Header & V&H Pipe question

[eak0703]

I just purchased this 4-1 header and V&H exhaust and pipe from one of the members on this forum.

Was just wondering if the place where the header and pipe come together is supposed to look like the image or if that is just a dent that needs to be mended.

It almost looks like the dent was made on purpose but its too crude and uneven to be factory stamped like that. Any ideas?

Also how tight should the fit be between the header and the pipe? Could exhaust escape? If exhaust is escaping would this be a bad thing?

picture to illustrate is below. notice the weird "dent" at the bottom



ps. i saw this before buying but didn't think too much of it, but now that i take a 2nd look i thought it would be worth asking about. Thanks

[arsenic]

got an exhaust pipe expander? That'll take that dent right out. No, it's not supposed to be like that.

[JokerZwild]

looks like dude smacked that sucker on a curb or something! Newp thats not factory!

[eak0703]

Thanks guys,

Its what I suspected. Unfortunately I don't have a pipe expander. Maybe I'll be able to find one of those "Looney Toons Anvils"...and use the cone edge and a hammer?

Should I heat the thing first? I also take it that the two pipes need to form a pretty damn tight seal such that no exhaust escapes right?

Thanks a lot for the info

[Cheriff]

You can smear some high-temp silicon on the "male" pipe to help seal it up. Just make sure to give it about a day to cure properly.

[Trackerrrr]

You can use water pump pliers to work the bent portion back out to a circle shape then work it on a cone anvil.

[eak0703]

Well, I ended up going to a custom exhaust shop where within 30 mins they were able to fix the issues. They had the pipe expander arsenic was talking about and also a high heat torch.

In 2 seconds they were able to heat the pipe up and set it to the proper diameter. The only issue was that the pipe developed a hairline stress crack where they expanded.

This was not unexpected as older, rusted pipes with a LOT of damage (like this pipe had) are prone to this when heated/expanded.

The dropped a little weld on there and after sanding it down, I'm good to go. I'll try to post up some updated pics.

I've tried it out already though, sounds awesome. All I have left to do is add a 2" clamp to seal the joint. Cheriff, where can I get this silicon? Would they have it at AutoZone?

Thanks for all the help guys