I'll take a photo later but my car was up on a hoist before and I noticed my Pacemakers have been dented and scraped pretty decently at the front. (assuming it is from trying to exit deep guttered driveways.

I was warned when I had them fitted that because my car is lower and it is a 3.0Litre (some say the engine sits lower) there is a good chance that I will knock it around a bit. The Pacemakers do appear to sit as the lowest point of the underside of the car

I am not terribly concerned at the moment as it is not badly damaged but I was wondering what likelihood any further damage might have on the performance of the headers. I know some of it is logical, but I would like to hear some information from members, especially those who really know exhaust and performance exhaust systems.

Also, a bit late for me now maybe, but would it be wise to try to weld a SS plate just under the front pipes so if anything is going to get dinged initially that the plate will take most of the brunt? Or will this cause a pocket of heat or something?

Tough one.
You might try making a bash plate out of some heavy perforated sheet to protect them, that should give adequate ventilation. Crushed pipes can really restrict exhaust flow and suck HP errr Kw. :D

If the pipes are only slightly dented you wont notice any difference, but if they are crushed enough to restrict flow you'll drop some power.

I'm sure there may be a hint of a performance decrease but if you can notice it, you're a better man than any on this forum.

BTW. The engine sits in the same place as the 3.5l engine, it's just the exhaust ports happen to sit lower.

Every time i get the car up on a hoist- they always try convince me to put some sort of 'skid pan' to absorb most the impact.
But if youve seen how low my car is... :doubt:

They never said anything to me about a decrease in performance though.

Every time i get the car up on a hoist- they always try convince me to put some sort of 'skid pan' to absorb most the impact.


what type of metal would be used for something like this??

mild steel in a half pipe shape to cup the extractors.

ive seen this damage and its not pretty, it takes the nice blue paint off them :P

If the dent looks bad, imagine the strain on the soft metal alloy head studs :shock:

like redav touched on, probably wont really matter much at all .... yeah its a slight restriction but not worth worrying bout unless ur putting out big power and need the engine to breathe more ... i reckon

I added a bit to betta explain :D

I scrape the exuast (and god knows what else) in my brothers VN comiie all the time in the city :confused:

the reason the 3.0 extractors sit lower than the 3.5, is because the block deck height is 15mm higher on a 3.5, meaning the heads sit higher, keepeing the extractors higher.
Even though the block itself mounts in the same place

My TE used to bottom out on my extractors all the time. The end result was some fairly scratched dented pipes and they had cracked at the top extractors where you bolt them on to the engine. Had new RPW extractors (the shortie ones) put in the other week and no bottoming out yet. Definately dont sit as low now

As Giuseppi said...I wouldn't be worried about dents...I'd be worried about cracks, particularly at welds/joins. The super hot then cold temperatures don't do much for metal fatigue either...

If it just scrapes on driveways/gutters it should be ok...but your exhaust might start exiting staight out the ports if you hit something at speed.

That's why we bought a 3L motor to make our headers on. I wanted to make dedicated 3L sump-hugging headers. We then pop in a set of spacers btwn the block and the heads to do the 3.5L headers. Too easy. That part anyway....

Maybe able to cut and shut some length from the primaries to reduce underhang?

I'll take a photo later but my car was up on a hoist before and I noticed my Pacemakers have been dented and scraped pretty decently at the front. (assuming it is from trying to exit deep guttered driveways.
If it makes you feel better, mine now are lucky enough to have a decent dint in the front collector.

If it makes you feel better, mine now are lucky enough to have a decent dint in the front collector.
You just made my weekend! thanks buddy! :D

Nah, it's a bugger... I am actually more worried about a sports lip I intend to put on... I can just imagine what is going to happen to it!

Don't feel too bad, my Verada's standard front pipe has a slight dent and scrapes on it. Pretty strange considering I've still got all the plastic under there.

what type of metal would be used for something like this??

Aluminium foil..:P


Gotta suck Neil.. how the hell would driveways hit ur pacies.. ur car is not that low.. :confused:

Gotta suck Neil.. how the hell would driveways hit ur pacies.. ur car is not that low.. :confused:
ha ha... no it is when the driveways dip in a steep 'V' shape as the front wheels hit square on... so now I just get in a habit of of exiting and entering driveways on an angle. I know my car is not that low, but the pacey's are. It is more when I have hit it not going slow enough also so there is more bounce.

This is a photo after a few weeks of fitting... you can see how low they are there
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/9223/paceunder1tp.jpg

The super hot then cold temperatures don't do much for metal fatigue either...
Better not drive our cars then :badgrin:

I would take them back or put the car to a suitable ride height.