i have a 92 civic hatch with a d15b7 in it and ive got a ractive 4-2-1 header but i was wondering would anyone know if it would hurt anything if i were to weld the downpipe to the manifold of it because its got a horrible leak right where it bolts together and ive replaced the gasket 3 times now and it makes no difference with a new gasket? thanks

 

It won't hurt anything, it'll just be a PITA if/when you need to remove it.

 

Don't weld it, it will be a giant pain and you'll regret it if you have to drop the exhaust or pull the motor or something. If you do, put a flex pipe in. The exhaust needs to be able to bend or it could crack.

If it's still leaking, you have to be doing something wrong. The curve on the donut gasket faces out. Thats the only thing I can think of that could be wrong.

 

well its not leaking at the donut gasket for the cat. its leaking where the 2 pieces of the header bolt together all id be doing is making the header a one piece instead of a 2 piece

 

I used RTV red when I had that problem, but you can weld that point together. It'll be a little harder to get out, but totally doable.

 

what kind of rtv did you use?

 

Where the header meets the downpipe there is a gasket i'm sure that is what is leaking i think if you weld or rtv it you will regret it..

 

 

uh, RTV red. The high temp kind. Black is for oil/fuel fittings, red is for high temp, and super black is for high temp oil/fuel fittings.

 

Don't use RTV. That's hack ****. Figure out why it leaking(bimp in flange, warped, cracked) and fix that. If you do use RTV make sure it not O2 compatible and use 4 times more than you need to so it oozes out all over the place and looks like poo(disclaimer: don't actually do that) make sure your gasket(if its two o-ring style) is slightly thicker then the opening of the two flanges so that it will crush a lil bit when you torque down the bolts.

 

Personally I wouldn't weld it, I'd definitely try red RTV first.

 

yes there is a gasket there ive replaced it 3 times and no matter what it keeps leaking ive even doubled up the gaskets and torqued it down and still leaks its got the flat gasket with 2 holes in it thats there and not the o ring style ones

 

You do realize that's one of the things Red RTV was made for, right? It isn't "hack ****." Take the header off the car, then just a thin bead around the edge, and a thin bead around the bolt holes. Bolt it together, let it fully dry (at least 24 hours), then bolt it back up.

 

Is the flange warped?

My exhaust shop used some sort of sealant on mine orange color between the upper and lower header you can see a little in the flange. Try the RTV first, worst case you peel it off later, welding you can not do anything after.

 

i agree with you on the hack **** part and i think ill try the rtv first and to the guy below this i am very skilled in metal work and you can do stuff after you weld just gotta know how welds