In my search for ****** SuperComp. SBC Fenderwell headers for my 55 Chevy I went through MAS racing products in St. Paul Mn. Hears the story, contacting MAS they told me they could still get them from ****** who was now Holley. OK, after a little wait I get the "new headers", cost $619.00 for painted headers. Now I open the box and I see a set of headers with flat black paint bubbling over rust with vise marks on the tubes and a shabby welded on ****** Super Comp stainless plate. After calling MAS I got nowhere except a referral to Holley Performance Products, who want me to send the headers to them for evaluation, so do I eat the cost of shipping 2 times for another 80 bucks. Is it worth it or just blast them myself and put the money into coating the headers local. Somebody at MAS got me and I just want to put this out there as warning to who you do business with! Thanks for reading.
If you want fenderwell headers that actually work, you need to touch base with Stahl. Pricey, but very effective.
Yea, they are out of biz, I have not heard about any trouble with MAS, I never had any problems.weird.
______________________________________________________________ This has no real effect on your problem, but this is a common problem because the hands on speed shops for the most part are a thing of the past. Everybody shops for everything off the net or through a catalog and this is the price you pay for buying something sight unseen. Good luck solving your problem
I think you would be happier if you just get them coated yourself. I bought a set of black ****** Comps for my car and they looked pretty shabby too. So bad in fact, that I was disappointed enough to order a set of ceramic coated ones to put on the car and then sold my original unused black set on ebay. Right after the buyer received them, they complained that they looked terrible (and he only paid about 1/2 price) so I refunded him his money included shipping. In the end, I would have been way ahead just having my original set coated (or buying a different header altogether...) Good luck!
G***ER...man i would weld those baby's my self, and buy heat paint for headers. ceramic coating is expensive. i wouldn't send them back, may never see them again. and h.a.m.b. brothers there is a site called headers .com or just about any part, like manifolds .com...POP.
Scotcha and Holeshot got it by the goobers! Hey....the headers paint is gonna burn off, and for the ****py welds....get a mig and burn em' in yourself if ya know how to weld! I got a 55 with a old Phase III Motion Performance motor in it..w/ Hilborne Injectors....super stout....had the same problem ages ago when I put mine together.....I got the really OLD ******s....they'll be hangin' in the next 50 years or so.....back when they made em' outta real steel!
Ah put them on and forget about it. buying new parts is a total **** shoot. spray them with brake cleaner and the paint will likely run off on the floor then paint them nice and white if it where me. but please dont go with ceramic to me they ruin the look of any fender well exhaust on anything.
Thanks for the replies, they are going in the blast cabinet and will be finished in white header paint which was my original plan with buying painted headers. As far as MAS, if most customers were satisfied then that is good, I was the minority. About speed shops disappearing, I miss the days when you could go to the local speed shop and hang out, however we still have some local places here that cater to us gear heads. The headers will be hung on the wall for now as the 55 is targeted for a 427. Header choice for the big block is now open for suggestions! Lets hear some Hamb jive!
I have a set of old ****** fenderwell headers that I have tried to sell on the HAMB . Wish I still had the 55 !
I'm not sure that the HAMB is the place to be talking about cheap ******s - that having been said, my older ones are great - never a problem.
I put the Patriot BBC fenderwell headers on my '57 and they seem to be a quality part. The front tire clearence is an issue, good enough reason o go with a straight axle in my opinion.
i used patriot bbc headers on my 55, p***. side fits great!! driver side you have too work on!! very tight fit around tire!! me and 56g***er are working on a 55 for a friend, will be doing exhaust friday, i will taks pics. of driver side before and after!!! when you get headers, speedway headers are for 37-57 fat fender or 55-57 , sold that set and got a set from a guy on ebay , have too find his name and email address, will post later!! his patriots headers are for a 55-57 chevy!!! come unpainted less than $300.00 in the door!!!!
the mans name is dale_wilch rpm catalog on ebay! 55-57 fenderwell headers . you can email him or he will talk to you on the phone or by email !! great guy i have got 2 sets from him!!!
I dealt with MAS once on a straight axle kit i purchased .I was more than happy with the kit and their service.It was shame to hear they closed.Sounds like you got a raw deal on the headers though ...
After closer examination of the headers I have I'm questioning whether they are even ****** Super Comps. Like I stated earlier the welds on the stainless oval ****** insignia's do not look factory. Also I always thought ****** stamped small hearts around the collectors, which are not on these headers. I will have to check a set of Super Comps I have for a 62-7 Nova for similarities. Thanks for the replies on the Patriots, I saw them in speedway and thought they were reasonable. Hopefully I can squeeze some build time in on this 55, it deserves some time as the ch***is is a Jim Meyers full ch***is with a straight axle that was not exactly pocket change. Plan your work and work your plan!.
i have a friend in the speed shop business snice 1965 in mobile,al. he looked for weeks for me a set of ****** headers for my 55, no luck!! ****** told him no demaned for them, might find a set of nos from someone, too keep looking! thats why i went with patriots, plus a custom set was from $1250-$2000 . i couldnt see that much for headers!! good luck!
I have a set of them sbc jet coated fender wall headers from ******. I have never put them on a car other than fitting. They seem good quality but then again I have had them for at least 8 years now. I got mine from summit. Tim
I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, rumor has it that MAS was sold not long ago, that's why they moved to the new building and why they weren't able to sustain themselves...it's a damned shame they're out of business, I always intended on getting some spun aluminum tanks and straight axle kits from them...I wonder if anyone bought out their jigs, fibergl*** forms and other production items/machines...it'd be nice if a former employee was still making the axles and aluminum tanks, though I doubt it...I wonder who Speedway is gonna get theirs from now...
Speeway years ago got their axles from MAS now they sell several widths. Im guessing the way speedway buys other stores they POSSIBLY bought some of MAS jigs exct, 35/37 years ago I had ******s on one of my 55 chevys. They dropped fenderwell style but had a exh tap on the inside and a 3 1/2 dump tube with a single bolt pipe dump cap. Had problem cooking solinoids. Added a heat shield to starter ended problem.
I'm guessing it's more likely that MAS used Speedway and Mr. Roadster boxes to ship your parts because that's who builds them and either the guy shipping them sent you "brand name" stuff rather than MAS stuff or they were out of MAS packaged stuff on their shelves...just a possibility as I don't know for sure...I do know that I have received MAS boxes when I ordered from Speedway (on parts I had no idea MAS even sold)...
MAS bought their axles from a local guy, and hes made em for years, and the fibergl*** bodies were bought from a vendor in paynesville Mn i think. Saltflatmatt has all the inside info. MAS was also a speedway dealer so thats probably why you got some speedway and roadsters stuff too. I talked a bit with Matt about the whole deal, after i found out how much MAS racing was sold for i couldnt believe it, if i was in the right place at the right time i would have bought and still been running it! JEFF
**** Jeff, I'd have swept floors for ya...answered phones...helped put up an actual working website...so, who do I go to for axles and the spun tanks locally now that MAS is gone? I'd rather give a local guy business than Speedway on big stuff...I wish you had bought it Jeff, it would have been in good hands, even if it were owned by a couple of local guys like you and Matt and whoever else...if you or someone else ever does start it back up, I'll do whatever I can to help, including finding local machine shops up here in Alexandria to take care of the machining cheaper than in the cities...
Pm Slatflatmatt he might be able to get you some cantacts on axles. Ive been in the parts business for 10 years, so it would have been fun to get into a "fun" parts business. JEFF
Hi all, I had the same experience with ****** fenderwell headers for a SBC in a 55-57. I ordered them shipped right from the factory somehow - I think through some dealer in Co. This was a about 6 years ago. The came painted black and in ok condition. I thought to myself I wish they were in better shape being new. They had a welded on simple stamp over as well. The 1 3/4 tube size was a nice big size for SBC. I ended up repainting them. So your not alone.
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