[455GRIN]

Ron, At this point I'll take mine uncoated, don't forget the ball and socket collectors that I send.

[gearbanger]

Those look great! Congrats.

[aronhk_md]

big oil....sorry I missed the question about the collector size. As mentioned by mbwicz the collector is 3"

[big_oil]

Originally Posted by aronhk_md

big oil....sorry I missed the question about the collector size. As mentioned by mbwicz the collector is 3"

No Problem. I PM'd Ron about the 3" oval exhaust I got and asked him the best way to go.

[texasdave]

aronhk_md, thanks for all you are doing to help facilitate these orders and keeping us all in the loop in regards to where things stand with Ron. I myself ordered a set back in August and the continuing progress here is definitely good news.

Sent you a PM regarding some info.

[sphynx88]

Oh i know he has... as I said I ordered mine 5.5 years ago....................:/

Just when I spoke to him he said that his production efforts where going to be on other orders and not 2nd gens for awhile. Wanted to see if that has changed.

[aronhk_md]

Gotcha. Yes, it has and is changing. Ron is gearing up again to get old orders out the door. I cant give you any exact dates because I dont have them myself, and I dont think he does yet.....but things are looking up for him. Hang in there just a little longer sphynx and I believe you'll finally have them.

[sphynx88]

Thanks aron... I certainly hope you're right

[TUNNEL PORT]

Here's a set that shipped on Thursday










mbwicz1 posted here receiving his set on 5/2


Jacks Poncho posted here on 4/28 receiving his. Good meeting you Jack & Im sure I'll see you around the area.


This week Im shipping a set to texasdave this Tues after the shipping payment clears & he's already been contacted. I have a set that will ship out by Fri to SoCal.

As you can see in the top pic theres a few other sets of headers in my shop. Those sets will ship sometime after the 3" tubing arrives next week. Theres a few others around the shop also. I was able to get these out because of new orders & will continue to due so.

[big_oil]

Great Job Ron! Looking Good!!!

[aronhk_md]

Looking very good. I'm not only pulling for Ron to make it happen...I'm pulling for you guys waiting for your headers. Its been a long, slow, and at times painful story, but I see Ron trying and as long as he keeps working to get headers out to you guys that he owes them to I'll try to support him.

Speaking of which...I have a set of blem o-port tri-y headers I got from Ron that I am listing in the performance classified section. They ONLY have cosmetic issues with the welds having been done by two people, and the welds are not as clean and pretty as the ones he is making now using his tig & mig together. Otherwise they are fine. Truthfully you can only see the differences if you look at them together and I doubt you'll even see anything at all once in your car unless you are crawling under it comparing header sides.

Funds from that sale are going BACK to Ron to order another set.....and so we continue...

P.S. - I only got these from Ron because he is picky enough not to want to put them out there for sale himself. He felt odd selling anything less than his best. So this set would not have gone to any of the people waiting. He didnt want to even sell them to me, but I bugged him enough.

[critter]

Those photos are on the set being shipped to me. I have a tracking number that says they will be here next Thursday. I'll let everyone know when they arrive and what I think.

[roadrage david]

Yes Ron is doing the best he can. a more positif vibe wil speed things up. i alredy have a set of uncoated 2e gen f body/ A body round port headers at my engine builders shop.
I have the 2 1/8 primary First Gen headers on order(witch wil be dyno tested) . im willing to sell the 2e gen f body/ A body round ports that i have, in order to place another order at Ron as wel!!.

[sphynx88]

Great news all around! Keep up the forward momentum!

[KEN CROCIE]

Hopeing that set going to SOCal has my name on them

[critter]

I want to preface this with some information. There's a huge history behind Ron Watts and the tri-y headers he's building. I'll let you folks do your own research regarding that. My purpose here is to only to offer the facts as they pertain to me and then an honest opinion of the situation.

On May 7 I contacted a fellow, he frequently posts under the screen name of Aron_MK on forums on the internet about purchasing a set of round port headers he purchased from Ron. I missed buying those from him by a few minutes but he told me he had been on the phone with Ron and he knew that he had another set of round ports on the jig and about finished. He suggested I call him. I did. After roughly 30 minutes of discussion I agreed to purchase a set.

On May 12 Ron was sending me photos of the completed headers along with a UPS tracking number.

Today, May 19, I took delivery of the headers via UPS. Keep in mind they had to travel from California to Arkansas. The shipping time was fine with me.

UPS did the box the headers were in no favors. Luckily the headers were well packed and attention was given to padding the corners and ends so that despite the gorillas in brown, they survived the trip in good shape.

Removing them from the box my initial reaction was how heavy and solidly built they were. Closer examination bore that out. The flanges are a full 3/8 inch thick and the tubing was heavier than any header I've owned to date. I'm not a professional header builder or metal worker so I won't pretend to say what gauge the tubing was but they're sturdy.

Closer examination revealed that the welding was not perfect but adequate. I had some concern when I found one tube that had no exterior weld at all but looking inside the tube it showed no parting line so I have to figure it's solid. That said, I might take the time to do some touch up welds with my MIG and do some smoothing with my burrs and sanding scrolls just to make them "pretty" before sending them to my coater. Functionally the welds seem to be fine.

Laying a straight edge across the flanges showed they were straight and smooth. The mounting surface is smooth so an embossed header gasket might be a good Idea. I use soft, solid copper so I'll anneal those and put them back in to start with. I suspect they'll mount up easily and seal well based on what I've seen.

Now we deal with my opinion. Take it for what it's worth. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Ron prior to ordering these. He gave me the history of what's happened with his work to bring these headers to market. I gave him my unvarnished opinion about how his lack of a solid business plan was not a customer's problem and how he MUST make good on the back orders. To his credit he agreed that it was paramount that he fill those orders but that cash flow was a real issue. Without new orders it was going to be very difficult for him to fill the old orders.

I did get the impression that he had a genuine wish to take care of all his customers, new and old alike.

Would I order from him again? Yes. Why? because prior to buying these headers I also purchased a used Canton oil pan and pickup from Ron. He has been true to his word on both purchases and delivered as advertised. Communication was good on both purchases via phone and email.

I know others have had dissimilar experiences but these are mine. I've related this as factually and honestly as I can. Here are some photos of my headers:

The headers as delivered:



The missing weld area:



The inside of the ports and how the welding flash has been cleaned up:



A ruler on the 3/8 flanges:

[455GRIN]

WOW!!! So you ordered a set on May 7th and received headers within two weeks!!! WOW, fresh money talks...while the rest of us paid customers wait??? Bad business plan for sure.
In Sept 10, I thought I was bringing in new money to help "sponsor" guys who paid in 2005???
Just don't understand...being an accountant...I'm used to FIFO (first in first out). Again, not sure how your supposed to attract new customers when so many of us received nothing and we are told our money is gone???

[critter]

I'm not here to comment on Ron's business acumen, only on my experience with him. I understand what you and other buyers are saying. I can only offer my heartfelt wish that he fills those orders in short order for all who are waiting.

[Larry Navarro]

Ron should be honoring those orders from folks who paid along time ago.
Late last year, Ron sent me pictures of the D-port headers I was to receive. Since I didn't need them right away, I told Ron to go ahead and use them for the "sponsor program" so as to avoid a problem such as the one noted by 455GRIN.
Yes, it's definetly not right.......but maybe there's a publishing deadline for a new HPP feature article that needs to be met.
Ahh.......but unless Ron buys ad space in HPP, a "new product feature" is NOT likely to happen. That's an issue I'm very familiar with.

[critter]

Larry, that was uncalled for. I'd ask now and here for an apology. This has nothing to do with HPP or my relationship with them. I ordered a set. He delivered. That's all I said. I delivered an honest report of that transaction and my opinion. If you don't wish to apologize, well, I'm sorry. It only makes you look small.

I agree he needs to deliver. I've told him so.