Thread: Header leak

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I recently put a set of Hedman's on the 318 in my '75 Duster and couldn't get them to stop leaking. I've used stock gaskets on sbc's,fbc's, and fe's before with no problems. I solved the problem by buying a tube of muffler repair ( $1.99 at O'Reilly's ) and laying a bead of it on a new set of stock gaskets around the port area on each gasket. The stuff glazes over in a couple of minutes, but doesn't cure for a couple of hours. I let them sit for about 10 minutes, installed them and tightened everything down. Fired it up and walla, no more leaks, at least not at the heads. Ended up doing the same thing with the collectors. So far,so good.

I do the same thing with my Sanderson headers. As per their directions, I use Permatex 598B. This stuff works awesome. I had a leak at my collectors and replaced the gaskets and used the same stuff, no more leaks.

Originally posted by 53fatfndr
I do the same thing with my Sanderson headers. As per their directions, I use Permatex 598B. This stuff works awesome. I had a leak at my collectors and replaced the gaskets and used the same stuff, no more leaks.

Iwasn't aware of the Permatex. Does it harden or stay pliable?

It stays pliable. I've taken my headers off for different reasons, and the 598B permatex is a little harder than the others to clean off. But, I found that a Scotchbrite scouring pad takes it off pretty quick.