buwaahahahaha

 

"collector rings eh" makes me kinda wish i didnt have to go to class right now... last night i went on again and looked around. this time did a search for stainless v-band clamps on google. its so strange that they are like 25 bucks a piece for the same thing on ebay and ebay is 8.99. just did a search! hahaha oh man collector rings are cheap thats my kinda price! although now seeing as people would prefer doubling it up, it puts me at the same price as v-band. i may just go v-band. on ebay, they sell 1/2 rings for like 30 bucks a pop because its laser cut stainless... sheesh. v-band gets better looking by the minute. thanks for the information though. i just need 8 pairs...

 

V bands all the way for me... Just make sure theyre square when you weld the two half in and allow enough room all the way around the pipe to get your hands and work the clamp on to the rings.... I had V bands in a couple places on my turbo kit and they seal great and easy to install/remove if you do those few things I mentioned.

 

+1

And I found from experience with my ebay v-bands that you snug them up and go (small leaks and all) until you reach a good point in time where you can let them sit overnight curing with ultra copper on the flanges. Best way I have found to get rid of ALL the leaks without taking the clamps to the threshhold of failure and they are easy to take on and off plus clean up.

 

The best way to make the 3 bolt flanges work is to first make the pipes "slip fit" Make your Y pipe slip over the collector by an inch or so and weld the flange on right there. This way the gasket is blocked by ~1" of pipe. My truck has been like this for the past 30k miles with no issues and my buddy has over 50k im sure with the same setup.

 

yea i was thinking about that too with the slip fit idea. i was looking on ebay more. and the store that sold the v-bands specifically said they do not ever combine shipping for anything they sell... so I would pay 11 bucks shipping each kit. making it just over 20 bucks a pop. and thats stainless material. mild steel was almost 30 bucks a pop. so me an my bud took pen and paper, drew a schematic of what it will be. and he can get my 10 foot pipe at 15 bucks each. and i was going to opt for a pre-made X pipe but he insists we make one so this shall be fun. only issue so far... tuning the rear 02's out, and getting the pipe bent. I was thinking of just going to a shop with the tube, and they lift my truck and bend the pipe to where I want and i come home n weld it up. only issue is I would most likely have to have the longtubes on already for them to get accurate measurements... and since the collector is 3 inch, I will most likely step it to 2.5 since this will not see boost on this motor, most it will see is heads and cam with maybe... MAYBE some hair spray. but when i graduate college and get my own place thats when the good stuff comes. 454 and yea...
you know any place that sells v-bands for a good price. mild steel. i really do not need stainless. the pipe im working with will be aluminized exhaust pipe.

 

i have the 3 bolt flanges on my headers. i use a copper gasket and have not had any leaks. these have been on the truck for over 4 years and 50k miles with NO issues. i have only tightend two bolts on the drivers side flange once...