Welding Tips and Tricks

It's been a while I need advice on welding these new stainless steel exhaust headers to FIX the poorly done welds from Hedman. I just have a TIG but if I truly have to, I can get to a MIG. I'd prefer to do this myself for my own ego stroking and I don't like asking to use other folks equipment

The weld has to be done on the inside of a 1-3/4" opening about 3" down so TONS of room..... Hellz yeah!... :\ The pipes are listed as steel and the last ones had rust and these ones too so I think it's fair to say not Stainless Steel. I can not do any worthy prep work where the weld has to be done. I believe 309L is what I want to use? Any other advice/suggestions will be welcomed

I have a set of new Hedman headers that are High Temp Ceramic (HTC) coated but they just coat the outside. The first set I got I didn't get to the exhaust leaks till a year and a few months later (brand new engine build) and they had a leak. I figured I just did some poor fitment but found the leaks eventually.
Fixed the driver side with a quick MIG zap but found the passenger was way worse later since I figured it was still a fitment issue till I reinstalled it a few times w/ the same results.
These have lifetime warranties for the welds and 5 years for the coating so well within those times but Hedman essentially does not want to honor the warranty.

So some shuffling and I have a brand new set of headers.... The brand new headers have the same exact leak on the passenger side.....

BONUS! They included a NC whistler in one of the pipes and a giant turd in another. I'm no MIG welder but I'm impressed with how perpendicular they got that length of MIG wire.....

So here's your nasty weld porn and you can tell the first set which were brand new but have been run vs the new set which I want to fix and then send the first set back as the warranty exchange. At least they consistently made the same mistake? :\

Thank You!

Geezus Peezus, did a blind 4th grader weld those? There is not a chance in hell I’d put those on a car, let alone a pull-behind red wagon.

If you are insane enough to spend the time trying to fix those, you’re in for a rude awakening. Those pipes might be 400 series stainless (which does rust) and will need 309/312 wire for best results. And you’ll need to grind their dog poop welds down to get to the root of the joint to try and fix it or you’ll be forever chasing more pockets of holes from their misdeeds…

Tragic that a company with their reputation would ship those to anybody other than the scrap man…

your pretty game if you want to fix them.
need to make a jig to hold everything in the right place.
then cut it all apart, clean all the crap welds off it, then weld it back together in the right sequence.
big downside is you will remove material getting rid of those welds so your going to get good practice at filling gaps.

I ended up having my friend zap the inside w/ the MIG since the experience/bragging rights weren't worth it to use my TIG and Summit is replacing these. They'll get back the 1st failed set, and we'll see from this 2nd failed set and the 3rd new, new set which one is better and they'll get the other set back too. Playin the musical chairs warranty exchange game...

The new, new headers get here tomorrow so we'll see if Hedman can royally fail for 3 in a row, or just 2 out of 3 :\
These headers are for my offroad Bronco (not mudding) and w/ a 4" lift, you can't really see the headers as is so the spatter isn't a problem, and the poor welds are BS but as long as they're coated and DO NOT leak, I don't care despite the fact I didn't get a discount for a f'd up job (Didn't/wouldn''t ask for one just a joke that these are clearance sale quality ). As long as they look good with the new 347 Ford Racing stroker engine I have, I'm good I'm also stuck with this brand/model cuz the return period is over for the 1st set and Hedman doesn't honor their lifetime warranty on welds, but exchanges/returns are still possible w/ Summit on the replacement sets I have.

On a side note, for all those n00bs learning out there, looks like you can get a job at Hedman Hedders with no skills at all so there's a potential welding career for everyone

Got my 3rd set of replacements and guess what? They LEAK too! At least it's "better" than before.... Summit is really cool and they're replacing these too. They've agreed that if the 4th set is bad, I can fix whatever I want, and they're reimbursing me $150 for the work. They'll even just give me a full refund and I can get a different set. Awesome company

But yeah, I may end up having to weld one of these sets as I pick from 4 sets which is the best. BS

If I have to weld em, I'll post up how that goes

QC has taken a total dump. Right on the welds of the product. IF I received a product that looked like that, even if it were a kids swing set, it would be going back. Absolutely NO ... if's, and's or butts.

Well the 4th set finally arrived and the verdict is.... They suck too so 4 for 4 Hedman has failed the welds on. The first 3 sets were made in 2022 likely by the same person and def the same shop in CA. The 4th set was made in 2023 in the same shop and I'd swear it's the same person still with 1 more year of "experience". The prep work is still clearly terrible and how anyone could get a job as a welder and keep it with this quality is shocking but then I consider the state of origin and it almost seems "entitled".

I've got a set of JBA's coming in now and these will all go back. 22+ years w/ a bad exhaust so another week after over a month of this BS was worth the extra laugh and down time.

SO I looks like I won't be TIG welding these after all

Enjoy the conclusion of this horror show!