Folks Of Interest SANDERSON HEADERS are junk, who else had problems?

i was gona say the same thing esp if there is only one hanger out back

 

Really? I have been building this style of header for many years for 100's of customers. Never once have I had a customer tell me my header broke from under car exhaust.

I'm gonna' keep my nose out of this thread. But, I had to reply to this idiotic statement!!!

 

i bought a set for my 54 ford, when i got them thee was a few pin holes in the welds. a friend of mine patches them up and have been fine eversince. that was about 8 years ago.....................john

 

I'd say that it is probably a combination of suspect welding in that set of headers plus the possibility of the engine torquing over more than it needs to and twisting the exhaust system in a way that puts more pressure on the headers than necessary. The pipes might actually be mounted too solidly for the application and not moving with the engine and headers like they need to.
Still one can reason that there may be quite a bit of difference in quality control between "production" headers and sets that are pretty much one off and made to order. That set may just have been welded up by "the new guy".

 

bull shit, the pipe has 2 hangers mounted with rubber. the headers just suck they are to thin

 

if sanderson is an Alliance Vender they should give us there input, right???

 

I have lakes on mine.Had em for almost five years. I drive that car HARD all the time. They also have NO support. They hang off the heads. I have had no problems. I know Ratster personally. He knows whats up. Even though I whooped up on him at the drag strip. Musta been those headers

 

If this happened to me I would use the same layout of header, BUT where the down pipe passes under the car I would make strong brackets that attach the down pipes to the bellhousing area.
That would keep the headers moving/vibrating at the same rate as the engine/transmission.
From there I would use a braided flex pipe on either side to join the down pipes to the rest of the exhaust system. I wouldn't clamp the exhaust system tightly to the frame...especially at the front.
Just enough to hold it in position.

You have one COOL car there man....

 

RATSTER... there are a lot of reasons headers crack. but i'am going with you on this one. WHY? when someone tells you on the phone it's carb. mixture.(and i didn't hear them say that) hell RAT we're in a bind here. if their a VINDER man what can we honestly believe. it's going to take a lot more than this believe me!...POP.

 

i've got a set of sanderson limefires like Spoons, and mine cracked at about 10 oclock on the third pipe back on drivers side. rewelded and have not had a problem since. they are 4 years old and it's been two years since i welded them

 

Yikes, I just bought some. I hope mine dont ever f..k up on me.

 

The edge of the original weld has crystallized or hardened , wrong batch of base metal tubing or mig wire could be to blame , most economy headers are 16 ga tube and hopefully AK for corrosion

 

Damn that's a big picture.

 

Just run-em with baffles then U don't have to worry about how to mount all that unnecessary pipe! Have about 10,000 miles on these and no problems

 

mine the ceramic coating is coming off

 

I'm probly way out of my area of expertise. Someone said something about MIG wire earlier, still someone else says tube thickness.... I will say the guy buying paid good money for headers and deserves good product. However nothing is perfect and most of us drive the snot out of our cars. My opinion is find someone to fix the crack w/ TIG process and put 'em back on.

 

I have run them for years and had nothing but good luck and service from them,even when I needed something different done...they were cool to deal with....

 

geez,I have them on mine and have never had a leak,crack or anything.6 years now and i havn't even retightened....maybe I got lucky!

 

ryan, i talked to them on the phone right after they broke. also talked to a rep at the NSRA show, he said they should replace them but he hasn't called me back and that was in may. Ryan, i talked to you about this before and if you do a search on sanderson, you see many post.

 

May!?

 

My ceramic coated limefire's did the same thing.

$600 or more I spent on these things.

I called em up. Stated the issues I was having w/ their product, & they immediately got defensive. I got the impression that they hear this concern often.

They were quick to be "experts" on the way MY car is built & tuned. The problems I encountered were OBVIOUSLY my fault blah blah blah......they didn't even want to talk about it. Left me feeling.....like I'd been taken. Like a SUCKER.

MY experience is that not only does Sanderson have quality issues w/ this style header. They have known about it for years, & instead of addressing the issue (making a better product or educating folks about the products limitations) they continue to offer mediocre products @ high prices that come w/o reasonable customer service.

Not too much of a fan of the Sanderson guys. Nope.

 

ok guys, i js got off the phone with a sanderson rep. he wants to see the pics and stated that they will be doing something about fixing or replacing the headers.
lets pray

 

Ran a set of their block hugger headers (angle Plugs) for 15 years. Had a small leak at the head flange the hole time I had em. After a few years I could not hear it anymore but other people could. Of course the chrome looked like dung also but that is to be expected.

 

I agree about the baffles , built mine from the Speedway kit 2 years ago ! No problems , & yes I drive the dodo out of it !

 

i like the looks of the exhaust running down the side of the car, it hides my frame. i have no baffles or mufflers in the pipe

 

And that,ladies and gentleman,is why the Dodo is extinct!


Okay,serious business again,so here's my other story about Sanderson. Like I said before,crappy customer service,but not just with me. I knew many other Caddy owners running the original 390 or 429's with their Caddy's and were seriously interested in the headers,and guess what,they all either called or emailed Sanderson several times,with no reply over a course of several months(This all started about 4 or 5 months ago). To date they have never received a call or email back,and the one person I directed towards Sanderson for the headers that did get in touch with a rep,said the person he talked to didn't know shit about the headers other than they were based around a '66,yet their add states they will work on 390's and 429's,which is a broad spectrum of years('58-'67). By the way,when the hell did it become possible to diagnose a fuel mixture problem over the phone due to a header crack? That in itself is insulting.

 

I've installed many sets of these over the years with no problems. Never used a gasket between the block and flange either.

 

I can't be the only one confused at the fact that you have had this problem since MAY and just now they have gotten to the point that they want do something!!!

I mean.... WTF?

As for pics, just direct them to this thread.

Not to get political, but I'm REALLY getting tired of hearing about how companies are having a hard time, yet stories of companies screwing over the consumer abound. Considering how many sets of headers these guys sell per year, they need to GIVE you a replacement set. If anything, to show they give a fuck. I hope they read this thread, because they lost some sales due to this crap.

I REALLY hope this works out and I hope they do you right. They kinda NEED to. PLEASE let us know what the resolution is.

 

I have a set of Sanderson block huggers on my 40 coupe with a 350. My problem is how close the plugs are to the pipes in the center ports. One is so close that I can't get a socket on it and have to replace the plug from the bottom with an open end wrench. It also burns the boots on one of the center ports on each side. Short plugs will not help because the pipe is next to the plug. In the photo the plug boot has been trimed to get the clearance you see.