i heard abit of a exhaust leak so i checked it out. Drivers side header

back cylinder.

I am missing one whole bolt!!! and the other one is looser than hell! could that give me a bit of a horsepower loss??

 

Man, that header leak can suck alot of performance out of your car. Lucky find

 

well i just put in a new bolt and tightend up/checked all the other ones. took it for a quick spin and it feels abit stronger. i'm thinking it might be back to normal but too early to tell. i need to get some more track numbers

 

I'm thinking it's the heat and humidity that's killing your power. My best trap at Thunder in the North was 98 MPH and everyone else was down 3-5. Hot lapping didn't help! I made 15 passes, all in the 13.9-14.0 range. I won't see decent numbers until Oct-Nov. Gotta love the cool dry air!

 

Exactly, but I don't think a header leak will help performance.

 

Yeah, exhaust leaks don't help either!

 

I dont see how they could hurt cause exhaust is be vented either way and its going to flow through the path of least resistance so....

 

a leak doesnt help scavenging which helps build torque IMO

 

and torque is why TPI cars run the times they do.

 

whats the best header gaskets for cast iron heads? are there any with a less chance of leaking?>

 

i think copper is good.

 

yeah but copper gaskets cost like 50$.

 

i heard the cheap paper like gaskets that usually come with headers, like my hooker super comps arent very good.

 

Well even if the gaskets are 50 bucks, its better than spending 15 for the first time, it leaks, and then you have to buy another one plus you have to go through the trouble of putting a new one on.

 

I like my Stage 8 locking header bolts! They're not cheap but I'm still using the header gaskets that came with my SLP headers, 2 years later!

 

he asked for the best, and imo, copper is the best.

 

any thing different for aluminum heads?

 

nope copper would probably be the best and those locking header bolts are awesome. they work so good.