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Are my headers stainless or titanium??

MackeyStingray said:
i figure system minus can. they don't specify which type of exhaust can they are using for that number and IIRC you can buy that system with a Ti or CF can. in any case weigh it and it should closely match one of the two. if it's heavier than either, take the can off.

and it's probably without retention springs too for that weight too.
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The pdf describes only one type of can available for that application
 
Just take a dremel to a tiny corner nobody will see. White sparks/yellow sparks will answer your question for good.

As for why the R6 guy thought they were stainless:
1) Maybe he was trying to get the price down, and knows they actually are Ti?
2) It does have SS colors, to my eye. Ti turns blue & yellow & silver & purple & gold, not reddish.
 
:2cents From those pictures it looks likes SS to me. YMMV are there no part numbers stamped on them anywhere?
 
ugh, what a dilemma. i cleaned them, that didnt do anything.

only stamp i see is on the muffler joint
 
Hold the exhaust system where the mid pipe meets the exhaust. It should feel fairly balance and not weight bias towards the headers. Fwiw I had both the ss and ti akra on my r6.
 
WSBK Rulebook has a test:
The 3 % nitric acid test (titanium does not react. If metal is steel, the drop
will leave a black spot).
Click to expand...
 
Call is to hard to make, by looking at a picture...Color can't be depended on through the photo process, and we don't know how much the system was used, (that changes color).

My wild ass guess is the headers are Ti. The Muffler (can) end joining the header is SS...But basically...I got nothin.
 
JO EBRMC said:
Not stainless. At least not quality stainless.
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it doesn't have much at all to do with quality, but chemistry. i have some decent stainless knives in the kitchen, they stick great to the magnetic knife rack. anyway

there are approximately a bajillion different versions of stainless and even the "non-magnetic" ones can display some reaction to magnetic fields. if i were OP, and i didn't want to try the grinder trick i'd find a rare earth magnet (radio shack has them for a few dollars) and see if it will attract the pipes. 300 series stainless is nominally non-magnetic and likely the pipes are 300 series if they're stainless. However, coldwork will increase magnetic attraction. those pipes have definitely been cold worked, the bends are the best place to check i suspect.
 
1. magnets don't work on SS
2. Ti and SS can both turn blue

those headers look like SS based on what looks like surface rust and color but I'm basing this on low quality photos.
 
I've owned both and to me that looks like a stainless header...

Here's a side shot that shows the bluing that most Ti systems get from usage. Also the ti systems usually have a bit more of a goldish grey look to them (like this midpipe). They are incredibly light and the difference is very apparent when compared to stainless...

(Whoring my old R1 picture...:twofinger)

926 005.jpg
 
Ti blue looks like this after heating. Regular Ti is a dark gray. :teeth
 

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kangaroo said:
Ti blue looks like this after heating. Regular Ti is a dark gray. :teeth
Click to expand...

+1 on this. I had a Termignoni Ti race exhaust on my R1 for only a couple of hundred miles, and the headers are blue already at to the first bend in the pipe. Yours don't look like they have blued significantly at all, so I'd vote for stainless.
 
I have spent 30 years working in SS and Ti - yours look like SS to me.

Ti turns powder blue where the gets hottest, golden where its not quite as hot and stays grey everwhere else.

SS turns tan/brown where it gets hottest and blue where not quite a s hot and stays shiny silver everywhere else.

FWIW high quality thin walled SS headers are pretty much the same weight as OK quality Ti alloy (i.e. Akro' grade not aircraft grade).

The grinder/spark color test is definitive and you can do it with a small Dremmel inside the pipe with a carbide grinding tip. Ti gives an ultra white spark, SS gold to orange.

Alternatively get some metal polish and polish a section to a bright finish, wet it and leave it overnight. The Ti will turn grey, the SS will stay bright.
 
hit it with a grinder. white sparks = Ti
orange sparks = steel
 
thanks for all the help guys. i think im gonna take it to a shop tomorrow to have grin an edge of it n see what comes out. (i have no dremel)
 
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