Does this header look normal?
 

Hi guys and gals. I bought a set of cheap headers over the winter. I noticed some weird dents and other things wrong with it on one side. The pics i'm posting are from the flange that would meet the cat pipe on only one side. Has anyone who has bought cheap headers seen this before? I contacted the seller and he has agreed to let me ship them back for a refund. But he did say that he looked at the rest of his stock and they all have similar problems. For the price I wasn't expecting Fabspeed quality, but these look a little messed up to me. Does anyone recommend a vendor on ebay for headers that don't have these issues? Thanks.

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A header for an early tip has a small dent to allow a line ( Trans I think ) to pass by. Mine didn`t have one so we wrapped the line. If it`s the left side you may have a tip header. FYI mine are OBX.

One of the issues with the cheap eBay headers, most of which come out of China, is the settings on the mandrels, which have to be precise, get out of adjustment or from wear and not being replaced start bending improperly. There is also a question about how good the welds are, how clean the interior of the pipes are especially the flange area and ports. Most of the cheap one's also don't have a splitter built in where the collection box is so not enough back pressure is maintained and they lose effectiveness. Spend a little more money and get something that has craftsmanship built into it my Fabspeed headers are built for the Tip on my '99 and don't have any bends like that in them they are smooth and fit perfectly in the space.

Yeah well for $120 I wasn't expecting Fabspeed like quality, but I've never heard anyone on here having the same issue. I mean why even weld the pipes together if they are all bent up?

Well, the good news is that it probably won't affect your performance

That is a good example of really poor construction and craftsmanship!

Well hell, if that's the case why spend money on headers, might as well go down to Home Depot and buy yourself some plumbing pipe and joints and make your own.:cheers:

Well after watching the video i've decided to just put some big dents on the stock manifolds. It seems way easier then putting new dented ones on there :)

I bought my Top Speed (Deluboise Parts?) headers out of Texas about 5-6 years ago and the workmanship and bend quality is far superior to those....
Do a search on Charlie Chan to get some idea of what they are like.

Nope...definitely makes your BUTT look big. :) I'm sorry, i had to.

Wow. I learned a lot.

If this is an example of the fabricators Q.C. standards -just imagine what is happening in critical areas you can't see !