Header leak? BBK eq. shorty

nidyanazo · Jun 29, 2005

Header leak? BBK un-eq. shorty

So after ~1200 miles almost all the bolts are loose. It was making a terrible racket so I tightened them again with the motor hot. I still hear a ticking/sputtering noise, although not as bad. Any ideas? Are the BBK metal gaskets junk? *un-equal length*

olymaster · Jun 29, 2005

yea i know exactly your problem
same hapened to me
i tgot bbk ceramic shortys and i used the gaskets that came with them
MISTake
i had one header bolt fall out and the rest were loose
go to autozone buy a good mr gasket gasket and new header bolts
i got some that are same thread but 7/16 and have allen wrench too and they come with a ball driver i replaced the gasket and no more piff piff piff sound
easy to do do not remove the 2 end bolts all the way just enough to pull out the gasket and slide in new one
unless the old gasket is melted to header
i was lucky and gasket came right out
its kinda tight to slide new one in with this technique but i did it and it saved me the agraqvation of unbolting the header from the h pipe. good luck

drillgod2000 · Jun 29, 2005

i bought a set of stage 8 locking header bolts, and now there is no way they will back off... btw i had 4 of them fall out and almost all of the others back off and i was tightening them about once a week.

281pony · Jun 29, 2005

your problem is those gaskets they come with.

they are junk. get a set of felpro gaskets from the parts store, shouldnt have anymore problems.

DW5.0L · Jun 29, 2005

Which one: copper or other material

which gasket type along with Stage 8 locking bolts will give you the most wear? I don't want to constantly change the header gaskets. Are the Mr Gasket 7160 the best one for 1 5/8 BBK Ceramic coated unequal shorties?

I got a set to put on before dropping in my rebuilt engine. Appreciate you guys advice.

nidyanazo · Jun 29, 2005

Nice. I'll go get some new gaskets, and matching hardware....Thanks!

ramjetlx · Jun 30, 2005

Try copper gaskets also. The best thing though is to buy Stage 8 locking bolts, then your problems will be solved....

89MustangGX · Jun 30, 2005

I've never needed special gaskets or hardware. Tighten the bolts, then retighten after a few heat cycles and they'll probably be fine. Check them again after a few more heat cycles and if they haven't moved, you probably won't have a problem.

ramjetlx · Jun 30, 2005

89MustangGX said:
I've never needed special gaskets or hardware. Tighten the bolts, then retighten after a few heat cycles and they'll probably be fine. Check them again after a few more heat cycles and if they haven't moved, you probably won't have a problem.

You are really really lucky. Mine always come loose, I have to tighten them once a week. But I guess thats from hitting the bottle ten times on a night at the strip.....

89MustangGX · Jun 30, 2005

ramjetlx said:
You are really really lucky. Mine always come loose, I have to tighten them once a week. But I guess thats from hitting the bottle ten times on a night at the strip.....

I've done this on every car I've ever put headers on. It shouldn't make a difference if you're on the bottle or not, same procedure.

Don't wait until they come loose or you start hearing leaks to go back after them. Like I said -- a couple heat cycles and retighten them while warm if you can (I think it helps). It usually only takes that one time for me -- even though I recheck them again and then again once in a while. I have never found a loose bolt. In fact, I have yet to have ever lost a gasket or bolt or had one leak on me.

funkbuster · Jun 30, 2005

I got me some BBK 1 5/8" shorty unequal lengths. The headers themselves are awesome. But the gaskets they came with went out in about 2 months. When I took the headers of to put on the new alluminum 4 layer gaskets, they old paper with metal around the holes just fell to pieces.

Project89 · Jun 30, 2005

Sounds like BBK owes us a refund for the gaskets!

DW5.0L · Jun 30, 2005

Not really, most sets don't come with copper gaskets or ARP /STG 8 quality hardware. I only want to do this once, as the engine will be going back in the car soon.

maverick0716 · Jun 30, 2005

89MustangGX said:
I've never needed special gaskets or hardware. Tighten the bolts, then retighten after a few heat cycles and they'll probably be fine. Check them again after a few more heat cycles and if they haven't moved, you probably won't have a problem.

I did the same thing with my header bolts....they're even the ones that come with the BBK headers. I checked them very often for the first little while until I barely got any turns out of them anymore......they haven't come loose since.

89CopCoupe · Jun 30, 2005

Three words

Ford Ceramic Shorties

maverick0716 · Jun 30, 2005

89CopCoupe said:
Three words

Ford Ceramic Shorties

That has nothing to do with header bolts backing out.

89CopCoupe · Jun 30, 2005

maverick0716 said:
That has nothing to do with header bolts backing out.

Yes it does... it happens on the Ford set too ...
I'm referring to BBK headers ... played with them enough ... seems everyday there's a BBK exhaust leak question.

Edit: How BBK can continue selling their headers with those bs gaskets is beyond me. Boycott them for trying to save $5 on a set ... just charge $5 more and we the consumers will eat the additional cost

maverick0716 · Jun 30, 2005

89CopCoupe said:
Yes it does... it happens on the Ford set too ...
I'm referring to BBK headers ... played with them enough ... seems everyday there's a BBK exhaust leak question.

Edit: How BBK can continue selling their headers with those bs gaskets is beyond me. Boycott them for trying to save $5 on a set ... just charge $5 more and we the consumers will eat the additional cost

Even if they were decent gaskets, I still wouldn't use them....I'd rather choose a gasket of my choice, like a Fel-Pro 1415.

89CopCoupe · Jun 30, 2005

maverick0716 said:
Even if they were decent gaskets, I still wouldn't use them....I'd rather choose a gasket of my choice, like a Fel-Pro 1415.

The supplied pieces with my Ford shorties are still good after 3 years ...knock on wood. Saved me $25 for gas

stangman8825 · Jul 1, 2005

installed my BBK's and blew the gasket after two weeks... Put Fel-Pro gaskets on with loctite and haven't had a problem since

Header leak? BBK eq. shorty

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