sYnth.

Just curious... what exactly is this "leaky" noise??
Thinking of getting headers sometime. I don't mind extra noise, just wondering what it sounds like.

Thanks

Etohprn247

I have the ricks "a nice piece indeed. I installed with and without the stock shields and they still make the noise you describing esp. when your diving in an arean where sound reflects back...ie walls/tunnels. etc.

People say don't get header cost vs. hp don't do any shyt...

.........well since I had the money and I went and got header..........and really just what people have said....IT DOESN"T DO SHYT ...maybe make the leaky annoying noise.

RoaringVtec

Rick's do provide a great improvement but i really don't like the leak sound. The leak is not something you can't live with but im really picky with my car. If you turn on your radio probably will eliminate all the noise. I know now this sound is caused by the thinner walls. Please don't get all aggressive i/ve never had a N/A car before so i didn't know what to expect i just wanted to complete the I/H/E combo and add some power to the car. I'll probably go back to using rick's if he still has that special going around.

Synth-this leaky noise is like a small exhaust leak, coming mostly from the areas where the runnershave a bend, like collector and primaries it's barely noticeable while idling but when accelerating you could hear it. It's something like have sand in your header.

Race Miata

The noise problem is more of a sound quality problem than its loudness. In some extreme case, a thin-wall header can sound like a loose heat-shield or a rattling license plate when you get on the gas at certain RPM range.

WyattH

I have a Toda, but it is not installed yet. I am having it Jet Hot coated first. I will let ya know if I hear the sound after that coating.

RoaringVtec

Thank you that would be good to know, i was also wondering, would it be a good idea to wrap the header with that thermo wrapping paper? maybe that could insulate the sound

Carbon Blue

if you wrap it, you risk the header cracking.

RoaringVtec

Yeah i figuere i've read similar things before so i guess this is one of those things that you have to deal with if you really want it. Installing the heatshields on Ricks maybe help out but very little to nothing. Thanks alot for the help and ideas

Race Miata

Thermo-wrap reduced 99% of the noise in my mild-steel header for the miata. I did get a crack but it was because I didn't do a perfect job welding my own hi-flow cat. The header was always torqued by the cat misalignment. No more crack after some better welding and a flex pipe install. The header served over 100k miles and 7 years on that car. No crack no rust and kept the heat in the header nicely. Stainless steel is more brittle so SS header may be a different story.

Race Miata

I'm not sure what kind of coating was on my friend's Trust Race header for the miata. The matt light-blue coating seems to do a good job but it may just be the different header design (4-1 vs my 4-2-1) that does the trick. Anyways, the matt-finish light-blue coating is so nice and thick that it remains light-blue even after sustained hard use. There's hardly any trace that the header has seen red-hot temperature.