HI!... Well guys I finally got my JBA headers in the other day. Well all I can say is that they are very very poorly crafted. My particular set had "8" peices of mig welding wire welded inside of the primary tubes. The primary tubes are supposed to be 1 1/2 inside diameter. The primary tubes are except for where they are welded to the head flange. Mine, measured with a digital caliper, only measured out to be between a inch to 1 1/4 inside diameter. This was caused by WAY too much weld on the inside of the primary tubes. This restriction will cause great havic with your exhaust flow and will cause a loss in h.p. Trust me, I have had many sets of headers built and this is no good. Today I brought the headers to my header and chassis builder and he laughed at the JBA's. He told me that my set had a huge restriction in them and that they should be fixed to allow the exhaust to flow freely. I agreed with him and he is going to TIG weld the outside of the primary tubes, so that I can port out the primary tubes to their proper size.(1-1/2)There is also a huge dent in one of the primary tubes, put there on purpose from JBA to allow you to put one of the header bolts in. This dent is not needed in my opinion and will be removed and filled in by my chassis builder. I have tried many times to get the bolt in and I don't come anywhere near the dent that was put there by JBA. After that is all done I have to get them re-coated again with JET-BLACK coating from a local shop here called HTC- HIGH TECH COATING. All this will probably cost me another $400(CAN) on top of the $900(CAN) I had to pay for the headers origanily. Let's just say that I am not a happy camper. Some of you are probably asking me why I just don't send them back to JBA. Well it took 3 weeks for them to get here (CANADA). So it would take another 3 weeks to get it back to them and another 3 weeks for them to send it back to me. NO THANKS. For the amount it would cost me to send them back and then have them come through customs again, it would be the same as fixing them the RIGHT way here. My warning to all of you who are thinking of ordering JBA headers, order them in bare metal first, and check for any defects. If there are defects you can fix them and then have them coated. Don't mind me guys I'm just venting!LOL! No flames intended agaist JBA headers. Actually the tig welding on the joints on the primary tubes was done very well. I also like the "FIRECONE" in the collector, it was a nice touch. I'll let you guys know how it goes and what the performance gains were when I get them installed in about 2 weeks.

------------------
NEAL [ the horsepower freak ] NEWMAN
'99' F-150 XLT SPORT, oxford white, reg cab shortbox stepside,5.4, auto, 4.10L.S, captain's chairs, bedliner, GTS carbon fiber headlight covers, ***** CEPECK clear halogen driving lights, GTS slotted tailight covers (painted oxford white), FORD locking lug nuts, tinted windows,true duel exhaust with 2.5 inch mandrel bent pipes and FLOWMASTER 3 chamber mufflers with 3' tailpipes exiting before the rear wheel like the LIGHTNING, HELLWIG rear stabalizer bar, AUTOMETER guage pod and tranny temp guage, custom fabricated air intake trac and huge K/N filter, TPS mod, BELLTECH 2-inch rear drop, custom programed SUPERCHIP, modified POWERAID spacer, BAUMANN ENGINEERING shift kit/BYPASS CLUTCH CONTROL VALVE/PREASURE REGULATOR VALVE, ASP POWER PULLEYS, WAITING FOR JBA "JETBLACK" hedders to arrive.

FUTURE MODS : FORD SVT 24LB INJECTORS, BBK 75MM THROTTLE BODY, AADI F1 RAM AIR HOOD, twin electric fans, traction bars, AUTO METER oil preasure/ engine temp PHANTOM GUAGES and a KENNE BELL BLOWZILLA supercharger.
ESTIMATED H.P TO DATE : 320H.P / 415ft/lbs of torque.

OTHER TOYS : "83" PRO STREET FORD RANGER : 351-w stroked to 408c.i 625H.P (natural), 875H.P with 250H.P "BIG SHOT" N.O.S kit, tubbed (crome moly tubing), 12 point chrome moly roll cage, 4-link with coil overs, MUSTANG II front suspension, c-4 tranny (race prepped), 4000rpm stall converter(8 INCH), 3" chrome moly driveshaft,AUTOMETER guages, 15.50 MICKEY THOMPSON rear tires, 4" M/T front tires, CENTERLINE CON-VO PRO rims, fiberglass hood - bumper - prostock hood scoop, wishbone trac-link, two chrome moly driveshaft loops, 16 gallon RCI fuel cell,etc

 

i have a set of headmen headers on my 97 4.6 .i haven't had any thing go worng on them.good welds,good fit,good seal.i paid $260 for my headers.i looked at gibson,jba,and headmen,the jba and gibson and the headmen are the same dam thing as far as shape goes.the steel is diff. some what.a computer makes the best bends for max flow and to fit.thay all use the same prog. to fig out the shape.i saved money by getting the headmens.im not keeping my truck for more then 5 years,so rust is not an iss.

 

HI Neal,

Neal called and talked to me last night for a long time, and I was very sorry to hear of the condition of his headers. We've seen a number of JBA headers for these vehicles up close, and have never seen anything like what Neal found on his. It's probably been some months since I took a good look at a new set of JBA's out of the box, but never have we seen JBA's come looking like Neal has described, that's a shame.

As thorough as Neal always is, he'll have them up to his standards pretty quickly.

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Info:https://www.f150online.com/rally2000/index.html