Ilovemountains

I snagged a set of used Downey headers off of Craigslist, the guy I bought them from blew his 3.0 up and did a supra swap.... Anyway the headers have some surface rust but should be fine. I got the cross over pipe, and a used cat with them, along with a few of the stock studs and some bolts. The cross over pipe I got looks like its a home grown unit, does anyone know of a good source for a cross over pipe that would work with these headers or should I start building my own? The cross over was welded up high on the headers output flanges, Im going to grind the welds on the headers and remove the pipe ends from them " he sawzalled it off the truck" I also have a question about the bolts, I read a write up about installing Downey headers and it said that they came with new bolts which leads me to my next question, what bolts should I buy that wont corrode or screw up my heads??? Stainless? Hardened steel? Plain bolts? OR just re-use the stock studs!! Also he said that he used Fel Pro gaskets but had to cut them apart to work with the headers, anyone have to reinstall theirs? if so what gaskets did you use... He did throw in the EGR valve and tube and the other valve / tube, though it looks damaged... Any help would be great! Thanks again, Matt

Ilovemountains

Its a shame Downey went out of business or Id buy a new crossover pipe and gasket set and be on my way!!!

MaK92-4RnR

I recommend you not using new bolts... you can strip them into the block if you do not know what you're doing. use the old ones. use the bolts that are on your manifolds currently. they're in there pretty well and function fine. ( I use them )

MaK92-4RnR

Doug thorley sells gaskets I believe.

and you can get a custom crossover made.

Ilovemountains

Sounds good! I just realized I put this in the wrong forum too!!!

MaK92-4RnR

haha someone will move it.

but yeah, I bought the doug thorley headers and they're great. Im pretty sure the gaskets will be the same. and just get some fab shop to make you a crossover out of custom piping. it wont be mandrel bends or anything though. but it'll work.

85toyman

iTrader: (2)

I have used the 3.0 headers from Downey a while back on my second to last Toyota. They worked nice, the only thing you will want to be aware of is that Downey offered a set of shorter studs for the headers. I had to order them, because I had some leaks around the header and the head. When I put the shorter studs on it cured the problem. Any exhaust shop can build you a cross over pipe.

ToyoTech559

didnt wanna to start a new thread so i post in here.
does anyone know if you can just buy a new oem exhaust gasket to work with downey headers?

85toyman

iTrader: (2)

You should be able to use OEM gasket. However the oem gasket is so thin you may develop small leaks over time. The gasket supplied by Downey was a thick mesh type of gasket that squished out nicely when compressed to fill in any differences from the head to header. The OEM unit will not do that, so if there is any flex under hard acceleration the header may sperate from the head. Just make sure you tighten the crap out the bolts between the two. Just be careful as the head bolts are sensative to stripping. Hila Coiling is not much fun.

ToyoTech559

well i too just picked up (today) a set of used downey headers with crossover. all bolt on, no welding needed. only $200 of c-list

where can i get a set of downey header gasket or what can i get inplace?

85toyman

iTrader: (2)

I would put the oem gaskets with a thick smathering of high temp RTV silicone. The gasket will add regidity and the silicone with give some cushion and depth for the header to mesh into. Downey recommended that you used high temp silicone with even their gaskets.

ToyoTech559

thanks. never heard of using silicone with header gaskets before.

85toyman

iTrader: (2)

I used it on my gaskets and never had any issues. The stuff I am talking about is the orange high temp stuff. If you use regular stuff, I would bet it would melt, so make sure you use the right stuff.

ToyoTech559

oh i know thanks. im working on some other maints stuff 1st