Headman Headers....do they ALWAYS burn plug leads and arc out on the headers???

furious70 said:
I haven't bought an msd box in at least 15 yrs, maybe 20. Haven't had to replace any, so the vintage I have are good but I can't speak to more recent ones
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Seems like 30% of the New ones go bad, sent back to be fixed and fail again. I used to love them not so much any more. To bad there iis n real way of telling a old one and a new one at a glance like the Mopar ECU's real and what I call fake. This can be a interesting poll on the fail rate of new ones vs the older ones.
 
Oz Sport Fury said:
Hey Guys,

I have 2 big blocks with headers on them, both ALWAYS burn through the centre plug lead boots and arc on the headers, kill the coil voltage and foul plugs!!

New car is a Newport with a 400 running Headman Headers on it, ceramic coated but its on its 3rd set of leads for the centre exhaust ports as the plug boots cook and burn through arcing like crazy!!....

Has anyone found a solution to this pain in the arse??

I am going to get time and pull the pipes off and beat on them like they owe me money so they clear the plugs properly....

I'm just amazed these big name companies make such shitty pipes for these B/RB heads.

A mate said there maybe a small/mini style spark plug that might work?

Cheers,
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The heat proof sleeves that Outsider mentioned work great. I put TTI headers on about 3 yrs ago and the wires route over and around the headers which is a disaster waiting to happen. I haven’t burned through any wires in 3 yrs with the sleeves installed.
 
In my experience ...yes Headers always cause aggravation (leaks/ burnt wires and cooked/ shitty access to starters). I went through that phase and have been firmly in the factory manifold camp ever since and have never looked back.

This is an old conflict of opinions as old as RWL vs whitewalls vs black side wall tires, but the answer is always the same...everyone has their reasons for loving them or not.
 
FWIW, I have Heddman shortys on one of my cars and love them. Took about 15 years to get a gasket leak (copper gaskets at the heads) and I think the leak is at the collector (as-supplied gaskets).
But it seems to have plugged itself up this year and is barely noticeable under hood. (still need to fix it though)
Wires are Accell 8.8mm that have been holding up nicely for at least 15 years. That set of wires, ironically, would come with 16 wires in the box, presumably to fix multiple applications. So 1 set would cover 2 cars for me.


furious70 said:
3 of them :thumbsup:
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You and I have even more in common. I have 3 vintage MSD-6a boxes also.

@furious70 @pomonamissel
Do you guys go thru dizzy caps/rotors more often than with standard ignition?
Seems I get maybe 3000 miles on the aluminum-insert caps, maybe a bit longer on the brass ones. (very rough estimate, as that mileage takes me 3-ish years, so it's not a big expense overall)

@Gerald Morris
See what their comments are. TMMV vs me.
 
The Fury once ate a rotor prematurely, somehow the conductor got bent and messed up such that spark scattered at more than idle rpm.
Rotor tip doesn't wear out too quick, but I'm not driving 10's of 1000's of miles in it annually at this point. I get years and years of service but that's not a ton of miles. I found some nice USA/Mexico stock of caps and rotors and such in some mixed parts I bought so I think I've got some good stuff for my cars.
 
fury fan said:
FWIW, I have Heddman shortys on one of my cars and love them. Took about 15 years to get a gasket leak (copper gaskets at the heads) and I think the leak is at the collector (as-supplied gaskets).
But it seems to have plugged itself up this year and is barely noticeable under hood. (still need to fix it though)
Wires are Accell 8.8mm that have been holding up nicely for at least 15 years. That set of wires, ironically, would come with 16 wires in the box, presumably to fix multiple applications. So 1 set would cover 2 cars for me.


@Gerald Morris
See what their comments are. TMMV vs me.
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Interesting that you're using shorty headers. I've thought about trying those too, but as a city/family driver, I think I would benefit more from long tube headers for low RPM torque. I know from past use that I did get more low end performance even with log manifolds just by installing dual exhaust with this engine. This I certainly plan to repeat this autumn, regardless of what I use to get the exhaust gas out of the heads. I likely will retain what I use now, as this will be the zero cost option. I have another little gobbler here to feed....
 
halifaxhops said:
Seems like 30% of the New ones go bad, sent back to be fixed and fail again. I used to love them not so much any more. To bad there iis n real way of telling a old one and a new one at a glance like the Mopar ECU's real and what I call fake. This can be a interesting poll on the fail rate of new ones vs the older ones.
Click to expand...
Anything made by low morale, low MORAL asiatic slave labor will be of dubious quality at best. Even here, conformist, coercive culture produces workers motivated to "go along to get along" instead of to EXCEL. Managers and officials in such environments do worse yet, punishing honesty, rewarding cowardice and conformity. Thus was this country robbed of its industrial might, and guts. Comfort from knowing nobody has superseded the old standards chills my soul to death too. The fools in my barrio think me an antiquarian, when in truth, I merely demand good quality for hard won dollars.
 
Good luck Gerry. Thats exactly why I do what I do!

5h1.gif
 
@fury fan , just brass contacts , msd low speed muti spark chows up the contacts , even modified chrysler electronic can as well . so you must have a good metal . BRASS it the best out there . but the spark plugs get chowed on to . so i just buy the cheap autolites or champions , and just like racing engines plugs are the cheapest fix . to make it run get again . just ask halifaxhops what i buy from him .
 
halifaxhops said:
Good luck Gerry. Thats exactly why I do what I do!
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Right on! I dig it. Found some 1960s style NOS Anco wipers last week. Sooo superior to modern crap! Refillable, IFF one can find good rubber blades. These should last a few yrs. They were well preserved, and the rubber was fresh.
 
pomonamissel said:
@fury fan , just brass contacts , msd low speed muti spark chows up the contacts , even modified chrysler electronic can as well . so you must have a good metal . BRASS it the best out there . but the spark plugs get chowed on to . so i just buy the cheap autolites or champions , and just like racing engines plugs are the cheapest fix . to make it run get again . just ask halifaxhops what i buy from him .
Click to expand...

You're very right w.r.t. quality of conductors and conductive surfaces. I dig Hopster's wares plenty already. I scored a crop of old Bosch platinum plugs early this yr which are holding up well. The old factory ignition does well with what I use with it now, much supplied by Hoppy, rounded out by vintage stuff I score hither and yon on my own. Good advice all around.
 
Anyway back to headers.....
I have aluminum edelbrock rpm heads which have angled plugs. Sucks a$$ even worse. I have the shortest plug I can find with a ceramic boot and a heat sleeve. They're coated hooker headers. Cylinder #1 is the worst. I may have to dimple it a little bit.
 
Oz Sport Fury said:
Hey Guys,

I have 2 big blocks with headers on them, both ALWAYS burn through the centre plug lead boots and arc on the headers, kill the coil voltage and foul plugs!!

New car is a Newport with a 400 running Headman Headers on it, ceramic coated but its on its 3rd set of leads for the centre exhaust ports as the plug boots cook and burn through arcing like crazy!!....

Has anyone found a solution to this pain in the arse??

I am going to get time and pull the pipes off and beat on them like they owe me money so they clear the plugs properly....

I'm just amazed these big name companies make such shitty pipes for these B/RB heads.

A mate said there maybe a small/mini style spark plug that might work?

Cheers,
Click to expand...
Same problem. Here’s how I solved it on my car.

IMG_5755.jpeg
 
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