It was only a matter of time

It was only a matter of time but the inevitable happened. The day was sunny,warm and perfect for a drive in the 355. As I headed out for my favorite winding road in the hills, I encountered a very faint noise from the engine bay that within a few miles had grow to the point that I needed to pull over. As I opened the engine cover I was greated with white fiberglass dust completly covering my detailed engine compartment and the unmistakable sound of leaking exhaust from the right side of the engine. After years of running on the original parts and driving in complete denial, it had hapened, the dreaded HEADER burnout. So ended my perfect day for driving as my thoughts turned toward repairs.

I am thinking of using QV rebuilds from Ricambia to retain the factory look and heat protection. I was hoping that those of you out there that have used QV headers could give me your feedback, good or bad? How long and how many miles have you driven using them, with what results? Would you use them again or if you had it to do over again would you have used Fabspeed or Tubi? I look forward to your thoughts and thaks in advance.

 

What year is your car, and what kind of mileage do you have on her?

Sorry your drive ended early.

 

I replaced my headers earlier this year. I've seen pro's and cons on the QV headers but the tipping point for me was when I saw some very respected mechanics say they were replacing QV headers for the same problem. The only shielded headers that seem to be bullet proof are the Tubi's but they are by far the highest priced at close to $6k for a set. I ended up going with the Fabspeeds at about half the price and have been very happy so far. The issue with Fabspeeds is there is no shielding so there is a potential issue with heat but so far no problems.

 

1997 16.5k

 

That is the type of feedback I was looking for. I don't want to do this twice. I do like the stock look of the QV's .

 

I replaced my headers at 34,500KM with QV in my 97 last Sept. (09) & I have 37,000Km now. I wanted to retain the stock look & for the price you can't go wrong.
I came close to getting headers but stories from other Fchatters about heat problems & Engine light coming on scared me away.

 

QV's were installed on mine. They have been fine but only have a few thousand miles on them.

I like the tri-y design of the stock header over a 4 to 1. What design are the Tubi's?

 

Aren't the cracking headers related to the valve guides? Or not? If so, just replacing the headers wouldn't solve any problem, regardless of what brand you used. I have some good used ones if needed.

 

What about getting your original pipes repaired, leaving the heat-shielding off and then getting the headers ceramic coated (or not) and add heat shielding around the alt., A/C compressor, motor mounts etc.? Not going to look original but the original design seems to have been poor.

Was your car run with the cats. installed all/most of the time?

 

Keith - Certainly pros and cons of every header option. I'm the first to admit (even if it costs me a sale), that if money is no object, then TUBI is the best solution. They are darn tootin' expensive though.

If you decide to go with the rebuilt ones, we have a set in stock for immediate shipment.

 

I went with rebuilt, cheaper and very effective. No need to spend the extra unless you feel it is worth it. For me I just wanted my exhausts to be fixed, and fixed correctly. Rebuilt fit that job description perfectly.

 

Seems to be the best option for most guys. If you have the car long enough, the rebuilt ones will fail like the stockers. The heat shielding is the source of the problem. The Tubi are very nice, but around $7k. Im sure they willl last quite some time, but the Fabspeed are also proven to last.

 

Contact Jeremy at Fab Speed great performance and workmanship for the right price can't beat it [email protected]. Or call him at (888) 646-4945

 

I like my Fabspeeds, but they did change the sound of the car quite a bit, less scream.

 

Thanks for all your input. I'm going with the QV's. Ordered them today. The ability to retain the factory look, sound and heat protection, while at the same time getting a better quality header with a warranty at a fair price is what sold me. Now I just have to install them.