Patch a hole in a header?

B

benracin

New member
First off, happy holidays! Second, at the end of last year I got a small hole in one of my headers due to crazy high exhaust temps (I'm starting to think this is due to a vacuum leak in that plastic dealy between the carb and intake manifold). Since I'm a recently engaged guy (thank you very much) money is now tight once again.

Can I have someone just weld the hole shut, or should I really be thinking new headers here?

Thanks folks!
 
Ben,
I just got married. Take my advice - sell the car, and save yourself a lot of aggrevation.

I've had success welding cracked headers before, but it depends on what shape the material is in. I would recommend welding a patch, and then use a gas torch to anneal the area (heat it to a dark, dark cherry, and then slowly reduce the heat and let it air cool). This process should delay the onset of a crack near the weld. Good Luck (with both the wedding and the header!)

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Dave Youngren
NER ITA RX7 #61
 
Dave, don't say that.
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Just save your racing talk for here and when you're with your friends. (It only took me a year or so to realize my wife could care less about all the really cool stuff I was doing to my car.)

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Dave Gran
NER ITB #13
'87 Honda Prelude si
 
Ben, where ya been? Both Dave's are giving you sound advice or I the third Dave could advice you. Naw, that pretty young lady of yours does not deserve my comment. Yes I will comment with an after the marriage comment. WHAT, racing again, sleeping on the GROUND in the COLD in that TENT showering in those PIG STIES freezing my TOOSH eating BONDFIRE food.
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Congrats on the upcomming event. (2005 racing
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)

Have ya viewed the "Bill" event at the ARRC. Can't say anything about the event so ya need to look at the short clip on the 2004 ARRC site.

Have Fun
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David
 
My best advice on the racing/marriage quandry. I setup a special checking account for all racing expenses that did not get downloaded into quicken and voila! No complaints about how much I spent on racing! The other comment - don't talk about racing to your wife is dead on. She will only get more aggrevated the more you show love for the car/sport
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BenSpeed
#33 ITS RX7
BigSpeed Racing
[email protected]
NNJR
 
A good practice for welding cracks (in addition to the annealing mentioned earlier) is to drill a hole at both ends of the crack to stop the advance of the crack even after its welded.

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Scott Rhea
It's not what you build...
it's how you build it

Izzy's Custom Cages
 
Enroll the new wife at a community night school for welding.

It will solve all your problems (and fix that header too. Anything can be fixed with welding!)

Happy New Year.
 
Ben - Congrats! I'm looking to get engaged this year, and can't wait. (I've been told I'm insane)

I have the no fear shirt that says "Racing isn't half as scary as saying I do" and I'm sure its true.

I also appreciate the advice and everyone here on the racing/wife front.
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Marcus
 
I'd say weld it. It will anneal itself. But if you are cracking the headers it is probably because you are running lean. Since I got my temps right I've never had a problem.

Jim Susko
 
Thanks Jim. I'm positive I've been running lean, and the fun part about it is I've been increasing jet sizes and the temps just stay where they are, plus the car is low on power. I'm guessing I've got an air leak somewhere and it's doing nasty things!
 
Jim,
My thought behind the annealling was two-fold - if fixing his high temps reduces the weld area temperature considerably, it won't anneal itself. Also, due to exhaust hanger (ahem) design, the stress could be vibration/load as much as heat - and so again, it might not anneal itself. Of course, I could be full of crap.
I need to enable the smiley things - my marriage comment was quite tongue-in-cheek. We have created a seperate account for racing, and there have yet to be any issues; of course, there has yet to be any deposits INTO the account since it started ... One step at a time, though. As those that have met my wife, I couldn't ask for more (trackside) support - tire temps, hot pressures, times, and ... she still laughs at/with me when I come off the track with less parts than I went on the track!

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Dave Youngren
NER ITA RX7 #61
 
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