Hey guys, due to a few... problems... with my exhaust setup I'm planning to run basically open headers (except for a short pipe on one side to point the exhaust away from the oil pan/TC cover) during the break-in period. Has anyone done this before? I want to make sure I'm not gonna damage any of the plastics, or anything else.

 

Good morning; at some point we’ve all run open headers!
my question is are these shorty or long tube? Either way, there should be an extension after the collector of at least 12”. You want the heat away from the source and away from potential dander as you mentioned.
during break in I’d venture to say it’s even more important as flames from unburnt fuel are more likely to exit the collector during break in. There are more experienced people on here than I am, but I’d make sure you’re exhaust is complete and installed before you fire up that motor for the first time.

 

I'm running shorty headers. Heddman 68470.

I'm only doing this because Heddman is apparently trash and sent me a Y-pipe that A; isn't welded properly, one of the sockets is welded at about 10 degrees off from where it should be, and B; has a 3" ball joint on the collector and a 2-1/4" socket on the Y-pipe connection. They were never gonna seal properly anyways, but with the difference is size and wrong angle I couldn't even bolt the passenger side of the Y-pipe on. I'm planning on buying a set of ceramic-coated headers and a Y-pipe to match, but I can't use those during break-in as it'll ruin the ceramic coating, or so I've been told by most of the companies that sell them.

My solution to this was to bolt the "weld-up" side off the Y-pipe on to the driver side header, but point it toward the outside of the car, so it's pointing about 45 degrees down toward the ground and behind the wheel well. On the passenger side, I just cut the pipe off of the Y-pipe and bolted that up, so it's now pointing straight out the side of the car. I'll get a picture in a bit.