Hot Rods whats with the stainleess headers on ebay

Anyone ever use these ultra inexpensive stainless steel block hugger headers on ebay. like $75 shipped. do they fit??? they look great , 3/8 flange, slinky around the plugs, (not like sandersons). Any thoughts out there?

 

Sounds too good to be true, but what do I know.

 

I have a set of center dumps on a flathead. The headers themselves are fine, but the fasteners are terrible. The bolt holes on the headers are correct (four 3/8" and two 7/16" on each header, with four 3/8 holes in the flange per side). The bolts that came with it were sixteen 3/8" header bolts (you can use 8 if you want) and 8 10MM for the flanges that were just a little too big for the flange holes. After I purchased the proper 7/16" bolts for the front of the headers and eight 3/8" bolts for the flanges, I was ready to start installing them. It was kind of a challenge because the header flanges are individual rather than one big piece, and I think they moved a little. Also things were a little tight on a couple of the bolts and I had to enlarge a couple of the holes and do some minor grinding on the bolt heads, but I've had to do that with expensive headers as well. After I got them installed I like them fine. The only complaint I have is that they discolor unevenly, but I have never had stainless headers before so I don't know if this is to be expected or not.

The welds look good and do not leak and the holes on the tubes where they are joined are cleanly cut and fully open as far as I can see. Typical Chinese product; they do a good job on the basic product and then "fumble on the 5 yard line" with improper fasteners and crappy instructions. Even with having to purchase all new fasteners, they were a great deal.

 

I think the tubing they’re made from is pretty thin. Not sure.

 

Some like 'em, some don't.... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ebay-headers.1097691/

 

Yep, the tubing wall is a bit thinner.......
I bought a set for my FE, they were less than half price of name brand plain steel ones. Haven't used them yet though.

 

I've yet to see anything made in China thats of any quality. How much quality do you expect to get for $75 shipped?

 

I have a set of Fox-body headers on my 302 in my '50 Ford. Bought them uber cheap off the 'bay a couple years ago. Nice, thick flanges, ball seat sockets, nice metal gaskets. Nice headers overall. But yeah...the bolts sucked monkeys. I ponied up for some better header bolts and lower flange bolts. Been on for a while now without any problems.

 

Used em on some non-HAMB friendly cars. theyre cheap and thin walled but get the job done cheap.

 

I've gone through both threads and it's pretty apparent that people who have actually used them usually like them, while almost all of those that disparage them have not had occasion to use them. Interesting.

 

After seeing some of shit repops that have come from China, I'd be very apprehensive about sending someone $75 including shipping for a set of headers.

 

Yeah, pretty typical response. For a guy on a real budget, they could be a godsend but they do make it tough for the onshore manufacturers to compete. Most seem to like 'em (with the caveat of crappy hardware, although I've gotten just as bad with US-made stuff more than once) and the vendor has very good feedback.

Tubman, stainless does discolor with heat (pretty much the same way chrome does) but can be repolished. I'd be more concerned with cracking as I have seen that more than once with stainless exhaust parts. I think I'd have them coated inside and out with a heat blocking coating.

 

If the deal sounds too good to be true, it generally is.


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I got a set off amazon for under 100. The flanges arn't bad, and the collector was sst also.
The bolts supplied we actually too long and bottomed out, but I had some more.

These didn't fit straight plug heads on #5, but I saw a new listing saying the changed the design

Full Kustom drunk mobile posting

 

US

Sent from the red phone

 

My ex father-in-law worked at a plant that made factory stainless tubular manifolds when GM first started putting them on cars. they were a thin low grade stainless, but seemed to run over 100 thousand miles on many GM 4 cylinder cars.
China just copied the technology and that's what you get off ebay.

 

Kinda OT, but the LS swap guys have had mostly favorable reviews as well.
Gotta understand going into it they are low cost knock offs and some tube adjustment may be necessary, but I can say the 3 sets of hooker headers Ive purchased new all required tube denting to fit.
I always buy new high quality header/exhaust bolts. 1 broken/seized exhaust bolt is all it took for me to learn....why's it always the one in the back

 

Thanx for the responces. As for thin wall, they say 16 gage, which is typical tube stock. Far as fit I have bought $350 Sandersons that fit like crap, require grinding and require special plugs... even required special starter, etc. For $75 bucks , I guess worth a gamble. Thanx out there.

 

After you get the $75 headers please tell us how well they fit.

Gary

 

I already said in my post above that mine fit fine (except for the bolts that came with them). You really want to not like these, don't you.

 

I have a pair on my 32 Ford with the LS1 engine in it. The headers fit real well , was surprised that they were that cheap. Will see how they hold up
Vic

 

Cheap headers on my 347 now. They sure aren't as pretty as they were when I installed them, but that's what chrome does. Absolutely no issues with them since install though.
I keep considering buying a set of the cheap stainless ones, if theyre as good as my cheap chrome i'll be real happy

 

They are worth trying and easy to sell if they don't work on your application. They are certainly worth what they cost.

 

Quality aside, do you think they would interfere with the starter location on a flathead?

 

My buddy just installed a pair on my ‘63 Mercury with a 352 FE. The headers needed a little bit of massaging and the fasteners were completely wrong. But still a far cheaper option then anything else available.

 

Not with the center dumps I installed; plenty of room. If there is going to be a problem, I would expect it to be with the steering.

 

these 6 have them no issues

 

70.00 shipped

 

I put'em on my 460 about 3 years ago. They seem to be doing good. Some of the bolts are hard to get to but I built my engine on the engine stand where it was easier to do. The bolts are weird, SAE threads with metric heads

 

Neat headers, but I swear that is the exact same set of fasteners that came with my flathead headers. I'll bet most of those (fasteners) don't fit either!

Oh, the joys (and pain if you're in the header business) of a global economy.