im looking in to building my own custom header and my question is would 16 gauge (.065in) think mild steel piping capable of taking the heat that a 13b n/a would produce in racing conditions?? and if so how long?? im most likely going to make it out of 304 stainless but i would like to know different options.. since mild steel is alot cheaper but as they say u get what u pay for soo....i dont know

thanks for your time
ismael

 

Mild steel should work, but in the long run (depending on driving conditions) will most likely crack next to the welds. Racing beat uses mild steel but they use .125" wall tubing.

My opinion smells like all of the others out there, but I think 18ga 304 would provide a long lasting piece and you might even be able to get away with 20ga if you are looking to shave every ounce of weight that you can.

Ryan

 

Thin mild steel won't survive, go with the stainless.

 

ok thats what i thought well do thanks for the opinons

 

You can use mild steel without issues. The trick is to provide support for the weight of the components. The problem with mild steel is that a 40lb turbo extending a foot from where the engine flange in a high vibration high movement situation will eventually weaken the steel. If you support the turbo securely with a bracket to a solid engine component then it will last as long as an SS manifold.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

for what they sell for on e bay i would just buy one there

 

do u mean the obx one??? naw i cant just settle for any header..im building a scca improved touring car and i need the absolute best power gain and already have a header design and exhaust system i want to build...i just wanted to see if it was worth making it our of mild steel until i can afford to make it out stainless

 

they dont look to be equal lengths either

 

ISC Racing makes a good IT exhaust system.

 

yeah i actually orignally wanted to get their system but they dont make their expansion chamber anymore and last time i checked they currently were out of stock on the header

 

Mild steel will not last:

This was a three year old .120 mild steel header that we built. You can see the previous patch on a crack above the newer crack.

-Trent

 

Mild steel may work fine on a street car but on a race engine where exhaust temps average much higher, they'll definitely fail in a relatively short amount of time. 304 stainless is nice but 321 would be preferred.

The OBX header is an exact copy of the Pacesetter header execept it is made out of 304 stainless. Although it doesn't look like it, the front runner is almost 8" longer than the rear.

 

wow thats pretty bad...but u say its 3 years old?? did it see alot of track time?

wow 8 inchs thats insane its kinda like the rb racing manifold the true dual one ...between the two primaries there is like a 5 inch difference i think so if u try and make a long primary exhaust system out of in u will have to add a bend or something somehwhere to make up the 5 or 6 inchs and it be equal length

 

In those three years the car made it to six events a year, each event with two 20 minute practice races, two 20 minute qualifying races, three 25 minute points races and a two hour enduro. So, say 20+20 + 20+20 + 25+25+25 + 120 = 275 mins per event, x 6 events so, 1650 mins of racing per season or 27.5 hours of racing per season. I also used to drive the car down there and back (3 hours each way). It doesn't sounds like much time, but in the time the header wore out I went through 12 brake rotors.

-Trent

 

thats actually not that bad then i mean for the cost of making it .... how much did it cost u to make ur header?