Ok, so after some reading, it seems Tubi style headers are best. I’m based in the UK, does anyone know a good place to source these. Or does someone have any for sale? Thanks. Chris
I ordered a set of Tubi test pipes on Wednesday and received them today. I am impressed with the service. They had a great price as well. I dealt with Lee and Harry.
I think he is still building headers Ken. He did such a nice job on my F355 headers I had him build a custom set of stainless headers for my Pantera and also the exhaust pipe. This was about a 1 1/2 years ago. However, recently I was speaking to one of my Pantera vendors who I think used Zack as well and he wasn’t sure if Zack was still there. He was great to deal with. Zack and another person from Stainless Headers started GP headers after Chris Stepp, the owner wanted to get out of that aspect of the business and just sell header materials and parts. https://www.gpheaders.com/
Here is a picture from an older thread of what Zack was offering for a great price at the time. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ken, I recently spoke with Kevin at GP Headers and Zack is still there. I am going to be sending them some work shortly.
Thought the guy was “Chris” ? https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/f355-headers-by-stainless-headers.404054/
Ken, Chris Stepp owns Stainless Headers. Zack worked for Chris and was the person who did the actual fabrication. Chris decided to get out of the header fabrication side of the business and sell exhaust and header supplies. I think he might still do a little fabrication, but I am not totally sure. Zack started GP Headers and again was the one that built headers for my F355 and also for my Pantera. Here is a picture of the Pantera headers that they built.
They built my F355 headers in 321 s/s. The Pantera headers were built in 16 gauge 304 s/s. Heat isn’t as big of a problem with this car. They built these from a cobbled together set that we sent them to use as a template. I had them stepped from 1 7/8” to a 2” primary tube to a 3” collector.
I agree Jim. He or now his employees do nice work. His company built some headers that were on a 1967 Camaro V12 ls motor that was featured in Hot Rod magazine. Jim, I was also impressed with your welding and fabrication skills. Your y pipe came out very nice. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I won't argue about the best replacement header for a 355. Tubi, hands down, unless you have some custom fabrication. But actually how bad are the Ferrari headers? My car has over 30k mile son it with 25 year old original headers. They don't leak. That's not too bad for a welded, tubular steel header. I don't think there are any Tubi headers that have been on a car that long. I also have taken note that of most of the cars I have seen pictures of on Ferrari Chat that are being serviced, they had OEM headers. Most cars listed for sale have original headers. Not that OEM header don't fail, but I suspect it has a lot more to do with how hard a car is driven, how much head is being generated.
John, I can't agree more. If someone is the type to track their car or take it out and keep the revs up close to the red, then with all that heat generated (glowing orange) the likelihood of having header failure is high. But for those of us that just like to drive our cars on the street in a legal fashion, stock headers will probably be OK. That being said, I am always suspect of them failing at some point.
If I didn’t have mine custom built, I would have gone with the Tubi’s. At that time, the Tubi Headers were a lot more than what some owners have paid recently. My OEM headers were fine at the time when I replaced them as my car didn’t have many miles on it and still doesn’t have many more miles on it now 7 years later. So my OEM headers would probably have been fine. After reading so many threads about header failures, I did it for piece of mind. It’s not like this problem doesn’t exist and most owners aren’t changing them for any increase in power or performance. I have never changed headers in any of my other cars unless there was some performance benefit.
My understanding with preemptive replacement was if the headers fail it can be very difficult to detect because of the standard shrouds. If headers do fail and are not caught in time- the cost to repair cylinder head/valve damage can be massive. Probably this is not dissimilar from valve guides where some higher than anomalous percentage (10%?) have an issue and so owners act out of an abundance of caution.
Exactly. If the headers start to fail and little pieces of material make its way back in to the cylinders the expense is going to be a lot greater than spending money on a set of headers.
I believe Tubi claims 5-10hp increase for the headers? I believe they claimed 19hp increase from headers, decat pipes, stock y pipe, and Tubi muffler. Not sure which muffler. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That’s interesting. I have never heard that about their headers. I have heard the mufflers are supposed to increase power by 19 hp. The Fabspeed headers are supposed to produce more power but it is on the top end due to the 4-1 design.
While it is true that Fabspeed headers are 4-into-1 style. It is not necessarily a fact that 4-into-1 headers have a better top end than 4-into-2-into-1 headers. A properly tuned 4-2-1 system can have a top end equal to the 4-1 header. 4-into-2-into-1 headers have a broader power band, and are generally more forgiving in the length and volume of the expansion chamber (when compared to 4-into-1 headers). In practice, the F355 exhaust system does not even HAVE an expansion chamber (at least until you get past the cats, and we call that the muffler....) It is also clear that none of the headers in the market utilize real merge collectors (which are worth another 5 HP all by themselves). The final thing that is not clear is the the diameter of the header pipes (38mm ID) and 665mm in length of the factory headers is somewhat on the small side. What we want is something in the 40mm-42mm ID and the proper length. The 4-1 headers should use 42mm tubes that are 775mm in length with a 4-1 merge collector of 30º included angle at the collector. The 4-2-1 headers should use either .....{40mm primary tubes 665mm in length with 50mm ID secondary 6" in length including the primary collector and a 60mm header outlet.} or .....{42mm primary tubes 637mm in diameter with 50mm ID secondary 6" in length including the primary collector and a 60mm header outlet.} .....in both cases the merge collector should have 25º included angle between incoming pipes.
Typically 4 -1 headers tend to produce more top end power but give it up at lower rpms. From some of the reading I have done the 4-2-1 design tends to put out a broader power curve but tend to be sensitive to collector length. Unfortunately due to packaging limitations compromises have to be made to fit the system in the car which may effect the optimum exhaust system. Chris Bennett of the School of Automotive Machinists who compete in the Engine Masters Challenge stated that testing included everything from a tri y setup, differing lengths in the primary tubes, and several collector types. Often, the generally accepted theories did not pan out. On this motor the merge made more power everywhere than an open collector, and the choke point proved to be a critical area. Judson Massingill of the School of Automotive Machinists stated that exhaust tuning is a critical factor. What we do is buy a set of headers then start experimenting with lengths and collectors; it is just hit or miss, seeing what effect we get from going in a certain direction. We do not do into it with preconceived notions but just look at changes and start tearing things apart to find what works. The Engine Masters Challenge has some of the best engine builders in the country competing.
I don’t know if they changed them recently, but this what I found out in 2012 when I started looking into changing my OEM headers. Tubi headers have the same diameter as the factory, 40/54/60 mm. Tube thickness is 2 mm 304 s/s. The factory headers are 1.2 mm 409 s/s. Tubi’s have mandrel bent tubes.
Hey Guys, The 4-1 produced the most horsepower in our set-up. We have had extensive R&D into the 430 and we have been making the system for the 430 was released.
