I noticed in another thread, that someone said not to use "u" clamps on headers where it meets up to the "y" pipe. When I installed my headers and y pipe, I first used band clamps that came with the headers and on one side it would not tighten down enough, so I had the u clamps put on. In the other thread the post said that it woudl be really difficult to get off if you needed to. Is this true? What are the advantages / dis-advantages between teh two clamps?

 

the u calmps are hard to get off because there skinny and over time crush into the pipes and make alil indent around the pipe... the band clamps are sometimes harder to get tight enough ... i still like either of these setups better then my three external bolts i had on my 84z never stay tight even with dual nuts.

 

You need to use 3" wide stainless steel band clamps. The clamps metal is quite thin so that it conforms to the surface you are tightening it around. I get mine from a truck part supplier, about $8 each.

 

i found the Accuseal to work better than the 3" pre-formed or flat band clamps.

 

To me the Accuseal are too narrow and too thick to get a good seal. Particularly at the junction of the Y pipe and the I pipe.

 

Thats what I had, and it would not seal all the way to prevent it from leaking, so that is when I went with the u clamp.

 

I used the accuseal, works good, Even used them at the collector. The rest is welded for me after years of fighting leaks.