For those of you looking at our Lakes-style Limefire and Jayster outside chassis headers for your street rod, I have a tech tip for you that will save you grief, frustration, and possible damage to your headers!

You may know that our outside chassis headers are available with or without connections for an under chassis exhaust system. The ability to have a throaty open exhaust, or a quiet and capped header with an under chassis system, has been something we have offered for as long as we have built these headers.

We have found that if you are using a STOCK or MILD engine in your street rod and instructions are followed for a normal installation, you should not have any issues. However, if you have an engine with decent modifications and making pretty good horsepower you might damage the header or header coating at the end of the collector where the under chassis adapter is located. The reason for this problem is the turbulence created in the limited distance of dead space just after the under chassis connection and the end cap on the header (when the header is capped and exhaust gasses are being routed through an under chassis exhaust system). The turbulence in this area causes the EGT's (Exhaust Gas Temperatures) to rise dramatically, which in certain applications could exceed the thermal capacity of the header coating--causing damage or discoloration. The problem only seems to occur on high power engines, and engines which are regularly turning considerable RPM's, or those experiencing extended freeway driving.

The solution is relatively simple, but adds to the cost of your headers. We designed a component named the "PowerCaps" to solve this issue. The PowerCap slides into the collector tube and provides a smooth redirection of exhaust gas flow from the collector tube into the under chassis exhaust tubing. The PowerCap bolts securely into your header using the end cap flange, effectively removing the turbulence area. Another benefit of using the PowerCaps comes from improved horsepower, by improving air flow into the under chassis exhaust.

All Limefire and Jayster headers on our website offer this option in the drop down selection of the product details. Feel free to ask questions about this product and how it solves problems with Lakes-style headers.