A friend of mine is thinking about getting Dave to build a header for his streetcar and was wondering how well they've held up for street use. I know several people here have one and just wanted some experiences/opinions.

Thanks

 

it depends if you are ordering the Stainless Steel or the Mild Steel version...

 

here is a recent thread in which dave himself participated in and it has some insight on the longevity of his headers:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1845199

 

So mild steel with jet coating is the way to go?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redGSRguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So stainless is the way to go?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i corrected that for you

 

daves headers are probably the best, or in the top 3 of all headers on the market, and I havent really seen any header out perform his once tuned up...and yes you want stainless. It doesn't rust, and its strong as hell

 

Stainless steel is WAY better than regular steel.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by totsie7944 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">daves headers are probably the best, or in the top 3 of all headers on the market, and I havent really seen any header out perform his once tuned up...and yes you want stainless. It doesn't rust, and its strong as hell</TD></TR></TABLE>
I figured as much and I'll always remember how respectful and professional Dave was when Hytech John was bashing and hating on him on here a few years back. Just looking for some real world durability data points. Keep it coming

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JMU R1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I figured as much and I'll always remember how respectful and professional Dave was when Hytech John was bashing and hating on him on here a few years back. Just looking for some real world durability data points. Keep it coming </TD></TR></TABLE>

not much else to it.. if you get it stainless with tig welds, it shoudl last for long time or longer than any other way. if you dont' drive your car often or during winter or desperately need to save some money then you might be ok with coated mild steel and avoid rust

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by totsie7944 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">daves headers are probably the best, or in the top 3 of all headers on the market, and I havent really seen any header out perform his once tuned up...and yes you want stainless. It doesn't rust, and its strong as hell</TD></TR></TABLE>

this link here shows the RMF header making more power then the SMSP all over it midrange and top end

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1538831

 

RMF customer service

 

yes i know his customer service does need alot of work trust me i went through some sh*t with him, but performance wise it is good

 

I love my SMS. Ground clearence is top notch and that's especially important since this will be for a street car. He recently redesigned the 1-piece to have the same collectors as the 3 piece version. I personally have the SS 1 piece and love it! Dave's service is top notch as well.

 

I've dealt with Dave for a long time. I got my SMSP form him 3 years ago. Top notch!

 

Lets not turn this into a an SMSP vs. RMF thread. The question was about how SMS headers hold up, not which makes more power.

Bringing in a thread that caused a lot of controversy isn't needed either.

I haven't had my SMS header very long but don't have anything bad to say about it.

 

smsp header rocks I love my SS ITR header

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoBo Racing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

this link here shows the RMF header making more power then the SMSP all over it midrange and top end </TD></TR></TABLE>

[EDIT: This information has been corrected below and removed here.]

 

http://is.rely.net/1-92-20925-...g.jpg

One of the earlier designs, under about 90% load starting a right hander.

This header worked out pretty well and lasted the life of two B motor rebuilds. It was coated mild steel and did a fine job.

 

Mild Steel vs Stainless?

Well you don't have to coat the stainless but it is more expensive.

We've had very good service from both the mild steel and stainless. I know of only 1 B series header failure and I was told of this back in November. However, I still have not seen pictures of it. I was told the header was bought second hand and cracked while being run open with no support at the track and dyno. These are not designed to be run without any support. If you run a dump tube it should at least go back and pick up the tunnel hangers.

The coated headers come with a Jet Hot warranty for the coating for 2 or 3 years. It's always best to get the header coated before any use and then you are assured of a good coating process. My older mild steel headers were coated by Airborn and their process seems to be equal with Jet Hot.

Another Pro to the stainless header is that you will receive it quicker since it's about 8 business days before the mild steel one is ready to be drop shipped to the customer, from Jet Hot, after it's built.

I've seen a few of my older headers come back for repairs due to accidents and here are some pics of those. Please note I don't offer multi piece mild steel headers and I don't use the threaded rods anymore.

Not sure if I should post these but at least you'll get an idea of how well the coating has held up. These headers were probably 4-5 years old when these pictures were taken.













Not my foot!




Note: Slips joints don't work too well if the header gets bashed.

If you plan to keep the header for many years you may want to opt for stainless, otherwise coated mild steel is fine, but these will be 1 piece units. Both the mild and stainless steel units are tig welded and back purged so nothing is skimped on the welding process with the mild steel units.

Mods: If I posted too much info here, please let me know and I'll gladly revise my post.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by George Knighton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The headers were not hooked up identically. The SMS header was saddled with a full exhaust, while the RMF header was not.

You might want to ask Randy about the controversy he created thereby.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Mr Knighton you need to learn how to read the threads before you start running your mouth.I remember when that header shoot out was going on .And the only person that thought that is wasn't fair was bad loser Dave.

You should make a retraction and apologize to the board for your lack of attention. [....]

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Toddz Grafixxx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> You should make a retraction and apologize to the board for your lack of attention. [....]</TD></TR></TABLE>
Perhaps we're talking about a different comparison. The comparison that I am remembering, the SMS header results were published by RMF with the full exhaust.

I am not sure how you could think this is fair.

I will ask other people to remind me of the details, and if I have time later today I will retrieve the thread.

If you are relying on RMF for truthfulness, however, you might do well to wait for other people to chime in.

 

The poster who challenged my recollection of events regarding the B series header test is <u>correct</u>.

I am sorry for the misinformation.

In the B series header test, the controversy (most of which was discussed behind the scenes) involved the tuning.

It was the H series header test where RMF saddled the SMS header with full exhaust.

 

Thats a sexy foot, you shouldn't be ashamed of it Dave.

 

Wonder how TODA stacks up? I'm definately going with an SMS-P unit when I build my 2.0 liter.

 

Toda &lt; SMSP, for sure.