Fixing crushed headers

[JBurgess]

Some one had tried to weld a stud and use a slide hammer on the second tube, so I worked on the other three.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

The weapon:

1 tube at a time, 3 freeze/thew cycles each. Worked better than I expected. Would not pass a 5/8" ball before, 2 will pass a 1-3/8" and the other will pass a 1-1/4" now.

I can use a ball bearing and dolly out some more of the dents now. I need to fix the hole in thube from the slide hammer and will freeze it soon.

 

[Professur]

Brilliant.

 

[rockchucker]

Very nice! You would just have to worry about stressing the rest of the tube but as long as one end is open you should be better than a completely sealed tube or pipe. Great idea man.

 

[tdkkart]

slick............

 

[tonydanzah]

Whats the back story on how the headers got crushed

 

[Mike83]

Sorry I'm dumb...how did freeze thaw cycles get the crushed parts repaired?

 

[JBurgess]

Back story on getting crushed (a Picture is worth a thousand words)

The ice bent the ¼” plate I blocked the flange with to keep the water in while freezing. I had to flatten between freezes.

The headers are QTP stainless steel.

I filled the tube with water. It rounds the tubes because water expands as it freezes.

 

[Mike83]

I filled the tube with water. It rounds the tubes because water expands as it freezes.

Gotcha. Didn't get that part before!

 

[1320stang]

My chassis builder buddy used to plate the ends and pressurize the tube with air, then use a torch to heat it up to expand it out, but this was one flattened headers that hung too low.

 

[Professur]

Yeah, you can straighten those headers, but I don't think you're gonna have much luck getting them to fit

 

[Ray-CA]

I've used that technique in the past to pop dents out of gas tanks on my dirt bikes.

Ray

 

[scheu]

That is really neat! Never seen that before.

 

[ddawg16]

Cool idea....(pun intended)

So...how do you plan to straighten the dent in the car?

 

[JBurgess]

So...how do you plan to straighten the dent in the car?

The car was insured, the headers weren’t.

I am too cheap to fork out $800 for a new pair without trying to fix these first.

I tried to buy a replacement for the bad side from the manufacturer, but they make them with slip fittings on the collectors instead of flanges now.

I was surprised it worked as well as it did, so I thought I would share.

 

[Dark Horse]

That is slick!

 

[TheGrooveking]

Mighty cool technique, I forgot about using the force of water/ice. Thanks for posting.

TheGrooveking