So i have some flowtech longtubes on my Mustang. I had to cut the flange on both sides in order for it to fit. The pipes slide together before it goes into the collector. I know they are leaking and my exhaust gaskets work for about a week and then blow. Help anyone?

you dont cut premade exhaust parts, good luck making them leakproof now. i put in my bbk longtubes without cutting anything, just jacking the motor up and shaking them in like hell.

if they are just leaking from the gasket then try sandwiching 2 gaskets together with gasket maket or try some expensive aluminum gaskets

The flowtech longtubes are to be cut at the flanges (part where they go to the head) so that u can put part of it in and then the other part you cut off from their. They got a slip joint thing that makes one part of the header tube fit into another. I didn't cut that part. Just the flange like i was supposed to. It leaks out of the slip joint a little and i have problems with the gaskets blowing. So get expensive gaskets? What about the slip joints? I was thinking about wrapping the headers in exhaust wrap. Will that work?

my l/t are the same the left goes in fine but the right hits down by the damn tranny!!!!![:@]

DO NOT use header wrap of anytype, it will cause the headers to completly rust out in a yeaqr or so........
You learned as I did ,years ago, Flow-Tech = junk.......

yea if you have the money go invest in soem nice BBK long tubes or somethign else flowtech headers are trash, but if you could maybe get soem pics up cuz im still sort of confused on what your talking about ....lol

ORIGINAL: tinman

DO NOT use header wrap of anytype, it will cause the headers to completly rust out in a yeaqr or so........
You learned as I did ,years ago, Flow-Tech = junk.......

^^^^^^^It will not!!!!!! I wrapped my LT'S /flowtechs at the joint's only and they are 3 years old and no rust..so long as you don't wrap the whole thing your fine:D

ORIGINAL: nseoi

you dont cut premade exhaust parts, good luck making them leakproof now. i put in my bbk longtubes without cutting anything, just jacking the motor up and shaking them in like hell.

if they are just leaking from the gasket then try sandwiching 2 gaskets together with gasket maket or try some expensive aluminum gaskets


wrong!!!!^^^^^^^^^^some mis-info there^^^^^^^^^^ the flowtechs are made that way to do that...hmmm how would I know??? got 'em on my 85..I don't reccommend them but hind sight is 20/20[:@]

ORIGINAL: mjr46

ORIGINAL: nseoi

you dont cut premade exhaust parts, good luck making them leakproof now. i put in my bbk longtubes without cutting anything, just jacking the motor up and shaking them in like hell.

if they are just leaking from the gasket then try sandwiching 2 gaskets together with gasket maket or try some expensive aluminum gaskets


wrong!!!!^^^^^^^^^^some mis-info there^^^^^^^^^^ the flowtechs are made that way to do that...hmmm how would I know??? got 'em on my 85..I don't reccommend them but hind sight is 20/20[:@]

sorry for misinform but then y the hell would you pay to get headers that you have to cut? bbk's work just fine and u dont have to waste your time cutting something, doesnt make any sense to me. maybe there is some benefit that i am not understanding.

sorry MJR, but you do NOT have to cut them. I installed mine without chopping them up.

I only paid 75 for the longtubes. And they went in in two days. I didn't have the money for BBK's. I only had to cut the third and fourth tubes because it wouldn't fit in on either side (one side for the steering shaft and one for the starter). When the gaskets aren't blown, it sounds great. So hopefully they will be fine after i get some aluminum ones.

my hedman longtubes had a couple slip joints like that and one HAD to be used (#1 tube goes under the crossmember on my II) and i know they leak as well. i tried a small muffler clamp but i think the only solution is to have someone buzz them up with a MIG welder. any exhaust shop shouldnt charge you more than a couple dollars to just throw a bead or two on there for you.

as for the leaky gaskets, which kind are you using? local racetrack experience has tought me two things. 1: use high-temp rtv (permatex) on both sides of the gaskets, and 2: locking header bolts will save your ass.

me? i used the cheapo pleated metal gaskets with permatex ultra black silicon. drilled small holes thru the heads of my header bolts, but didnt wire them together in pairs yet (like they do on aircraft parts to keep them from coming loose) because i wanted to let the motor go thru a few heat cycles and then re-tighten the bolts down before wiring them together.

pic somewhat related
http://www.ultralightnews.ca/advisories1/images/propbolts_safetywire.JPG

oh btw, hooker supercomps FTMFW - BBK's can go suck a fat d*ck [8D]

I dont wanna sound like a jerk off but why didn't u just take the starter and the steering shaft out? woulda took u an extra hour mabye wouldn't have all this trouble

Did take the starter and steering shaft out. Couldnt get the starter back in when the header was in place. Had to ding the header pretty good to fit around the starter. And I didnt feel like shelling out a couple hundred for a mini starter. Did take the steering shaft out, but still had to cut the flange because the tube bends way out to the side and then wraps around the front of the other tubes. Had the engine jacked up and everything. I wouldn't have cut it if I didn't have to. But there was no way it woulda went in if i didnt.

ORIGINAL: 83GT5.0

Did take the starter and steering shaft out. Couldnt get the starter back in when the header was in place. Had to ding the header pretty good to fit around the starter. And I didnt feel like shelling out a couple hundred for a mini starter. Did take the steering shaft out, but still had to cut the flange because the tube bends way out to the side and then wraps around the front of the other tubes. Had the engine jacked up and everything. I wouldn't have cut it if I didn't have to. But there was no way it woulda went in if i didnt.


I put a set of Flowtech LT's into an 89, and they didnt give me as much trouble as you are describing.

ORIGINAL: AdderMk2

ORIGINAL: 83GT5.0

Did take the starter and steering shaft out. Couldnt get the starter back in when the header was in place. Had to ding the header pretty good to fit around the starter. And I didnt feel like shelling out a couple hundred for a mini starter. Did take the steering shaft out, but still had to cut the flange because the tube bends way out to the side and then wraps around the front of the other tubes. Had the engine jacked up and everything. I wouldn't have cut it if I didn't have to. But there was no way it woulda went in if i didnt.


I put a set of Flowtech LT's into an 89, and they didnt give me as much trouble as you are describing.



the all time fox hater had a fox, huh :P

I bought these piece of crap headers too. And I had to hack every bit of them to get them to fit my 79'. Good thing I am Handy with a MIG welder. BBK are surely the way to go next time I put a new motor in. And I did remove the steering shaft and starter. Actually I had to get a mini starter even though the foreign idiot at Flowtech's tech support told me I didn't have to. I think i seen Good, Fast, and cheap. You can only have 2 out of 3. Well in this case just cheap!!!

ORIGINAL: nseoi

ORIGINAL: AdderMk2

ORIGINAL: 83GT5.0

Did take the starter and steering shaft out. Couldnt get the starter back in when the header was in place. Had to ding the header pretty good to fit around the starter. And I didnt feel like shelling out a couple hundred for a mini starter. Did take the steering shaft out, but still had to cut the flange because the tube bends way out to the side and then wraps around the front of the other tubes. Had the engine jacked up and everything. I wouldn't have cut it if I didn't have to. But there was no way it woulda went in if i didnt.


I put a set of Flowtech LT's into an 89, and they didnt give me as much trouble as you are describing.



the all time fox hater had a fox, huh :P



Did I say it was MY car??? Hells ****ing no!

I'm not sure of this but the steering shaft seems different on my fox compaired to my brother's 91 stang. So that may be a reason why. And the starter was huge! I went lookin for other starters and the new foxes had different starters too. Maybe thats why I had more problems. I did what my dad's friend suggested and put copper gasket sealant around the joints so that they would be sealed. Hopefully they will work considering they are rated at 600 or 700 degrees.

ORIGINAL: AdderMk2

sorry MJR, but you do NOT have to cut them. I installed mine without chopping them up.

If you read my post in reference to his post the point I was trying to clarify was his statement of "you don't cut premade exhaust parts".....that's what I was refering to as misinfo in the case of the flowtech headers... it tells you right on the instruction page to cut at the flange..to install.....whether or not you do that is personal preference/choice..either way will work......on my starter side even with the k-member it is impossible to have installed them without cutting them and jacking motor up..and scratching the fresh engine bay paint up......:D..besides a little header wrap solved any leak;)

does anyone have issues with their headers coming way too close or even touching the spark plug wires on the driver side. i have a set of long tubes, not sure of the brand, but to get to my spark plugs i have to remove the header on the driver side. what gives. soo annoying.

Nope. my sparkplugs are inbetween each tube. Dont need to remove anything to get to them.

ORIGINAL: nseoi

ORIGINAL: mjr46

ORIGINAL: nseoi

you dont cut premade exhaust parts, good luck making them leakproof now. i put in my bbk longtubes without cutting anything, just jacking the motor up and shaking them in like hell.

if they are just leaking from the gasket then try sandwiching 2 gaskets together with gasket maket or try some expensive aluminum gaskets


wrong!!!!^^^^^^^^^^some mis-info there^^^^^^^^^^ the flowtechs are made that way to do that...hmmm how would I know??? got 'em on my 85..I don't reccommend them but hind sight is 20/20[:@]

sorry for misinform but then y the hell would you pay to get headers that you have to cut? bbk's work just fine and u dont have to waste your time cutting something, doesnt make any sense to me. maybe there is some benefit that i am not understanding.


Not all people feel like spending time undoing motor mounts and jacking the motor up and removing the steering shaft...none of which I had to do!!! also cost has a lot to do with influence of choice...understand now???;)

finally got my flowtech l/t in....i dropped the car from the lift and the damn things hit!!![:@]