My W2 Hedmans fenderwell headers are starting to crack right at the flange. Noticed another crack starting last night. I had someone repair the last crack and he said the tube should not be welded on the inside and outside of the flange like Hedman did. His opinion was tack the outside and weld the inside and that is how he repaired it. Any one have any opinion on this?

There are many different ways you can attach the tubes at the flange. I would say if it keeps cracking then there might be unusual stress on that tube. But since the headers are built/finished there is not much you can do about it.

I personally tig weld the whole tube on the inside and then sand the flange flat on a belt sander. Then I brass/braze the whole outside to add strength and fill in and make the header look better. If you "ring" the tube before and after brazing you can tell a big difference in the sound.

If that tube is cracked I would reweld it with a Tig and then braze it to strengthen it or just just use multiple passes with a tig to strengthen it. It can be very difficult to do on a finished header. Maybe use ER70S-6 rod as it flows out better.

Good luck.

Split the cylinders... I tig all the headers I make
on the outside, so far I never had one crack there,
also if your tubes stick out a long ways from the flange
thats alot of moment arm, you might need to put a strap
on all of the tubes

These are split. They are fenderwell so I guess that they do have a bit more stress going on than a more traditional header. I was looking at a set of Dynatech? big block chevy dragster headers last night. They have a short section, say 3/4 inch of tube welded to the flange that the header tubes slip into. Seems like a nice design. I know a custom set of headers would probably be my best route as there just isn't a lot to choose from for a W2 head in an early A body strip only application.

Collector story. Last night in the second round my slip on collector just about fell off. Didn't have time to repair it so I ran without the collector. With the collector 10.38, without 10.38, 60's identical. I was looking at the Splitfire headers today. Anyone have any experience with them on a low 10 type engine? That is if they make a W2. I don't think they have a website.

Cracked another one tonight. Kinda sucks when you win second round and have to load up. Gonna call Hedman Monday and see what they have to say.