As you have probably noticed, when you decide to go with an SMS header, you have to take off the protective piece of metal that goes at the bottom of the tranny that is covering the flywheel. So, once you put the header on, that metal piece must come off, thus your flywheel is about 10% exposed. My question is:

Is this okay to be running on the street? Is this safe for the flywheel? Have any of you made another, thinner cover to custom fab onto that area?

 

hrm, i would think you would have got some information on this legit question so far. Have you tried contacting SMS and seeing what they say about it?

 

dave's ITR headers are configured so that the brace does not need to be removed.

 

I don't think so, because I have had these headers on my car and the flywheel cover is definately off. I'm considering making some sort of custom cover, because I can see how there is very little room between the header and the tranny bottom.

So, is this dangerous? And are all of you guys using these headers with your cover?

 

Use the tranny cover off from an LS. and the brecket.

 

My SMSP ITR header clears the bracket very nicely.

Are you sure you got the right header?

I'd contact Dave and talk with him.

John

 

Dave has been making improvements to his ITR header all along, and I believe this latest version (the fourth?) clears all the stock components.

 

Only the first ever ITR header I built didn't clear the aluminum brace. All the other ITR headers clear everything without modification. You may have a GSR style header and that requires some modification to the 2 "L" shape brackets and the bulge of the LS flywheel cover may come in contact with the #4 primary. You can pick up a piece of aluminum sheet at Lowes and using the old cover trace a new one and then just cut it out.

 

Hey Dave-

I figured at some point you'd respond to this, I just didn't know your screen name on the board. Anyway, I PMed you a second ago.

For everybody else who replied, thanks for the assistance.

 

my sms header rattles and hits. might be an earlier version? the coating it has on it is also peeling

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lip &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the coating it has on it is also peeling</TD></TR></TABLE>
send it off and have it recoated.

 

almost looks like high temp paint. is it? very thin

 

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

That is just the HyTech Proximity Detector going off.

Home Base has been notified and troops are on the way.

Run while you can.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL

Military tactics for the Header War Games. Or mabye Global Thermonuclear Header War.

How about a nice game of chess??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris N &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How about a nice game of chess??</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL! But what will we use for the chess pieces ?

 

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

LOL! But what will we use for the chess pieces ?</TD></TR></TABLE>

How about ITR owners?

 

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

How about ITR owners? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes as the back row (i'm not even going to comment on the queen! LOL!), and use little crappy hybrid hatchcrap owners as the pawns.

 

lol, I would never have expected George to post something like that.

 

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

That is just the HyTech Proximity Detector going off.

Home Base has been notified and troops are on the way.

Run while you can.</TD></TR></TABLE>

its a legitimate question george. i now have #51 1997 itr in my possession. car has a fully adjustable sms header and exhaust system. i hear a nasty rattle near the pan and this coating is peeling. i got the car 2am monday morning. i haven't put the car in the air yet...and i did a search and saw this. I don't know if dave sent it out for coating or if the previous owner did. i don't know when this header was manufactured etc. sooo....you might want to keep the 3wheel golf cart behind the lines. so if i inherit the header and exhaust system i can't ask questions about it?

 

the ITR sms header is made to clear that cover, however mine as well as others have problems with very minor rubbing issues at that point. If you lift the car and inspect the header/brace clearence you will notice that the header clears the brace itself, but is in contact with one of the bolts holding it in, there are a few options to solve the problem. You could either 1) shave a little of the bolt ( i dont recommend) ......

or you can do what i did, see if a shop, friend, relative, someone on HT has a few feet of heat wrap available, either for sale or would be willing to just give it to you, While the header is on the car mark the spot where there is contact, take the header off the car, and wrap that part only need maybe 1 or 2 layers at most, replace header, problem solved, fw is no longer exposed and header is not hitting the brace

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris N &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Or mabye Global Thermonuclear Header War.

How about a nice game of chess??</TD></TR></TABLE>

HAHAHA Classic Movie

 

couls you get the header without the coating??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ildknyli &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">couls you get the header without the coating??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sure, all the new ones will be 100% stainless steel no coating required.

I actually recommend grinding the head of the bolt if that's the issue. So if anything hits it sounds like it's the bolt head of a tranny brace and not the tubes hitting the brace. Everything is very tight up there and it's done to maximize ground clearance when using the ITR tranny brace. I don't think you'll find a header of it's configuration with the primary size of my ITR with better ground clearance when using the tranny brace. Unless of course you want the tubes touching the oil pan.

Lip- I don't know who owned the #57 1997 ITR that you purchased so I don't know when that header was built. But ceramic coating isn't full proof. It can't handle super high temps (lean condition) for extend period of time or it will start to burn off. That's another reason why tuning is important. The rattling may be coming from a loose collector stud/nut, They can need periodic tightening or you can buy some 3/8" od x 1/4" ID tubing and cut pieces to length to bolt in between the tabs and then the studs/nuts can be tighten a bit more and should lock everything down.

 

thank you for the informative replies. i'll check it all out

i do have some extra header wrap...i guess i'll patch it in that area. I really don't want to grind down the head of the bolt making it a pain in the butt to remove later. Since its adjustable...maybe i can loosen one of the collectors and twist it a bit. i'll do that unless it starts leaking.

Its running fine. no lean conditions etc. thanks again

 

Just as a little follow up, I was speaking with an instructor at a ractetrack who has racing experience in his past. He actually said it would be best to leave the flywheel cover OFF. He feels that by having it off, there is better heat ventilation and that the cooler temperatures are better for the flywheel and other tranny components.

He stated to me that all of his cars he's purchased in the past have either gone immediately to the lift to have the cover removed, or he has drilled holes in portions of tranny casings, differentials, etc. to remove more heat.

Does this sound totally obsurd? He told me he would def. leave the cover off, no matter if I drive it through the rain, snow, dirt, whatever. As long as I'm not going off road, which I won't, he said absolutely keep it off.

 

Jeff - You bought Jason's car?

That is my old ITR header & exhaust, SMSP ITR #1. This was the one that required the modded tranny brace mentioned above. The rattle comes from the secondary extensions that were added (should be black if still installed - they are only hi-heat painted). The rattling is the adpaters touching each other due to vibration, very close tolerance between them. I used some heat-shield between them and it stopped. Not sure what Jason did after I sold it to him. I never had a peeling problem with the coating for the 14-16 months I owned the header. Only a couple of months after Jason got it did it start. Can't remember AirBorne's warranty, but Dave may be able to elaborate more.