Sanderson Headers on the P

[fordguy]

How did you solve yours? Gaskets or RTV silicone only?

wyflyer, i am not going to run them. i dont need headers for my project, went to the explorer 5.0 stock manifolds. i will sell them and spend that money elsewhere on the project.

 

[Rox Crusher]

Wyflyer, thanks for posting up the details.

I have the BH headers and exhaust.

I bought the headers long before I needed to install them. They didn’t come with gaskets.

Followed installation instructions and they leaked almost immediately.

Their bolt together exhaust challenged my patience as well. There were some known figment issues that they had an easy solution for, which they did for me when I picked them up.

But getting that thing to bolt together and stay tight wasn’t something I was able to accomplish.

Being 17 miles from their shop paid dividends. I brought it to them and told them what was wrong. They said that they had to start installing the headers with a certain gasket and a very thin coat of the red exhaust sealant. They also said that they weld up all of their exhaust systems on the Broncos they work on.

They have a guy in their shop that knows every nuance and trick to get things right so I left it with them to fix. Best money I ever begrudgingly spent.

But, the gaskets are leaking again despite use of stage 8 hardware. Maybe Viperwolf1 can chime in with his recommendation for better header bolts.

Having said all this, these headers and exhaust would still be my choice.

 

[Wyflyer]

Yes mine are the GT40P heads. I built my entire system from the headers back with Flowmaster stainless parts after I won a 50% off gift certificate at OCBR a few years ago. It's all tig welded from the collecter back.

I hope this thread comes across as more informational than bashing or negative. BH has the correct gasket for this header, and they work when used with their gaskets. Their online order info now recommends to buy the gaskets when ordering their headers, and if ordering by phone they will suggest the gaskets.
But the instructions with the Sanderson headers sure do cause a lot of confusion.

 

[Eoth]

I used gaskets on mine and everything is fine. My logic is that Ford uses gaskets with stock manifold/head then probably I should continue using them. I'm sure that if both surfaces are perfect then they are not necessary. Unfortunately my world is far from perfect...

 

[DirtDonk]

Reasonable logic there. But it's the same reason I haven't used gaskets on mine (yet), because none of my stock cast iron manifolds, or those of friend's and other engines I've worked on have had gaskets. And have never leaked either.
My '71 came that way from the factory, as did several others of friends and that I worked on way back when that I can verify were also as-new. But if yours came with them from the factory, I wouldn't change that either. I don't know what Ford was experimenting with though, using them on some engines, but not others.
I've certainly seen engines with gaskets too. Just too many without to be a coincidence.

Bottom line though, is that even though plenty of gaskets leak, I've never heard of using a gasket actually causing the leaks just by being there. Whereas all it takes is one leaker from not using a gasket to make a gasket-believer out of someone.
So when in doubt... Use a good quality gasket.

I may in the future too, but so far so good.
The Explorer exhaust manifolds in the '68 have gaskets, and it's not like I'm going to take them out!
Unless they leak...%)

Paul