Clifford Headers - A word to the wise

Since I am about to pick up some from Clifford in the next week or two, I sent this note to Larry along with the comments about to weld or not weld the slip joint. Here is what he said.

Unfortunately the Hudson header is very hard to make with the flange design that Jack Clifford made.

We made sure that all of the new batch of headers were bolted to a Hudson block before sending them to customers. some of them still have a problem bolting up.

What needs to be done is fit checked on your engine before you ceramic coat them to make sure they fit without any problems + it does need to be welded at the slip joint prior to ceramic.

We are in the middle of designing a new flange that will get rid of the slip joint and make it a lot easier to consistently make a great fitting header.

I don't know how long that will take, but it is in the works right now.

So far, we haven't had any problems with the last batch of Hudson headers.

Thank you
Larry 6=8

Here is another esponse I got from Larry. He responds to e-mails fast.

It is OK not to weld the slip joint. A lot of installers bend the tube and cause unseen problems is the reason I like to see guys weld the slip joint once the headers are bolted to the block.

I would bolt them on finger tight so the headers have a chance to fit.

The new flange design will be six months in the future. We need to make the header easier to install.

I don't forsee and problems with the header we have now.

Thank you
Larry 6=8

courtesyman wrote:

I fear the word to the wise has come too late for me too. I had no notion of a slip-joint problem - don't even know what that is- or a fit up problem or a need to weld heat-riser tubes. My internet order in Oct automatically charged me a ceramic coating cost of $100 added to the header cost and then with shipping came to just over $400. Now I am told that welding should be done before the coating - doesnt make sense or result in a secure sense of future success. I tried to email Larry at Clifford, but my email was returned as not deliverable. Will I have to wait forever for a product that won't work ? Should I try and cancel my order before it is shipped? Is there no email address that works?

I am wondering if you ordered the right part? The headers sell for 339.00 so if you got them coated and shipped to UT for 61.00 you did very very well.

Oh I am not missing your point (point well taken) I just noticed the price also. I live about 60 miles from Clifford so I plan to pick up mine myself. I have been talking with Larry both by e-mail and phone quite a bit about the headers. I did not see on the site where coating was available much less mandatory. He has been pretty clear with me that he wants me to fit them to be sure they are OK before I coat them. I sent him a last e-mail concerning why he isn't using a fixture to check the headers before they are sent to customers. I worked for one header manufacturer and all headers were assemble in a fixture and then checked again before packaging. I don't remember ever having a complaint about gaps or holes not lining up. Being a QA Engineer with an OEM now, something like this could be a disaster in warranty costs. We will see what his response is on Monday as I have been e-mailing from my work.