Originally posted by gibbous
Short answer is that was what was in my pit box, besides the kit tires, that is.
I can't run 30mms in the rear because they hit my header under compression. "Your header?!" I hear you say, yes my header because yours truly decided it would be nice to save a bit of $ on a Nitro Star .12 R even though it was a side exhaust. I had to hunt for the right header, shim the engine mount up, and then when I finally get to the track I find out that 30mm tires hit the header when the suspension is even a little bit compressed.
In the meantime I blew some cash on a Spektrum system, so it's going to be a while before I can afford a new motor....
Thanks for the tips!, I will check it out tonight.
There are a couple of ways to fix your clearance problem between the tire and header. One way, is to run to engine and get the pipe nice and hot. Remove the rear wheel and put on a pair of gloves. Now carefully bend the header forward. Leave the pipe connected so you can keep the angle of the outlet where you need it. The other way (you need a vise for this) is to remove the engine from the car, leaving the header bolted to the engine. Remove the pipe and coupler from the header. Wrap a towel around the crankcase and pipe. Position it in the vise so the header will bend towards the front of the car. Now squeeze a little at a time. You will only need to move the header 1/4 inch or so at the most. I used to have to do this all the time with my RS4 and side exhaust.
Almost forgot, I have also done it another way. I used a tube flanging tool. The type you use for making a flange in copper tube for natural gas lines. The tool has one side that clamps around tubes of different diameters. I just clamped it near the outlet end of the header with the engine removed and used the tool as extra leverage to bend the header. I used to do this when I crashed really bad and my pipe and header got pushed backward. The tool would also make the pipe round again. Most people would just buy a new header, but I'm just a cheap SOB, so I'd just straighten out the bent one.