[alfa] re: Shankle Headers - Flexible Exhaust Tubing

[Stefano.Iachella@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

>I have read on the Digest about many of the two piece headers cracking at
>certain points. I have had the European 2 piece cast iron headers on my car
>for many years without any cracking even though I had a lot of scraping of
>the catalytic converter due to low ground clearance. I thought I saw a
>reference (that I can't find right now) that the Kartalamakis book mentions
>flexible exhaust tubing. I thought that might be a good idea between the
>catalytic converter and the down pipe. Does anyone have any experience with
>this?

I have quite a bit of experience with this. I went from the one piece 
manifold on my Alfetta to the Shankle two piece header and they started
cracking. I kept welding them and they kept cracking. They also gave me
no low end torque so I was unhappy with them. I then got the Euro two
piece ones and had them drilled for the air pump rail. They cracked once
at the stud, but after a cast iron welding job, they stopped cracking.
However, other parts of the exhaust kept cracking. My exhaust guy would 
re-weld and try to reposition things and use different hangers. He also
insisted that the Alfetta had a weird vibration that was causing the
cracking. My Alfa mechanic insisted that some Alfettas vibrate more than
others, and mine was normal. Drive shaft was also fine. 

I eventually found the diagram in Kartalamakis' book and showed it to
my exhaust guy (who is from Crete and says the author is also from 
Crete). He said they make those joints for Hondas. He got one for me and 
it has not cracked since.

This flexible joint is not the one that looks like braided steel. Rather
it is a spherical mating surface to allow twisting and flexing. It looks
like a flange with spring loaded bolts. I'm hoping this has solved my 
problems, and I think it has.

One thing to note about the Shankle headers too, is that they may not
have the mounting point to the back of the engine/bell housing. There is
a rubber mini-donut mounting thing with a bracket. This is very near 
the point where the two down pipes become one. Or very near the cat. Make
sure the exhaust shop fabricates the mounting bracket if it is not present.


Stefano
Oakland, CA
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