• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Wedge TR8 Headers/Exhaust

Share this page

tr8todd said:
Just the gaskets.
Click to expand...

Yep.

And you can get Fel-pro gaskets at your neighborhood parts store. Get them to order (if they don't stock 'em) the gaskets for a Buick 215. They're excellent quality, and the bolt holes are the "open" or hooked type that make it easy to line up.
 
Oh, and as long as you're putting this back together, and especially if you're using headers, be very sure that the mating surfaces are perfect. I had a burr on one of the header flanges that I didn't notice, and had to pull everything back off to address it. Kinda like the carpenter's rule: "Measure twice; cut once."
 
That's why mine will be custom made.
I just can't decide whether to co mild steel and have them coated with the stainless back. Or have the complete system stainless. On my 6 it is stainless and the whole shooting match is coated.(except the muffler tips)
 
Here's a bit of a different approach. I've always loved sidepipes so, since my TR8 was a lead-up to my Cobra, sidepipes seemed a natural. Plus it was a relatively easy and cheap way to go.

I simply added short mufflers right behind the H-pipe and exited the mufflers with short radius 90* elbows right ahead of the rear tires. The trick is to find the shortest mufflers available because you don't have a lot of room to work with. I ended up using Cherry Bombs simply because they were the shortest I could find. They are reverse flow mufflers but not real effective in knocking down the sound.

The sound is a bit sharper and louder than stock, especially since the pipes are exiting right below your ear. They bark pretty good when you get on it but at cruising speed they're very pleasant, at least to my taste.

Just another option to complicate your life.

Tom
sidexhaust.jpg
 
The problem with side exhaust, is the noise you get when you are beside something. The sound waves bounce back off of the object at you. You get comfortable with the sound of the exhaust and all of a sudden you drive past a concrete barrier. The noise level doubles instantly. It's enouh to startle you. Kind of the same effect as having a loud motorcycle scream past you out of nowhere. Used to have them on one of the race cars. I never got used to the sound when you were running near the wall. Not to mention, the wedge isn't blessed with alot of ground clearance in that location. One big advantage on the race car was it could be switch from side to side. If sound control was on one side of the track, I could flip the pipes and have them come out the other side.
 
tr8todd said:
The problem with side exhaust, is the noise you get when you are beside something. The sound waves bounce back off of the object at you. You get comfortable with the sound of the exhaust and all of a sudden you drive past a concrete barrier. The noise level doubles instantly.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. It's terrible.
grin.gif


Tom
 
Thanks guys, gaskets it is then. I had a set come with the headers, so I'm assuming they'll be good to use.

Cool side exhaust Cheapsnake, not sure I'm ready for that, yet!

Chris
 
You are going to find that one bolt has to go in first. It is shrouded by the tube and can't be started if the header flange is snug to the block. Your best bet is to get them all started and then tighten them each a little at a time. Also make sure the gaskets are matched to the ports correctly. It is easy to get one reversed and partially cover the hole. I like to take a knife and port match them as well. Don't know if it helps or not, but it seems like it would. If you mess one up, you can buy a strip of header gasket material at the parts store and remake them. I think it is Mr. Gasket brand that most place carry. You have to get the car way up in the air in order to slip the headers in place. You might want to consider some kind of heat sleeve to cover the wires that go to the starter and the alternator.
 
Todd,

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I have a starter shield I bought for the previous TR8 I had but never installed. I'll put it in when I put the high-torque Denso starter on I got from Woody. Did not even want to try and put the starter on until the header replaced the manifold, heard that was not something that would be a lot of fun.

Chris
 
chrisc said:
So, I've finally assembled the components to take my current headers and exhaust off my car (the exhaust is on its last-legs).

I will be running the Tri-Y TR8 headers back to new intermediate mufflers back to over the axle pipes. I don't intend to put new rear mufflers on.

Question, anyone have a similar set-up? Am I heading down the path of annoying my neighbors too much?

Current set-up is factory manifolds with straight pipes (no balance pipe) over the axle to rear mufflers. Even with just the rear mufflers on, the car is a little too subtle to my ears.

The tubular header will certainly enhance the sound quality, wonder if the muffler trade-off is a wash? I probably will gain some benefit (not necessarily an aural benefit) from the intermediate muffler/balance pipe that is automatically built-in.

Any other known "gotchas" or issues with installation or my plan I need to be aware of?

Thanks!
Chris
Click to expand...

Chris, I have JFS's system on my TR8. Rimmer's SS headers, complete stainless steel dula system with crossover, and resonators. Sounds wondereful. NOBODY believes it when I tell them what the engine is. I have bumped the compression, smoothed the ports, balanced the engine, mild cam, and an Edelbrock intake and Weber/Edelbrock 500 cfm 4bbl. Sounds GREAT. The crossover pipe is needed to smooth the exhaust flow. The Weber is coming off (junk) for a Holley 390/450 so that it will not flutter on hard cornering. Getting the tightening sequence of the header is import. I got sick of screwing with the flange BOLTS, and installed exhausr manifold studs. MUCH easier to deal with.
 
You will find, in spite of conventional wisdom, that the Holley 600 works very well on the Rover V8. They are also much cheaper than the 390. I run a 650 AED racing carb on my racing 4 liter. It's basically an expensive reworked holley. Supposedly it helps with fuel starvation during long hard turns. I have a basic Holley 600 on the 3.5 liter street car. The majority of the carbs Woody sells are 600s. I recently watched Woodys car on a dyno run. Even with a 650 or 700 racing carb, he was lean at full throttle on his 5 liter. I guess that can be corrected with bigger jets, but he is tearing apart his motor in search of even more power.
 
Todd- What size headers do you recommend. I saw on Woody's forum Jeff was asking about it and I think went with 1 5/8s. On a good street machine what is your thought?
 
Well, there really are no options out there. The only headers available are the ones that Woody and Ted sell. They are the same headers, and are made by Kirk racing. They can sell them cheaper than you can buy a single set from Kirk, because they buy multiple sets at a time. From Woody you can also get a large tube design that he advices for the bigger motors. Tim Lanocha had headers made up that are a four into one design, which is better for higher rpm power, but not as good for around town driving. Doubt he has any left. Custom headers run at least a grand a set. I have three sets of mounting flanges cut from discarded sets of headers in the garage. Some day soon I plan on making up my own set just for fun, but not before I get some books and school up on header design theories. As I acquire more and more cool tools for the shop, it makes these kind of projects possible. I do think Jeff might be on to something thou. Since he has the most to gain from such info, and the resources to gather it, I suggest we sit back and let him figure it out.
 
Headers and exhaust are finally on! Wow what a difference, just running the stock intermediate mufflers/h-pipe with over the axle pipes is a nice set-up. Much nicer at idle and really growls now once I get on it a bit.

Chris
 
Don, bought the headers from Ted/TSI. Todd indicated earlier that standard headers come from same manufacturer. you won't have an issue if you buy from Woody or Ted. Comes with gaskets and new header bolts. I just slapped 'em on as they come stock, painted. No coating or wrap.

I may or may not stay with the over the axle pipes, I'm still contemplating a set-up similar to what Mickey described earlier.

Chris
 
I seem to remember my pipes I bought had to be notched to leave room for the air plugs. Not a ton of work but a pain in the 5th point of contact
 
Back
Top