PDR on a stainless header?
 

Hey 804 -

I've got a stainless header for my S2000 that has 3 dents in the middle two primaries that I'd like to have taken out. Anyone know if these can be corrected by a PDR person? I've seen a few 'home' methods that may work -

- plug all the openings, fill the header with water and freeze it (repeat a few times)
- plug all the openings, pump the header with air and then slowly heat the dents up outside inwards
- weld/dent puller and have at it


Any thoughts?

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

144 views... not a single post...

Seriously?

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Maybe your just as fucked as before, now more of us know. Bitch at the dummy who dented the header.
Who went full potato and mashed it on the 1st place? May we know how to put on header w/o denting them.

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

1. Bolded part makes zero sense, how was I fucked before? And what/why do I care if people know I have a dented header?
2. Header was purchased with the damage already on it.

I'm trying to get opinions on if it's repairable and/or if people have experience with removing dents from stainless.

Did you help with either of these items? (Hint: No)

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Some thoughts on this:

If it's uncoated stainless steel, paintless dent removal has nothing to do with it...

Frozen: Depending on the wall thickness of the tubing, you may do more damage than good and may split the tubing (everywhere). You might also not be able to control the direction of expansion enough to do any good in the first place, and you may damage any slip joints, etc..

Heated: Sounds wonderfully dangerous. Put the header under pressure, then locally heat the metal to the bottom of the liquid temperature range, and try to balloon it back out in exactly the right area without heating it too much and blowing it out under pressure, spraying yourself with metal fragments in the process. I really wouldn't recommend doing this method.

Pull 'em out: This is the least dangerous and the most controlled, if it works. You can tack weld pins/clips/loops to it wherever you want, and still heat it if you need some extra help. This method will work best if there aren't sharp creases at the edges of the dents. Fixturing the header to be pulled on will take some minor creativity. If the wall thickness is of any appreciable thickness, it's going to take a lot of force to pull them out. This isn't a sheet metal body panel.

Other suggestions: If the dents are really bad/creased, or the header is mangled, it might be worthwhile to cut out the damaged section (if it's only on one side of the tube) and weld a patch panel over it.


I'm assuming this is the normal style of dents caused by a lowered car smacking the header into the ground?

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

AFAIK it's untreated, I use 'PDR" just because they pull dents out of metal and may have experience with pulling it from other stuff. I'm aware of what it stands for.

I've been doing some reading on the freezing process and it seems to be pretty straight forward. The method relies on water freezing and expanding consistently so when it hits the dent on the circular tube it pushes it back out.

The heating definitely seems like the more dangerous of the options, apparently once the metal starts moving it moves quick so you have to be super careful.

Pulling them seems like a sold option, I've seen suggestions of drilling a small hole and then pulling up through the tube, but not sure how well it'd work.

And not the type of dents you get from being slammed. Honestly not sure how the other owner managed to get them.

Attachment 188782

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Are you honestly 44? Jesus fuck grow up and don't reproduce.

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

You can seriously buy an $80 eBay header, it fits perfect and flows just fine, several of my friends, my self included all run them and even auto x without any issues

Seems to be less trouble and effort then all that work for some dents

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

It's a J's Racing Header for the S2000. The OEM header flows incredibly well and few aftermarket ones flow better. J's is one of the ones that does better. If I was just modding for the sake of modding, sure, I'd buy one of the PLM headers and call it a day. I'm modding in an effort to actually gain something.

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Well, based on where they are, I think two of the dents could be pushed out from behind by going down the tube from the flange. You would need to make or buy a curved spoon or dolly to get down there. The third dent is going to be the tough one to reach. You'll probably still need some heat to help with the hammer and spoon/dolly work if you go that route.

I think the curvature and the metal thickness are both wrong to be able to use something like a bullseye pick, which is unfortunate. I still think a (stud welder type) dent puller might work well, but it's going to take some decent force to pull a dent of that depth at a bend on a piece of tubing. Probably need some heat and a slide puller.

Might as well try freezing water. It's a dented header, what's the worst that can happen?

I just came across a suggestion for drilling a small hole on the opposite side of the tube, then using a punch through the hole to push the dent out. That's pretty brilliant, if it works...

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Thanks for the suggestions Farik8!

That's the way I'm thinking though, it's already dented what's the worst that will happen? The bottom one is not nearly as deep as the others and is the only one that's got a slight crease. I figure if I can get the two other ones I'll be pretty happy.

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

The funniest thing I came across was a suggestion to find someone who repairs brass horns (the musical kind). I can't think of someone with more specific skills for exactly what you need, assuming you can find someone like that. Might be worth a shot, unless you're trying to stick with the DIY approach.

Re: PDR on a stainless header?
 

Haha, I didn't even think about that at all!

I had spoken with a general purpose stainless manufacturing place, they didn't want to mess with it because they couldn't guarantee their repair would be what I want.