I have 3 bolt flanges connecting my headers to my ory with copper gaskets. No leaks, and it came right off when I swapped my converter after being bolted together for over foUr years. No "persuasion" needed. from the ory to the muffler is all welded. There is just enough room to slide it back out of the way to get the trans out.

 

Yea, with 3 bolt flanges you shouldn't need any persuasion And as long as the flanges are thick quality flanges and don't get over-torqued so that they warp, they shouldn't leak. Back in the day we used to blow 3 bolt flange gaskets all of the time, but the gaskets have gotten better through the years...they were like paper/cardboard back then. I would often see the flanges all bowed out from guys wrenching the nuts and bolts too tight also, which of course would cause gaping leaks

 

Budhayes, I'm supprised your band clamps are holding. every single one of my band clamps on my SSW exhaust are leaking like crazy. I used high temp RTV on each one too.

 

That's exactly what I have on mine. Been that way for about 2-3 years with not a single issue. I've only replaced one of the gaskets too

 

Well, they're not really leaking...much, but I'm not sure if they're exactly "holding" lol. When I went to remove my exhaust to swap my trans, all of the slip fittings just slid apart, without even loosening the clamps. I loosened the clamps at the collectors and removed the cat back to try to take the y-pipe off in one piece, and the other slip joints slid apart with the clamps still fully tightened. The carbon traces tell me that it's leaking slightly, but nothing major. I put it back together with more high temp RTV, but eventually I'm going to get the joints of the Y welded together and have v-bands installed at the collectors.

 

I have ball and socket connectors off the headers, and 3-bolt flanges further back so the front part of my exhaust is completely removable and I dont have any leaks.

 

That would probably be my choice over v-bands if space allowed, but it's real tight in between the collectors and cats on my ride. I like how the ball goes into the socket instead of just butting up against the other side like a v-band. I am glad that just about everyone who has used v-bands seems to be leak free and happy with them, I've just never used them myself yet.

 

[QUOTE=Atomic;4478318]I have ball and socket connectors off the headers, and 3-bolt flanges further back so the front part of my exhaust is completely removable and I dont have any leaks.

QUOTE]

That looks awesome. I need to find a welding/car shop I trust and just get them to fix it.

 

Curt-D on this forum did it actually, he did a great job

 

Ball and socket only way to go