My own. LOL I don't really care either way. I just need the car to remain streetable. So, max power (homer simpson LOL) is not the goal. Yes, I want decent hp, but I'm not in a position to build this car to run 5's at the track. Sooo...Because of this, I'll just do what I'm doing. Denting in the header pipe 1/8 inch will not hurt performance as much as you think. go a full 1/4 inch, and yeah, I can see that hurting...but not 1/8 inch to gain clearance. I either do this and loose a few hp, or leave it and loose the whole cylinder due to a constant misfire from a bad plug boot.
I think denting in the header is the lesser of the two (cheap) alternatives. Of course, to do this the "right way", I would have to spend another $400 on a new set of ceramic coated headers, header wrap, shorter plugs, ceramic boots by Jacobs electronics, and who knows what else. Sorry, I'm not independantly wealthy, so I will just go the cheap route for now. Maybe in another year or so, I'll replace the headers with some that are actually NOT smog certified and I won't have this problem.
They were there when I bought the car.
Edit: As for the hp/tw "questimates", those are honestly guestimates based on my last dyno run and head replacement afterwards. With e-7 heads, it made like 235 hp or something, and 298 ftlbs of tq. Sooo...Then I replaced the heads with.....something "different".
