MaXJohnson
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- The Kansas Rockies
After living with a cracked #6 header tube for 50K miles I finally took the plunge and welded it up two weeks ago. I was going to buy a used factory header at the local U-Wrench-It, but it had the beginnings of a crack as well so I would have had to weld it too.
On closer inspection, #5 was cracked two thirds of the way around and #6 all the way around. After removing the intake manifold, I had to tac weld the tube before removing it to maintain alignment. Knowing that many factory headers are made of stainless, I used a magnet to determine if these are mild steel or stainless. Most alloys of stainless are non-magnetic. The magnet didn't stick, so I assume it is mild steel and used standard .035 flux core wire and my Lincoln 100.
The end results are some medium booger welds and a lot quieter Jeep. The 3 chamber Flowmaster lets you know it's there, but the rat-tat-tat of the exhaust leak is gone. I have considered that a leaky header might add to under hood temperatures and being in close proximity to the flexible portion of the clutch line, may have contributed to a heat fatigued failure of that part a year or two ago.
After two weeks and 1,000 to 1,500 miles all is well, but time will tell if welding was the right choice. Can't beat the price though; $23.00 for a gasket and a few feet of .035. Most headers are $300.00 - $400.00 and the local Midas shop quoted me $700.00 to fix it.
On closer inspection, #5 was cracked two thirds of the way around and #6 all the way around. After removing the intake manifold, I had to tac weld the tube before removing it to maintain alignment. Knowing that many factory headers are made of stainless, I used a magnet to determine if these are mild steel or stainless. Most alloys of stainless are non-magnetic. The magnet didn't stick, so I assume it is mild steel and used standard .035 flux core wire and my Lincoln 100.
The end results are some medium booger welds and a lot quieter Jeep. The 3 chamber Flowmaster lets you know it's there, but the rat-tat-tat of the exhaust leak is gone. I have considered that a leaky header might add to under hood temperatures and being in close proximity to the flexible portion of the clutch line, may have contributed to a heat fatigued failure of that part a year or two ago.
After two weeks and 1,000 to 1,500 miles all is well, but time will tell if welding was the right choice. Can't beat the price though; $23.00 for a gasket and a few feet of .035. Most headers are $300.00 - $400.00 and the local Midas shop quoted me $700.00 to fix it.
