Building on this topic, and because I saw headers mentioned somewhere else
on one of today's messages, I'll post my opinions on that subject as well:
No one has carried out comprehensive testing on TR6 headers that are
available, therefore no data exists on those either. I go against the grain
here and I prefer to use the standard TriumphTune header, in mild steel,
which then gets ceramic coated (this is the header Moss carries). I base
this decision knowing I have built motors around this engine, and have
dyno'd engines with this header, and it works well with the combination of
components we use elsewhere in the motor. I can quote 178lb/ft at 3700RPM
and 165hp at 5700RPM on a TriumphTune equiped engine that was dyno'd less
than a month ago (on a DTS engine dyno). That specific engine is simply a
mild street motor and will never hit the track.
Other considerations that factored in my choice of the TT header was because
The Backorder Factory has not had the Group44 header available in almost two
years and the other headers available (Kirk Racing and PaceSetter) are just
garbage in fit, quality of welds and design.
Why mild steel? Well, again first it was a limitation of what was
available, I could not readily get a stainless TT header. That was not of
much significance to me when specing this motor because I knew it would be
ceramic coated and a ceramic coated mild steel header will have better
thermal properties than an unfinished stainless header. I also have not had
a TT header ever crack on me, so I am confident using Triumph Tune products.
Does the TT header, like the other headers available, have any negatives?
You bet, the primary collectors are not blended at the optimum angles, and
the ports require a fair amount of grinding because of excessive weld
buildup. The other payoff with the TT header is that they fit extremely
well right off the bat.
So there is where I stand on headers, every TR6 header has its own good and
bad points. None of the header designs have been updated in over 15 years,
and some not since the early 1970s. In many cases I would not doubt that
the jigs to build the headers are also 30 years old and that is where some
fitting problems come into play today.
With so many cam combinations, and various degrees of headwork, and even
different intake setups, attempting to crown one header as the best header
to work on every motor is an impossible task - one that would require
mountains of time and would probably have a price tag the size of the
current US trade deficiet.
So use what is available, they will all require hand fitting and each have
good and bad points. Also use consider ceramic coating if you opt for a
mild-steel header.
Kai
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Kai M. Radicke
Wishbone Classics
* British Car Parts *
www.wbclassics.com
Ph: 215.945.7250
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