Exhaust Leak At Header

Good Morning Everyone,
I recently installed Paul's Viking Header exhaust, and when I installed it, I saw that the factory gaskets were still inside the ports, so I went ahead an put on the new header. When I did this, I made sure to make sure it hadn't rolled downward, and I thought I had it pretty well "flat" against the gaskets. I tightened the acorn nuts to 19 nm (14.01 ft/lbs for us imperialists) and bolted on the silencer. I loaded in the 20355 KN TORS.hex "Rocket III Roadster Aftermarket exhaust, Roadster tuned for 3xKN and TORS 100%secs opened on all rpm, all gear ignition tables copied from highest gears to all other gears speedo corrected 250 kph top speed made by Bruce Ingram in Houston Texas. " as the first trial run tune (while I search for a good tuner around east central Florida.) On my recent round trip to Daytona (160is miles round trip) I noticed that the headers were really hot.

This morning I was doing some more reading here on the forums and found a couple of things that in my inexperience overlooked.
1) Acorn nuts might be too shallow with Paul's exhaust
2) Check for god**** exhaust leaks.

So I checked for exhaust leaks and it appears that I'm leaking from the port closest to the rider and the one closest to the front of the bike. Middle one seems to have sealed actually. (I have now learned my lesson to always check after messing around with the exhaust system.)

Reading the manual that IDK posted, it looks like it's recommended to change the gaskets. I've put in an order to Bikebandit.com for three new gaskets; however, I don't know if they'll actually have them in stock as they seem to be hit or miss on Triumph parts. If I cannot change the gaskets, would it be acceptable to use something like Permatex Ultra Copper RTV Silicone Gasket maker to shore up the seal?

I also plan on using Sonny's idea of some stainless washers to help with the Acorn nuts.

Thank you in advanced,
Keith

Just go the confirmation email from Bike Bandit that the gaskets have shipped. So there's that.
Should I just replace the gaskets, use both the old a new, or use the new ones with a small bead of sealant?

Use the new ones with sealant. The washers behind the acorn nuts worked out rather well and even Paul approved of the idea. Not to say anything bad about Bikebandit but the next time you need parts try Hermy's. I am currently in the middle of a major rebuild but when the time comes I plan on using some very expensive flat sheet gasket material cut to size (Laser) that will fit the exhaust ports. Should be a better fit then the crush gaskets especially with Paul's three into one system. If it works will have some available in the future.

sonny said:

Use the new ones with sealant. The washers behind the acorn nuts worked out rather well and even Paul approved of the idea. Not to say anything bad about Bikebandit but the next time you need parts try Hermy's. I am currently in the middle of a major rebuild but when the time comes I plan on using some very expensive flat sheet gasket material cut to size (Laser) that will fit the exhaust ports. Should be a better fit then the crush gaskets especially with Paul's three into one system. If it works will have some available in the future.

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Let me know how they work out and I'll buy three.

Check that all three flanges on the header are the same, with a 2 foot file or better that will go across all 3 and check, no scratching means not flat so work on all 3 at 1 time until theyre flat. My tuner had to do this for a correct tight fit, only 1 new gasket, he does not use silicone here as he says it should seal with the one washer and the sealant messes up the sniffer when tuning. He also does not torque here, he tightens until crush washer is crushed (you can feel this happen) and snugs up tight. no leaks and on to tuning

You don't need a file, the flanges are independent, it won't be better. I have the same design as Paul, check the only place where flange can rest (pictured).

Thank for schooling my ignorance on all of this. I still have the stock exhaust, so I'll check with a flat edge to make sure the flanges are in the same orientation. @oteczdmitriy, I take it from the picture, you're giving a slightly upward pressure on the flange. When I put on Paul's header, there was really only two positions that it wanted to go into; one where it sort of hangs and rolls downwards on the studs, and the one that felt right where I pulled from the bottom collector pipe and pushed up/flat on the tops of the flanges.

Lol, I think it might be better if I take pictures of it once the new gaskets get here.

If you are using the OEM acorns, maybe they bottomed out on the stud before you actually torqued the flange to engine.

I'm talking about this ledge ...

leatal said:

If you are using the OEM acorns, maybe they bottomed out on the stud before you actually torqued the flange to engine.

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You are correct.