Tiger stainless steel headers

[tigerneil]

Hi everyone,

I’m nearing the end of a long (12 years!) restoration of my ’65 Tiger. Having well and truly had enough of replacing endless corroded parts, I’m trying to use stainless steel where possible.

Does anyone know where I can get a set of headers made out of stainless? I can find plently of places that will copy a set, but I don’t have a pattern for them to work from. It seems a waste of money to buy a mild steel set just to use once as a pattern.

There must be someone out there who can supply a set in stainless and already has a pattern.

Thanks for your help guys!

Cheers,

Neil

[cleandan]

Neil, I am not aware of anyone making a Tiger specific set of headers out of stainless steel. Your quest makes me curious about what you are doing with your Tiger. I drive mine quite a bit in the non-winter months here in MN. Heck, I even hauled 2×6″ x 12′ long studs home this last weekend with the Tiger and it worked great (I duct taped them to the roll bar and in the passenger foot well and they rode perfectly) Anyway, short of winter driving, or in areas with high corrosion (the beach) regular headers with a good coating (Jet-Hot) last a VERY long time and cost quite a bit less than stainelss, custom made headers. I found custom headers would cost around $1000 fro mild steel, and go up from there…there is just a LOT of time involved in making headers that fit right and work well and the first set is always the most expensive.
Where are you located? I have an old set of headers that are still solid enough for patterns that you could use if needed, but I want them back in one piece. They are very similar to the headers Rick, of Sunbeam Specialties, is selling but not exactly the same.

[tigerneil]

Thanks for your reply,

I’m located over here in the UK, so perhaps not quite as ‘hostile’ an environment as MN. I don’t doubt the effectiveness of the Jet Hot type of ceramic coating, all the reports seem to be full of praise. The only issue is cost over here in the UK, as there aren’t an awful lot of companies providing this service over here and so prices are so much more than you pay in the USA. If it wasn’t for the need to test fit and ‘adjust’ headers prior to coating, I’d get them coated in the US prior to shipping over here.

I actually priced up the cost of buying a set of mild steel headers and getting them coated versus the cost of getting a set made in stainless over here, and the stainless option is only around 10-20% more. Sure even stainless headers don’t last forever due to the internal erosion problems, but I’d expect them to last longer than coated mild steel ones.

Your offer of lending me a pattern is much appreciated, thanks. I think the cost of two way shipping unfortunately rules that one out.

I’ll keep everyone posted if I find a source for stainless steel off the shelf.

Cheers,

Neil

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