Handcrafting headers to satisfy the soul.
Jack Burns studies a blackened, three-into-one exhaust header from a Porsche 911 RSR with professional admiration. Re-creating that header in stainless steel for a car scheduled to race in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is the next project on his job list. The work is definitely a challenge, but from an aesthetic perspective, it’s like asking Raphael to paint a copy of the Mona Lisa.
Burns is a fine artist whose medium is exhaust headers. At the moment, he’s fabricating a set for a big-block V-8 that’s destined for Bonneville and more than 300 mph. The unfinished masterpiece is temporarily attached to a raw casting of a Pro Stock head—four gleaming tubes snaking away from the exhaust ports before merging into a single pipe. It looks less like a car part than a sinuous sculpture.
“All of the projects are fun, but this was pain-in-the-butt fun,” Burns says, laughing. “It was very, very complicated. But that’s what I like.”
At 66, with a white goatee and a twinkle in his eye, Burns works with technical director Vince Roman and five fabricators out of a homely shop in a nondescript industrial stretch of Costa Mesa, California. For nearly three decades, Burns Stainless has been a go-to destination for teams in NASCAR, NHRA, IMSA, and V8 Supercars in Australia. The DeltaWing race car carried Burns exhaust components. So does each Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer.
Nowadays, every gearhead knows there’s magic in exhaust systems. YouTube is awash with how-to videos for do-it-yourselfers. But during the first half century of the automobile’s development, the benefits of “tuned” headers weren’t understood. Exhaust gases were usually routed out of an engine as simply as possible, through a log-shaped manifold and a long tailpipe.
Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Road & Track.
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Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Road & Track.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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LONG TAILS
THE BEAUTIFUL AND BIZARRE RACE CARS DESIGNED TO CONQUER A SINGLE STRIP OF PAVEMENT.
EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING
Winner, Over $100,000: Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
THE GREAT PRETENDER
Winner, Under $100,000: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
BREAKS, NOT BENDS
SINGER'S DIVETRACK TELLS A VERY NICHE KIND OF TIME.
RADIAL FLYER
A MEYERS MANX WITH AN AIRPLANE ENGINE IS A WEIRD FIX FOR SPEED ADDICTION.
THE BALLAD OF CRAZY ROCKETMAN
WHAT A BUILDER OF PULSE-JET-ENGINE VEHICLES CAN TELL US ABOUT MOTORING PASSION.
SOCIETÀ UTOPICA
THE PAGANI UTOPIA IS MORE THAN JUST A CAR. IT'S A HANDCRAFTED INVITATION TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST EXCLUSIVE MOTORING CLUBS.
ST.ELMO'S FIRE
AN INDIANAPOLIS RESTAURANT WITH FACEMELTING SHRIMP HAS BEEN A DE FACTO RACING CLUBHOUSE FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY.
THE FOUNDATION OF CIVILIZATION
Why Adam Smith would have loved a Boxster Spyder RS.
A MIGHTY WIND
THE 930 TURBO LAUNCHED PORSCHE'S DOMINATION OF THE RACETRACK AND THE SHOWROOM.