Greetings everyone, long time creeper first time poster haha. I am installing my aftermarket headers on my 430 and it appears with the supplied OEM gasket there isn't enough of a "neck" on the header to seat nicely against the OEM cat? but without the gasket the header appears to fit perfectly. Is the idea just to crush the hell out of the OEM gasket when tightening? Still seems like it won't seal properly. Any input would be appreciated! attached pics for reference, one side without gasket and one side with for camparison. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Straighten out the gasket and the muffler. . The tapered section is what seals. Adjust the muffler to keep it all square My thought
You have to loosen the opposite ends so they have a bit of play and sit correctly against each other.
Remove the gasket, dont use it. It appears that is a flange style set-up where it is designed to seal without the use of an actual gasket. Benz uses the same technique on their manifolds as well. What make are the headers?
Agreed. Looking at that photo you're going to need to re-position the cats and install without the gasket. It's likely you'll need to remove the silencer to get the cats in the correct position. Please do share the name of the header manufacturer.
