Re: anyone use Azure Motors; Steve Demkowski???? been waiting 3 weeks 4 be
Actually Joseph, he did not say that............
Sorry, guys it wasn't meant to be a secret. I just thought that this post might get some slack from those who believe this issue has been beaten to death so many times. I thought maybe PM might be a little more considerate.
Anyway............
I spent a about 20 mins on the phone first with Jerry and then with Louie. Louie made it very clear to me that with the 1000's of headers that they have sold, not one has come back cracked or damaged by using the stock heat shields. Contrary to claims by those who profess that the stock heat shields will crack the headers and that THEIR after market heat shields are much better. Names shall not be mentioned. He basically said you are waisting your money on after market sheilds. In fact most of the suppliers who sell his product will not support or advise the purchase of after market shields......except for one and that company, of course, sells their made in house after market heat shields.
Most of the customers that have purchased the system are divided and he does concur that some chose to reinstall the shields while others chose not to reinstall the shields. YOU ARE FINE EITHER WAY !!!! However, for those who do chose to reinstall the shields , installation of the shields might have to be modified so that there is clearance between the headers and the shields. In other words the shields should not be touching the headers. The clearance does not have to be much just enough so that they do not touch. In the event that they do touch , it is possible and he stresses POSSIBLE that the jet hot coating might peal off the headers . Now he also clarified, however, that there will not be any damage to the headers since the construction of the headers allows them to give and bend without cracking but only to the coating. The alumized construction allows for this as well as better heat dissipatation. They will just look bad and thats not the way he would like his headers to look in a Viper. The headers run cooler then the stock system by a least 400-500 degrees.
I think in the end it boils dowm to proper installation and understanding. A lot of the horror stories we have been hearing could be due to improper installation or from headers on the market that do not have ceramic coating.........WHO KNOWS?
I for one will chose to reintall the shields PROPERLY , not for anything but for peace of mind. Quite frankly, I'm not to concerned about the looks but more concerned aboout sound and what it can do for me. Most of the members of VCO not VCA have had bellangers installed without any shields and have never had an issue. They profess to this and I have seen their cars first hand.
Finally, Louie also said that who would accept any challenge by any other header manufacturer to test their headers against his to see which one is better with respect to HP gains and claims for what it does. Hopefully, one day, a independent body will bring these boys together and finally put our questions and concerns to rest.
I spent a lot of time doing my homework on this , looking at vehicles with header installs and talking to guys like Jon at partsrack, BTR perfomance Jerry and Louie that fianlly sold me on the product. I really like Louie's passion on the phone for defending his product and I thought he was a stand up guy who is always willing to help.
I hope I have helped in some humble way.
Thanks
Patrick
