rwj383

I have had mine for about 7 months now. i will start off by saying my pleasure with the performance results and look of them is a 10. however, my pleasure with the build quality and workmanship continues to slide down. I have never been pleased with the sealing quality of the flanges and clamps. mainly because they dont line up very well, so they slide in the clamp after clamping and become leaky. i have attempted to cut thin gaskets for the flanges, but, the clamps arent wide enuf to accomodate any kind of gasket.

The lastest issue: the last couple weeks i've been driving around with a serious exhuast leak; HC's coming up from under the car to the point where my eyes water while sitting at a light!. Plus, i have scoped out some leaks at the header gaskets. I had FLP send me an extra set of header gaskets. I dropped the headers yesterday (to also wrap the pipes for my wire arcing problem-see other post) and found that the bracket/tab that is welded down by the collector for bracing the headers to the bell housing had torn off the header around the weldment, leaving a .5" x 1.5" hole!!!! the tab on the other header is starting to tear off, too. I took the headers down and had them welded. so now, they look like crap. but, i am into function more than looks. I'm curious, anyone else having issues with their headers?

PS- i thought about having all these clamp flanges cut off and replaced with tried/true 3-bolt + gasket flanges. but, i'm not sure how long these headers are going to last. also, i am not going to beckon Xtreme for warranty because this is my daily driver and i cannot wait while shipping the headers back and forth to get new/repaired ones takes place. Unless they would be willing to ship me new ones now without the old ones first. Besides, i have read other posts where Xtreme tells you to go straight to the manufacturer for warranty issues.


[Modified by rwj383, 12:48 PM 11/21/2002]

kp

I read about the brackets cracking and looked at mine the other day, been on the car for 3 months and 3000 miles and they look OK. I'm not sure if mine are the new or old style - I think they are the old. The LH bracket ended up around 1" too low, I could have just put the bolt in and drawn the bracket up to mount on the bellhousng but I ened up opening the holes on the bracket enough where everything went together without putting any stress on those welded on brackets.

As far as getting the 'V' flanges to line up I never had any luck, I just silicone them and it holds up for a while, no matter what I do there is always a gap somewhere - kind of makes swapping the cats out a pain. I didnt have wire issues, using stock wires. I am noticing a lot of rust staining on the one collector that the AC drips on, dont know how long that will hold up..

Other then that I am happy with them, I've spent more for less and less for more over the years..

Patches

Robert, funny you should bring this up because, last weekend, I was thinking the same thing about welding standard flanges onto the collectors and cats to get rid of the v-clamps. I never have really liked the way they fit or work. I've had to tighten the he77 out of them to get them so seal and sooner or later the clamps are going to break.

I haven't had the tabs break although I did have to initially force/bend them to get them to line up with the holes on the bell housing bracket. You drive your car more than I do so that may be why your's broke and mine haven't - yet.

Good luck getting replacements for them. FLP has been in denial about problems with these headers since day one. Nate may be able to run interference for you on this to get quicker response.

Mike Mercury

thank-you, thank-you. THANK-YOU for that report.
:cheers:

Way too many people (who find out later that a purchase didn't work out like planned) would never talk about it in a million years. Because... you know... some people are never wrong :rolleyes:

wwashing

Thank you for this! :cheers:

SAXN8R

I have had mine on for about 5 months and 9000 miles with no problems other than the annoying banging from the x-pipe on the metal shroud under the gas tank when I hit an occassional big bump at speed or get wheel hop! It is very annoying, but I dunno what can be done!

C5Noir

Man, that sucks rwj383. Mine work great and I have never had any leaks (crossing fingers). My only complaint is the bolts in the V-clamp, they're WAY too short. However, I'm solving that by picking up a set of longer bolts from Lowes ;)

RPOZ4Z

I now know what I won't be buying!
I was seriously considering getting FLP headers, but after reading this i'll wait to see if the quality improves. :cheers:

kp

Before jumping on the anti-FLP bandwagon remember they updated these a while back. I'm sure if you have serious issues they will take care of it. Call and talk to someone there, they are not real fast with e-mail. I dynod there a few times and I have no complaints with anyone at FLP, they were all friendly and down to earth people - I didnt even have their headers on my car and they never tried to sell me on them once. I'm sure if I called and complained they would take of it - I am satisfied though and leave it at that.

Patches

kp, granted they do make a good product that I am, overall, satisfied with. There seems to be a disconnect, not only with FLP, but with many companies when they shift over part of their sales efforts to the internet. The response to customer queries and problems of many of these companies leaves a lot to be desired as far as the web and email are concerned.

I won't get specific on who, but I personally was told by the owner of a forum-supporting vendor that his company dropped the FLP line because of poor customer and vendor service. This was just after I had installed my headers and was trying to resolve the fitment issues. The vendor went out of his way to help me with FLP even though he no longer carried the line.

IMHO, FLP needs to provide a more immediate and accessible presence if they want to reap the benefits of doing business on the web. Just look at the forum's most successful vendors - they have reps that participate enthusiastically here and, because of their contributions and reputations, do a tremendous business.

Here's to hoping FLP steps up to the plate. :cheers:




[Modified by Patches, 6:16 PM 11/21/2002]

CapeCodCoupe

I have an unopened box in the garage...received today!!!! Should I or shouldn't I? Sounds depressing. :eek: Also..I have a Bassani X pipe on the car with PRT's. Should I try to cut & paste into that? Never had any problems with X pipe hitting anything. :eek:

Patches

Open them and put them in. I promise you, you will really like 'em. :yesnod:

Performance improvements are quite noticeable and they sound great. They're beautiful too. :cheers:

Also, you have version 2 which have a much better fit.
:yesnod:


[Modified by Patches, 6:30 PM 11/21/2002]

kevette

Thanks for posting, I believe i won't get the FLP's now.
Don't that just p#ss you off, you pay 15 hundred dollars for them and they start leaking! Good luck, I'd raise h*ll about it and see if FLP will replace them! :mad :mad :mad :cuss :cuss :cuss :cuss

CapeCodCoupe

Patches !! I'm with you. Your instructions alon with Black Magic have given me the confidence to do it myself. I trust all will be ok. I love my car and don't trust anyone else to do the install. All of a sudden all this negative press? I decided on these after reading ONLY GOOD Comments! :confused:

Patches

Email me if you have any questions. :cheers:

edbon@adelphia.net

kp

I can go on and on about about some vendors/manufactures but I usually dont get too excited about this stuff. Been doing this for ~25 years both as a hobby and for a living and I have seen some of the best and worst service/parts. I agree there is too much 'disconnection' involved with web sales. Its usually a pretty good deal for the vendors/manufactures/buyers until something goes wrong - thats when you get to test a little known thing called 'customer service' which is highly lacking nowadays.

I have had great luck with most sponsors here and on LS1.com, until something goes wrong. I just got screwed over by SLP again and I swear I will never buy anything with their name again - its the third time they screwed up packaging something and if you want to talk about disconnection - call those people. The vendor that took my money hasnt helped any but I try not to complain, I just wont spend any more money there..

Anyhow, I will be the first to point out what is wrong with the FLPs but that doesnt mean I will throw them out - they are a good product. IMO if you call them on the phone and they fix your problem thats good enough for me. Sometimes I dont like to call and end up doing a lot of stuff by e-mail but lets face it - doing things by e-mail is about as disconnected as you can get :cheers:

SideStep

Hey Patches,

As you know I just got my cat-backs. I also just ordered my blackwing. Needless to say I do not have a lot of "through-away" money to be experimenting of which product is best. I need for my first investment in a product to be the best for me. You told me about your issues with the FLPs, and I do not want this to become a bash fest. What do you recommend for LTs, cats, and an x-pipe system??? I was looking at the FLPs because they looked to be a good answer for a newbee wanting a complete system, but once again, I need a setup that will be low maintenance for at least a little while. After reading other post, not just this one, I think I need to make another choice. What do you think?? Recommendations??

When can I hear your new setup??

Thanks!
:cheers:

360Lemans

My bracket/tab that is welded down by the collector for bracing the headers to the bell housing has ripped out on both sides also. I thought it was the high speeds I travel due to the wind baffling underneath the corvette. I also had to weld and remove the brackets. But other than that, no problems. I will get two band clamps and weld the brackets to the clamps for more support.

bparker

You are on to something there as that is exactly what I did with my TPIS Headers due to the slip fit was leaking..

After having some "real" gasket flanges I havent looked back.. Now I just hope they hold up! :lol:

I wished they all were built like the bullet proof TTS Headers I had on my 99 A4.. :yesnod:

SAXN8R

When did version 2 come out? I got mine in June or July, I think? :(