TA Performance Race Headers cross over headaches

I've seen it where the inside lip of the v band flange need needed to be trimmed in order for the flanges to meet up tight.
 
well, I have officially given up, will let someone else build me a new crossover. The leak is much better, gets a little worse and the system heats up. Time for an expert.
 
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Toby they are stainless bought in 06 or so probably have under 50 miles on them. if you look at the stainless headers they have mild steel flanges on them .the passenger side hasnt come apart yet.i ordered the stainless flanges off ebay .I just took them to the welder to weld the new flanges on and he found all the cracks in the header he is a unreal tig welder
 
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Don Cruz had a set built for me a few years ago, SS ATR style with SS flanges and v band hardware. Whoever the guy was that made them, they are awesome. With a 2 piece cross over, should be a walk in the park to get them to lineup if they are made right. Time to cut and weld so it fits your setup just right.
 
Slope of 1 deg is 0.0174"/inch slope.

There are multiple bends and if the combined deviation is 1 deg off, and if the length is 5" , the alignment can be 0.087 off. That is enough to never seal.
 
So mine are still new in box, should I try and send them back? 1100$ shouldn't have mild steel in them at all IMO
 
Ya just use stockers, they've been in the 8s anyway.

I have an 8 second car. So I should just throw these things out and bolt on a pair of "stockers." And who's to say I wouldn't have trouble with a pair of "stockers." Look, nothing is perfect all the time, so if you have issues with something then go back to the vendor and speak up. It doesn't have to turn into a pissing match, but you have to say something. Maybe they can fix it? Or, maybe you'll have to suck it up and have something fabricated, but I don't think using a pair of stock manifolds is the answer. In fact, I would love to know who builds an 8 second motor, cost of about $20k just for the long block and puts stock manifolds on it..... And LSTTYPE, don't use "stockers." These are by far the best headers out there with the exception of something that's custom fabricated.
 

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I have an 8 second car. So I should just throw these things out and bolt on a pair of "stockers." And who's to say I wouldn't have trouble with a pair of "stockers." Look, nothing is perfect all the time, so if you have issues with something then go back to the vendor and speak up. It doesn't have to turn into a pissing match, but you have to say something. Maybe they can fix it? Or, maybe you'll have to suck it up and have something fabricated, but I don't think using a pair of stock manifolds is the answer. In fact, I would love to know who builds an 8 second motor, cost of about $20k just for the long block and puts stock manifolds on it..... And LSTTYPE, don't use "stockers." These are by far the best headers out there with the exception of something that's custom fabricated.
The point is stockers support ridiculous power and fit good. If someone doesn't want to fight with headers and not pay 1000 bucks. They can add the headers someday when they feel like it.
 
I have an 8 second car. So I should just throw these things out and bolt on a pair of "stockers." And who's to say I wouldn't have trouble with a pair of "stockers." Look, nothing is perfect all the time, so if you have issues with something then go back to the vendor and speak up. It doesn't have to turn into a pissing match, but you have to say something. Maybe they can fix it? Or, maybe you'll have to suck it up and have something fabricated, but I don't think using a pair of stock manifolds is the answer. In fact, I would love to know who builds an 8 second motor, cost of about $20k just for the long block and puts stock manifolds on it..... And LSTTYPE, don't use "stockers." These are by far the best headers out there with the exception of something that's custom fabricated.


I agree with calling up the vendor .. which he did .. got nowhere . Which for TA is par for the course .
I'm sure he would have let them resolve the fitment issue if they offered that as solution .. clearly not the case.

I don't agree with your statements on the stock headers ..
First they have proven millions and millions of miles of service with excellent performance results and they are very easy to come by ... point blank if you put just a bit of money into them
they can support 99% of the people on this forum ... EVEN your 8 second ride , which is NOT what the OP has.
Clearly the OP doesn't fall in the category of a 8 second race car build but has a quick driver that he wants durability , quality fitment, and a gain in performance from a set of headers that
he shelled out over $1000 . From the posts above you can see they fail in all 3 areas. I can guarantee that these will not pickup much if anything over a set of worked stockers.
Furthermore IF I was to need a set of headers for a 8 second build .. I sure as hell wouldn't be installing these headers for $1000 .

The OP's car would have been fine with stockers.. but he wanted a set of TA's based on the benefits they were supposed to have .. We did advise him on another thread and hopefully
someone thinking about going with these will have second thoughts until TA straightens their product out.
 
I just finished installing my back seat brace, so now that this is finished Ill be making plans for a professional to look at the issue and report back what he finds about the Vbands. The original reason I bought these headers and not the TA stock style is due to a backorder that they had, these were in stock. There is one good benefit with them. The car sounds spectacular with the RJC exhaust they are paired with, I guess looking at things on a positive note!
 
I agree with calling up the vendor .. which he did .. got nowhere . Which for TA is par for the course .
I'm sure he would have let them resolve the fitment issue if they offered that as solution .. clearly not the case.

I don't agree with your statements on the stock headers ..
First they have proven millions and millions of miles of service with excellent performance results and they are very easy to come by ... point blank if you put just a bit of money into them
they can support 99% of the people on this forum ... EVEN your 8 second ride , which is NOT what the OP has.
Clearly the OP doesn't fall in the category of a 8 second race car build but has a quick driver that he wants durability , quality fitment, and a gain in performance from a set of headers that
he shelled out over $1000 . From the posts above you can see they fail in all 3 areas. I can guarantee that these will not pickup much if anything over a set of worked stockers.
Furthermore IF I was to need a set of headers for a 8 second build .. I sure as hell wouldn't be installing these headers for $1000 .

The OP's car would have been fine with stockers.. but he wanted a set of TA's based on the benefits they were supposed to have .. We did advise him on another thread and hopefully
someone thinking about going with these will have second thoughts until TA straightens their product out.

turbo89, I think you're right when it comes to dealing with TA. I've spent about $15k over the past couple of years. Just last year alone, I bought a Crower crank, Crower rods, and a set of SE heads. I asked them if I could exchange, a brand new, never opened the box rear-end girdle, not refund, but a credit for something else and they told me to go pound sand.

As for the headers, who's to say that a set of stockers wouldn't have "failed" him. So you go and buy a set of stockers...which most are trash....spend time/money on them and wind up with the same issues. Out of all the header manufactures out there TA is by far the best! Now I'm not saying they will never be without fault, no product is, but I am saying they are the best plug & play headers out there. Whether it's the stock performance or the SS performance, they are the best! And if they are not, show me one that's better! All anyone has to do is look through some of the threads about header replacements and you'll hear all about the Chinese crap that's out there. Or, maybe the OP can go back to 1989 or 90 and buy a set of Hooker headers. They were great.....:vomit:

Whether they be stock replacement or their performance header the cost isn't really that much of a difference between the two sets. $750 compared to a $1k 50. However, the longevity between the two is night and day. And if given the choice why wouldn't someone pay a little more money for something that will last and look relatively good for ten times longer. Now I can't get inside the OP's mind to figure out why he wanted the SS performance headers, but I can imagine it being one of the same reasons why I wanted them.
 
One was in stock and the other set wasnt, they are the best set out there for our cars. I would just keep after them until i got them to seal up. I had absolutely no problems whatsoever with the set I installed,only had a problem getting them as they were back ordered. All these after market parts arent gonna fit perfectly, whether the part cost 1000.00 or one dollar. Most of them need a little tweaking to make work. As for the customer service, dont know there never tried to exchange anything with them.
 
turbo89, I think you're right when it comes to dealing with TA. I've spent about $15k over the past couple of years. Just last year alone, I bought a Crower crank, Crower rods, and a set of SE heads. I asked them if I could exchange, a brand new, never opened the box rear-end girdle, not refund, but a credit for something else and they told me to go pound sand.

As for the headers, who's to say that a set of stockers wouldn't have "failed" him. So you go and buy a set of stockers...which most are trash....spend time/money on them and wind up with the same issues. Out of all the header manufactures out there TA is by far the best! Now I'm not saying they will never be without fault, no product is, but I am saying they are the best plug & play headers out there. Whether it's the stock performance or the SS performance, they are the best! And if they are not, show me one that's better! All anyone has to do is look through some of the threads about header replacements and you'll hear all about the Chinese crap that's out there. Or, maybe the OP can go back to 1989 or 90 and buy a set of Hooker headers. They were great.....:vomit:

Whether they be stock replacement or their performance header the cost isn't really that much of a difference between the two sets. $750 compared to a $1k 50. However, the longevity between the two is night and day. And if given the choice why wouldn't someone pay a little more money for something that will last and look relatively good for ten times longer. Now I can't get inside the OP's mind to figure out why he wanted the SS performance headers, but I can imagine it being one of the same reasons why I wanted them.


Sorry I still don't agree that the TA's are the best thing out there ... nor do I agree they are even better than the stockers .. Out of all the RUST pile GN's I've seen over the years .. I have never EVER seen a set of stock headers with the end collectors crumble like whats in the pics above .. Why ? cause even though the factory headers are not made of as high quality 304 stainless ( factory is 409 stainless) they didn't use mild steel for the collectors ... the factory ones have a few small issues that can be fixed for very little money and then they are bullet proof .. so after 5 years of hard beating on them .. you can invest another $100 in a set of stockers and get another 5 years ..

show you a better set of headers... ummm .. the ATR's are night and day better ! .. and you can still score a set on here .. for the $1100 bucks you spend on the TA's you can get a fabricator to do a set in 304 that won't have the bullshit fitment issues.

Put it to you this way .. instead of people just settling for shit product .. if we all pooled together and put a order in for say 10 sets .. I know for sure there would be fabricators that would do the job and the fit would be SPOT on perfect , with a much better design than these .. but no what happens is that some are content just that a vendor even offers a set and don't mind dealing with the "Hacking" needed to get them to work ... These aren't a $100 part ... $1000 bucks for something that doesn't fit well is just plain ridiculous.
 
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