up too much, will last a long time.

 

[blackstangt]

although a mini starter would be a good idea anyway, it's tight.

 

[Matts89LX5.0]

Go with BBKs, unbolt the motor mounts, drop the starter, jackup the motor about 5 inches, slide the passenger side in, then slide drivers side in. bolt headers in, then bolt up your starter. Good Luck.

BTW: I've heard of people having to get mini starters because BBK is so close to it that it gets too hot and has a hard time turning over, but its been 2 weeks and my daily drive starts all the time

 

[demon5oh]

Strange, the Flowtechs I put on my old car fit perfect, didn't have to remove the steering shaft or anything. I could even change the full sized starter with the headers on the car. Sorry about your luck.

 

[FiveOCapri79]

Unfortunately, the Flowtech's is what I've been using for the past 3 years now. At the time I ordered them, money was tight so they were basically my only option. Am I happy with them? No. I think I have like 10 exhaust leaks from every slip-fit joint. But they will soon be replaced with something like the BBK's here very shortly.

 

[04sleeper]

But they will soon be replaced with something like the BBK's here very shortly.

BBK's have great fit and quality but have a small ball joint collector. Also they tend to hang a little low.

Just a little FYI.