locking header bolts?

[Assasin]

Well, I am replacing my headers for the third time. I had crappy shorty headers from ebay wich got brown and didnt fit right, then i upgraded to pacesetter, but the paint burned off and they also discolored, so.... I paid a guy 200.00 to make me stainless steel long tube headers. Right now he is making them and I think he said he is making them out of 1 5/8" stainless steel piping. He said that they will probably hold the polished look longer than the other crap I had on my car. That means, I will have to change out the headers for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. So my question is... is there anybody that makes locking header bolts for the focus? I want the install to be perfect with no raspy sound. If nobody makes locking header bolts, then can anybody tell me where I can buy regular header bolts (maybe stainless steel) online?

[Sponsor]

[Assasin]

oh yeah, forgot to ask you guys a question. last time i took off my headers, i was taking off the right stud, the bolt thing with the star head, and as i was trying to loosen it, the head of it broke. so how do i get it it out now?

[Chucko]

I've used Stage 8 locking header bolts, and I love them! I don't know if they make a set to fit Foci yet though. See http://www.stage8.com/ .

Worse comes to worst, you could safety-wire the stock bolts. Loctite isn't going to work on exhaust hardware.

[Assasin]

Thats the thing, the bolts that i have now are jacked from all ,of the tightening and loosening. They look like crap. i want to know where to get new bolts. also, can anybody please tell me how the heck to take out the right stud that has the hex head broken off? I already took off the nut but now I cant get the stud off!

[Laidman]

Hmmm.... well if there was room I would say drill it out, hmm... if the stud is sticking out passed the block I'd say try vise grips on it, or once again if there is room try easy outs. Either way there is gonna be alot of swearing going on at that garage

[Assasin]

yeah, i have sworn enough already for a whole lifetime on that damn stud and have 10 bloody knuckles!

[Laidman]

That sucks bro!! It may have to come down to either having the engine pulled, or tearing apart the front end to give you more room to at drilling the stud out. Question for ya, I'm planning on installing headers on my focus, I have close to 50,000km on the car, how hard will it be to remove the factory manifold? and which headers did you start with that gave you so many problems???

[Assasin]

The factory manifold is not that hard to remove, but it does take patience! The bolts are a little tedious to remove because they area little difficult to get to but with some patience, you should have all them removed in lIke 30 min. I started off with the ebay ssautochrome shorty headers. They fit like shit because the two right pipes were made bent toward the car and not away from it so it hit up against my engine. Plus, the second I installed them and started the car, they discolored to like an ugly ass brown color. If you are considering removing your factory headers, I would seriously consider getting long tube headers because they are soooo much easier to work on.

[Laidman]

I'd get long tube but the legallity hear is pretty hard to get around. I would need a Cat to make them legal

[Laidman]

what kind of difference is there with long as to shorty's? Sound/Power