Headers Melting Coolant Resvoir?

[pleiades]

So the '81 spider I just purchased has IAP headers (yes I have seen the mixed reviews about them, haven't formed my own opinion yet) - what I'm wanting to double check is: has anyone with the headers experienced problems with the added heat melting the coolant overflow tank? The one that was in the car was shot, so I put a new one in and it's now starting to deform, even from short arround town and few mile highway trips. Is this just a cause of the header heat, or is something else going on?

Thanks
Steven

[mdrburchette]

The header sticks out further than the original manifold and they get to at least 1200 degrees so I'd say there's not much you can do about it unless you want to pull the header off and replace it with a stock one w/heat shield or maybe ceramic coating the one you have will help. My ceramic coated manifold is half as hot as my stock one.

[So Cal Mark]

make sure the reservoir is at least half full of coolant, unless the header touches it should be okay. You can also use a piece of header wrap to make a shield for the bottle

[mbouse]

what does all that heat do for the distributor and magnetic pick up? adding fluid to the reservoir may help a non-critical part like the overflow tank, but I'd be worried about my dizzy.

[racydave]

I have the same headers, and do not have a problem. I keep it half full. And have been on some trips. Howbout a shield on the resivour. And maybee for the dizzy?

[pope]

I will not mince words. I also had bought one and found it cheap. The two points where you connect the two header pipes to the additional two to one pipe is weak and does not have very good clamping properties. The metal of the pipe is very thin (sheet metal) and got dented often, closing up the radius of the pipe ever more. I went back to my 4-2-1 and was very happy. They may have changed the design and manufacture since I had one.

[So Cal Mark]

I don't think they've changed them. I had a customer bring one to install and it was the worst fitting piece I'd ever seen. There seems to be a pretty good air gap below the dizzy though, so I don't think it's any worse than an unshielded stock manifold

[pleiades]

Wow,

Thanks for all the replies!

My coolant tank was down at the low level when cool, so I topped that up. Unfortunatly, it already warped the new tank a bit, but I figgure if it'll survive until I solve the heat problem, then I'm not too worried about it.

As for the question above about the dist. & other parts, I agree 100% - nevermind the fact that the car also came with a 'cold air' K&N style intake..... which sucks lots of HOT air from the header heat.

I'm going to pull the stock setup from the parts car I just got, and run it until I decide what to do. I looked at the exhaust on SoCalMark's site, and I like, with the exception of how large the outlets are on the muffler. I just think they look a little large for the car (I run a 3" turbo back with a 6" tip on my Impreza STI, but that's a bit more fitting..)

Steven

[So Cal Mark]

I offer 3 different muffs; a single 4" tip, twin 3" tips and twin 3 1/2" tips. Most people go for the twin 3 1/2" and it looks pretty appropriate IMHO. More importantly, the system allows the TC motor to really run

[racydave]

Maybee they have changed them... I cant complain... no problems

[pleiades]

I offer 3 different muffs; a single 4" tip, twin 3" tips and twin 3 1/2" tips. Most people go for the twin 3 1/2" and it looks pretty appropriate IMHO. More importantly, the system allows the TC motor to really run

Fair enough, the size doesn't really sound that large, but the one picture on your site of the back of the car with the twin tips just looks kind of large - do you happen to have a sound clip of the full exhaust? I don't really want a loud exhaust, but I wouldn't mind a little tone.

[So Cal Mark]

sorry, no sound clip yet

[manoa matt]

Yes the quality is suspect. I had to do a lot of re-working of the headers to get them to fit. Once the flange to head joint is sealed properly, and a wider relief is cut in the two down pipes to provide more clamping force the headers work pretty good. I never had the problem of denting, what hits it the tie rod?

I did move the location of the tank slightly. I moved the bracket from the fire wall to the fender wall and up about 1to 1.5 inches. This modification requires welding or careful sheet metal screw placement. I also keep the water level in the overflow tank about 1 inch above the top of the bracket. The original tanks are made of a thicker and more heat resistant material than the after market ones.

My headers are uncoated, so early on I believed that I should make a heat shield for the vacuum advance. That $30 little rubber diaphragm looks so vulnerable sitting there. I wrapped the vac adv with a length of header wrap then made an aluminum shroud to cover it and make it look purdy. Well after a few weeks I noticed my vac advance went out. It got cooked in there.

I have since been running with no shroud for the vac advance. I never got around to making a heat shield for the headers that I had planned and my vac advance has lasted for at least 6 months of daily driving. At 1200 deg the headers would be glowing cherry red. At 750 the headers would be red, but only visible in the dark. Fiat headers don't get THAT hot, unless you are running extremely rich. Mine run in the 500 deg range.

[racydave]

I have been dialing in my ignition system for the Mega-Jolt. If the timing is to advanced, it will heat the headers. Max advance on mine is 34 BTDC.

[mdrburchette]

Fiat headers don't get THAT hot, unless you are running extremely rich. Mine run in the 500 deg range.

Matt, the Fiat manifold does get that hot. I measured both my 71 and 72 with an infared thermometer and found the stock one was at 1100 and the ceramic coated manifold was around 600 but they don't glow in the dark. And neither car is running rich cuz when Ron steals spark plugs out of my cars for his Harley they're a nice tan color.