Thread: header question

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I know they say you can get by without gaskets but only if they are a one piece casting that has has a good square flat surface machined on to them. 40 years ago Ford FE exhaust manifolds came without gaskets but after a lot of heat cyles it was not uncommon to have them warp and leak. I have installed scores of headers of every different manufacture and quality and have never found one that didn't need gaskets. On tubular headers the flange area is built up aroung the tubes and then ground flat on a large belt sander after all of the welding is done. I installed a new set on my wifes Mustang over the weekend, they were a moderately expensive set by a well known company. Before I installed them I checked the surface with a straight edge and found waves in the surface that were .030+ deep. There was no way on earth they would have worked without a gasket. I have belt sander that takes a 132" x 3" belt so I can prep them to make sure they are flat. I had to reweld the flange face around one tube on each header to be able to get flat enough to match the other tubes.