*HEADERS*

[Ben Howell <bhowell@rmii.com>]

  Well, as some of you may or may not know, I personally have been 
working on 10vt headers for some time now. So, I think it is time that I 
stepped in and made a few comments. Also, you are going to have to 
forgive me if I am realativly vague on the specifics. There are just 
certain bits of info that I CAN NOT release untill they are done (or 
close to being done). I would be happy to answer questions, but please 
bear with me if I am not specific.

  For openers, I have met and talked to mike at Mountain Auto (met him at 
Pikes Peak about 4 years ago). He is a very compitant individual and I'll 
bet he could make the headers. I have used some of products and they work 
great, but there is a lot involved in making these things and as it has 
taken me, it will take him some time. So, I wouldn't hold my breath in 
anticiption for it.

  So far I have gone through 3 prototypes BEFORE I even got one on the 
car. Between myself and the gentleman that I have doing my TIG welding, 
we have about 40-50 hours/each into everyone. On the flow bench, they flow 
MUCH better, but that has nothing to do with actual real world 
experience. I am very pleased with the way they are turning out, but 
actual production is yet to be seen. I just don't know if it is viable to 
make them for the general public (yet).

  The first problem that must be delt with is: placement of the flanges. 
The first one we built was a disaster! It moved around so much, that a 
completely new exhaust would have had to be built to compensate for all 
the movement of the flanges. So, we had to come up with a way to keep all 
the flanges in place while it was being welded. After that was 
compensated for, they came out great. Trust me on this one, just bolting 
the 5 port flanges up to the head is NOT enough.

  After that we had to deal with cost (and this is where I must make a 
comment on Mountain Auto's figures for a SS system). I have delt with 
many distributors over the years for Mandrel Bends and I am pretty sure 
that I am dealing with a company that has the best prices inthe country 
and they have one of the best selections around. I am not a liberty to 
say how much I am paying for the bends, but it is not expensive. The 
problem I have with Mike's figures is that there is no way that SS is 
only going to cost $200 more than Mild Steel. I can tell you that "my 
cost" is over 4 times more than steel. Also, the selection just isn't 
there either. To make these things, I need about 4 different U bends that 
all have different radius and 2 different 90 degree bends, again with 
different radius's. There just isn't that kind of selection availble in 
SS. Actaully, let me correct myself, they are available, but one would 
have to deal with several distributors or have them custom bent by 
someone that has a mandrel bender.

  While we are on the subject of the different metals....There is NO WAY 
that a 10vt header will survive unless it is SS. Basically, it must be 
made out of SS or you will not get any kind of life out of it. My 
prototypes are made out of mild steel, but that was just for the 
"prototype" stage. I truely belive that if they were to be made out 
steel, they will turn into dust and blow away. Even with SS, I am not 
sure that longevity is going to be one of it's strong suits. As Scott 
said, there just isn't enough length between the head and the turbo to 
release heat in any kind of effective way. 

  More than likely, there will be final "production" SS example on my car 
at the Stapleton event. At that point (after I have sucsessfully made it 
through that weekend), I should know more about it and what I can expect 
from it and if it is viable for sale.

  Well, a couple people (that knew I was doing this) asked me to post a 
mesage to the list, so here it is. For such a large project, I realize 
that this is a short message, but that is about as detailed as I would 
like to get at this point. Questions will be answered, but please don't 
take offense if I don't get right to the point on the answers.

Laters, Ben
83' TQC
87' 4KCSQ
82' RX-7 GS