The holy grail of ford marine race headers

[Moody Blu']

Custom one off ford 351 windsor Stainless steel, equal length, water cooled race headers with a 3" inner exhaust diameter and a 4" outer. The guy from HITEK marine makes these headers with a 2"inner 3" outer, He and I worked on getting longer headers and larger exhaust diameter for more power in the upper rpms which Is what I want. He was a great guy and did it. Also, those brass nuts have zinc anodes on them inside.

SO behold the holy grail of ford marine race headers! hehe!

yes i know, the block looks crappy, i thought the paint was good when I built it and it turns out to be crap. it will be fixed with the deck off.

Cant wait to see what the new cam and valve springs do especially with the headers!!!!!!

http://www.hitekmarine.com.au/

[silverghost]

Hitek Marie will custom build you any great Stainless Steel oddball manifold & riser combination you may want.
Why there is no builder of similar products here in the USA is the big question ?
.
The shipping & customs duty all the way from Australia , as well as the long shipping lead time is a Big issue.
I had a friend that had a Hitek unit fatigue & crack at a bad weld .
He had to send it all the way back to Australia for the needed repairs.
Hitek stood behind their product at no cost for the necessary repair . ~but the two way shipping costs, not picked-up by Hitek; & time involved were were very costly & long indeed.~~
This custom Hitek product however may be your only option for any oddball Big Block Ford , or Chrysler marine engine high-performance manifold & riser combo today ?
In fact few stock cast-iron manifolds are still being sold for the Big Block Ford, & Big Block Chrysler wedge & especially the famous old Hemi marine engines today.
There seems to be very little market for anyone to actually build them today.

[f_inscreenname]

That wouldn't be me would it?


Man that seems like so long ago.

[Moody Blu']

"There seems to be very little market for anyone to actually build them today."

hence why they are the holy grail and makes my boat rarer two fold

[mattyboy]

[ QUOTE=$originalposter]silverghost

Hitek Marie will custom build you any great Stainless Steel oddball manifold & riser combination you may want.
Why there is no builder of similar products here in the USA is the big question ?{$pagetext}[/QUOTE]


there is funny thing is the company is call American Hi-tek they make a few different models for the 302 351 with 3 , 3.5 and 4 inch setups

I was quoted 2300 for a set which is quite reasonable more than stock but alot less than custom


www.american-hi-tek.com

[Moody Blu']

If thats the guy I htink it is he is the guy who bought a couple different set of headers from the real manufacturer and then cut them open and renamed them, hes a thief if its the same guy..

[JimG]

I think American Hi-Tek is the US distributor of the Australian product...

Although American Hi-Tek Inc. is a fairly new company to the American marketplace, being founded in October of 2002; the products we sell are not new at all.

The One piece stainless steel manifolds we represent are manufactured in Australia; these products have been marketed in Australia since 1996, before which was a two year period of extensive research and development. Also, after being run in the Australian salt water environment for in excess of three years they have been cut open and found to be in the same condition as when they were assembled!

American Hi-Tek Inc. was a result of searching for a product for my own boat.... I was looking for a product that was more reliable in salt water than cast iron, i.e.. non corrosive, and also a direct fit for the application, something other manufactures didn't offer. Upon meeting with the manufacture at the S.E.M.A. show in Las Vegas and witnessing positive responses from all that talked with us, I decided to be a US distributor for this fine product! Therefore, I'm representing a product I found to be the best on the market for my own boat, and also the best and most unique product for your marine exhaust manifold needs.

David Beich
President - American Hi-Tek Inc.

[silverghost]

Does American Hi-Tek actually build any of these SS manifold/riser units right here in the USA ?
Or~
Are they just a "Middleman" order-taker for the Austrailian parent company/builder ?

Do these SS units still have to be manufactured in Australia & shipped to the USA ?

Shipping costs from Hi-Tek Australia is very costly ~~~
Also~
The lead time from manifold unit build~~~ to the time you actually get them at your door was very long also ~~~as I remember.

[Ghost]

Not made here, made in Australia. (Per the company profile on their site, http://www.american-hi-tek.com/)

I used to like the idea of stainless-steel manifolds, but I have to say this (pasted from Stainless Marine's web site) has always struck me as compelling and changed my mind a bit, FWIW:

"This company was founded 32 years ago making stainless steel manifolds. One of the great metallurgical lessons of all time! Fabricated stainless steel does not like to see 1400 degree exhaust gasses. Hot-cold-hot-cold-break. Stainless steel is a great material for risers. The aluminum water cooled manifold soaks up some of the 1400 degree heat, and delivers it to the stainless steel riser at a manageable 700-800 degrees F."

...
Of course, as was noted, exhaust choices and materials can be very limited for any given motor.

[mattyboy]

the price I got was a total except shipping IN the US from american-hi-tek to my door, the order turn around was not unusually long was about 3-4 weeks if I remember correctly. I couldn't justify the expense as the boat was in the process of being sold but there are alot of serious buyers that don't pan out . Even though it looks like the boat will stay for a while I can't seem to justify dumping alot of money into the ford/ volvo setup which will only get you so far.If i were to go any where near a more aggressive cam setup on the ford these would be on order.

[Moody Blu']

the headers I co designed with the owner took about 2-3 weeks we changed the down angle and diameters.

shipping was not that much. I was almsot a dealer for hi tek but I didnt have a shop or the funds to be a distributor..

I recall the owner of hi tek telling me he uses the higher grade stainless.


there was some guy out of fla that trued to dupe his work and tried to screw hi tek hes from fla i believe

[mattyboy]

Does American Hi-Tek actually build any of these SS manifold/riser units right here in the USA ?
Or~
Are they just a "Middleman" order-taker for the Austrailian parent company/builder ?

Do these SS units still have to be manufactured in Australia & shipped to the USA ?

Shipping costs from Hi-Tek Australia is very costly ~~~
Also~
The lead time from manifold unit build~~~ to the time you actually get them at your door was very long also ~~~as I remember.

So here is a guy who saw a need and then started a business to supply that need by becoming a distributor for a product. So now he is an order taking "Middleman". I think that term would rub a few people the wrong way on this forum seems to me we have few who are Distributors in their respective fields. I am glad to see you have such respect for the basis of our economy the world is full of your so called middlemen. Right down to little Johnny the paperboy


so everyone is clear on this ,this is not the guy who moody is thinking about. this company ( american hi-tek) is in Apache Junction AZ and is a distributor for hi-tek manifolds.

[Morgan's Cloud]

If there's any doubt as to exactly who the guy in Az is , a simple e-mail to Alan at Hi-Tek Oz will be answered quickly .

I would have thought though , that anyone placing an order within the US that starts off (maybe inadvertantly) dealing with Alan in Australia would be referred to the dealer in Az ? It might be difficult finding such a case though as they are still a pretty unknown item.

I was somehow in contact with the guy in Fl that Moody mentioned who tried to illegally clone Alan's products in the early stages of having mine done, and it was a close call. Very fortunately the idiot stopped answering e-mails and I ended up finding out how to contact Alan directly.

Was also lucky that back then the exchange rate was .85 on the US $

[silverghost]

Mattyboy~
I always stand by my comments & questions~

It seems.
If I say something is white~~~
You will always say it's black~~~
Just to be contrarian; and start an on-line argument with me~~~

I long since learned to expect nothing more , nor less, from you !

You are very predictable.
It doesn't phase me one bit .

By the way~~~
Hi-Tek Australia will custom-build, and sell, to anyone here in the USA directly.
You don't have to go through the American Hi-Tek "Middleman Order-taker" .

Dealing directly with the builder/fabricator of these unique custom SS fabricated manifold orders makes very costly mistakes less likely on exact needed custom dimensions & specifications in MY opinion.

Using a "Middleman" distributor is fine for standard off-the-shelf catalog items.

I have No doubt YOUR opinion will vary !

[BUIZILLA]

I am not poo pooing another product, BUT..

Stainless Marine is but 6-7 miles from this keyboard...

WHY go to Australia?

the down and back on warranty (if applicable) freight alone, would be $400 minimum, and at least a 2-3 month ride...