Custom race header fabrication source?

The rebuild and conversion of my Radical Club Sport from D to C sports racer class continues. I've been doing a massive renovation project so it's dragged on for months, and, it turns out, finding some stuff for an older sports racer they didn't make too many of can be a challenge.

What I've got so far:

• Mostly disassembled car.
• Clean, low miles Hayabusa engine w/ everything needed to make it run.
• Appropriate mounts from Radical, which actually fit!
• Rill Tech CNC flapper/baffle oil pan/windage trays/overdrive oil pump gear.
• Rill Tech trimmed + car configured wiring harness.
• Stack 8100 dash. Oil + fuel pressure, oil + water temp, tach on one unit. W/ harness, senders, oil warning LED, 4 stage shift light.
• Custom fuel cell from Fuel Safe.
• Custom push-pull shift cable to route under cell.
• Miscellaneous thermal management materials and plumbing.

Whats conspicuously missing is a header. The system that was on the car in it's GSXR1000 incarnation was sort of a POS, so I'd like something proper, and while I'm not a bad weldor, I'd prefer to sub the job out to someone who does this every day.

Here's a whole slew of pics of my situation, some solutions, and a fixture I made...

So - I've found 3 places - Rill Tech, who will sell me a stainless and Inconel header for $1800 (I'm not kidding) Hy Tech who do this stuff - see pic of Citation sports racer header in album - and Downs in Sonoma Ca who I've yet to contact.

Seeing as the car is in MD near DC, I've made a fixture which has a mock-up of a 'Busa head - or at least the exhaust ports - and the area of the frame through which the secondaries have to exit.

I fear that I'll end up using 3 days in the shop and a bunch of universal bends from Speedway Motors and cobbling up something by myself, but does anyone know anyone I haven't thus been able to google up who's good for this stuff?

These guys might.

IIRC Keith has a neat tool for mocking up headers so then it's more a matter of who can bend up some steel/stainless and stick it together.

Wheels77 (Andy) is a header legend almost as much as a Challenge legend

ice engine works found it

Seeing as I have something that conveys spent fuel/air mix out the back, a fixture and a set of Hayabusa exhaust stubs, I'll go all Per Schroeder on the problem and do as he did on the LeGrand.

I'll probably get a "real" system later, but for now, if I can find a chunk of a day next week I'll do this:

oldtin wrote: ice engine works found it

bookmarked

ty

In reply to motomoron:

Very interesting, I look forward to builds like these, keep us posted w/ pics

I fit up a 4 into 1 equal length FZR header for a DSR on my kitchen table over one winter. 90/45/22.5 bends from a U- bend header kit held together w/ hose clamps, witness lines till a section could be tacked w/ tig. Final fit and weld w/ exhaust spigot and collector jigs and fixtures.

Lotta work and these were my pre-internet days... always looking for new ideas.

In reply to fasted58:

You had a DSR on your kitchen table ? :-p

motomoron wrote: In reply to fasted58: You had a DSR on your kitchen table ? :-p

Well, the old ones (LeGrand era) were about small enough

Ice Engine Works stuff (aka "Header Lego") is awesome. But you can get a bit carried away.

Don't mind the welds, I was learning how to TIG on that project. Held together just fine! Header lego isn't super-cheap, but it's significantly less expensive than it was when FM bought their set and it's about the price of an off-the-shelf Racing Beat header for a Miata. If that lets you build one custom header as opposed to buying one, you'll pay for it on the first try.

A cheaper option is to use the following progression. This is what I did on my Locost.
- flexible hose (like pool hose) of an appropriate diameter and cut to length
- welding rod following the route chosen by the hose, bent to only 4" or 6" radius to match the available mandrel bends
- construction out of mandrel bends

Thanks Keith + everyone.

I have Keith's Locost book and may have said out loud "that's a great idea" on using plastic accordion hose to mock up the header.

The header-lego is just too expensive for the number of uses - that should be a "GRM community toolbox" rental tool.

For now I'm going to use my fixture, the stock Hayabusa exhaust stubs + flanges, the system that was on the car, and a few universal exhaust bends I got from Speedway Motors. I can make something functional and possibly even workmanlike.

At a future date I'll send the fixture to HyTech and have him build a 4-1 system out of mild steel for which I'll build a proper rear pipe and have the whole mess Jet-Hot coated. Maybe even a Burns muffler...

motomoron wrote: The header-lego is just too expensive for the number of uses - that should be a "GRM community toolbox" rental tool.

I wonder if this isn't the sort of tool you can use once, then eBay for 75% of cost? Heck, you might get lucky and do even better, but going in knowing you'll lose some money could get you a buy-it-now buyer...

If a $400 tool (the one I've used) means you can build your own header instead of buying a $900 one, it's not too expensive.