[Roadsters] Header Frustration - ideas?

[dave]

Most headers are thin to start with, and way too thin to weld after they
rust.  I've bought 2 from Dean, 1 1600 painted and 1 2000 powder coated .
Used the flex pipe on the 2000 along with the super thick gaskets, no leaks
rattles or problems, couple thousand miles including a bit of rough dirt
road silliness.  The 1600 header I put on last week fit great, missed the
exhaust pipe by about 3/4 inch vertically, header too high..  I wasn't using
the flexpipe on this one, so between a floor jack, jack stand and a 2000
pound car, I "adjusted" the head pipe upward a bit, fit great.  If I was
able to loosen the joint to the second pipe, I probably could have rotated
it into alignment.
Reason the 1600 got a header, the original manifold was rusting apart in
about 4 places.  Haven't driven it on the road yet, but should be fine. You
should plan on getting a forklift starter to make life easier.

-----Original Message-----

I'm having a bunch of frustration with my header.

First frustration: it keeps eating the head-pipe gasket. I've now blown two
apart in 500 miles. Now I'm not a master mechanic but how do you mess up
putting in a head-pipe gasket? One friend said that I need to go to a copper
gasket. Anybody with a similar experience?

Second frustration: it looks like my header is leaking at the base
(head-pipe side) where the four tubes are welded together. I took it in to
the welder who fixed it the first time and he said that he'd had a hard time
fixing the header the first time and with a second leak 500 miles later he
suggested I save my money and just buy a new header. What are people's
experiences with the after-market headers -- do they last, or am I going to
be sending my welder's children through college?

Nathaniel
p.s. Thanks warning me about the jack.