I picked up a nice used RB Header a week or so ago for Gus, and noticed that it has a very small dent on the collector. It is about the size of a dime. I have attached pictures. Will this dent have any negative impact on the performance of the 12A? I'm very picky, and having that dent in there is driving me nuts. I thought about trying to pop the dent out, but I can't really think of a way to get it out of there. Weld a bolt to the outside and pull it out with a slide hammer? fill it with water and freeze it?

Please weigh in. Thanks fellas.

Jamie

 

Looks like something that was done for hardware tightening issues. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

Wouldn't touch it. ^ Looks like bolt clearance.

 

Ahh. I didn't even think of that. I forgot that it's kind of tricky to get those bolts in, especially if you are using bolts that are too long. If it were me I think I would try putting the bolt in from the other side of the flange before I started denting in the header, but whatever. My original hope was that I could pop it out of there, but I don't really see that happening too easily. When you consider that these things are 0.125 wall tubing it's going to take something serious to get it out of there....

 

Dude you're totally going to lose .00000000000001 HP with that dent!

Its fine, looks like it was done for clearance issues, shouldn't affect things all that much. Though I would have taken something akin to studs and pressed them into the flange, so you don't have to worry about those type of issues. Least that's what I did with my collector...

 

I wouldn't worry about it. But, if you want to remove the dent, heat it up red hot and pry from the inside.

 

Thansk Scott I will give that a try. Do I need an oxy-acetylene torch to heat it, or could I just use one of those little hand held tanks they sell at autozone?

Jamie

 

Ive heard many people fill ATV/dirt bike pipes with water and freeze it to get the dents out. It SHOULD work on this header also.

 

That is actually normal, done for clearance purposes as dude above me said. Seen it on a buddy's collected RB header. You should leave it alone.

 

Oxy-acetylene, mapp gas or straight acetylene should do it. Propane will take quite a bit of time to get cherry red.

 

So Racing Beat puts the dent in there when they make the header? Guess I'll leave it as is.

 

As far as I know. You could call them up on Monday, of course.

 

There was no dent in the 2, or 3 collected RB headers I have had.
Looks like one of the previous owners did that.
It would bother me, as little things like that do. Funny, because my engine is filthy.
Trochoid, or should I say, trochoid, had the best method to fix it.

 

You may find on some collected headers, the reason for denting in is to allow the stud from the presilencer a place to go.