Okay, I am now down the the big decision for buying a set of headers for my truck. I have been talking to some guys in the "Pre-'97" Section and I have narrowed it down to this. To the guys in the "Pre-'97" section, thank you for all your help !!!

Ford Motorsport Headers - Ford Headers

OR

Bassani Headers - Bassani Headers

OR

Flowtech Headers - Can't find their site !!!

The Ford ones, I can get for about $545 CDN plus taxes. The Bassani would cost me about $410 US and with an exchange rate of 1.6, it would be about $656 CDN plus S/H, duty and taxes. The flowtech, I have heard are around $300-400 CDN. Is there someone else to compare prices with other than Truckperformance on the Bassani's ??? Is truck performance worth ordering from, I have seen other guys here have problems with them ???

What I am looking for is the best performance for the money. I can not spend that kind of money for the JBA's that I have seen.
Please give your opinions on this topic. Thanks in advance !!!

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

Dean,

I won't throw my opinion into the mix, I'm sure by now you have narrowed it down to choices you are confident with.

But..... Since you mentioned JBAs, check out their site. They sell used, demo, and blemished headers for real good prices. I saw on another site people getting headers with a couple of scratches for $300 for the pair. Well worth looking into if money was your only concern with them.

 

I bought a set of JBA's (new but sold user..scratch marks) and they fit perfect..($400)...

 

Id get Hookers for your model ride!
JJ
q

 

Signmaster: I never knew that. I will definately look into that. But what is your opinion on this topic ???

Jimmy Lee: Why would you recommend the Hooker Headers for my year of truck ???


Neal gave his blessing on the Bassani's but I am not sure what he thought comparing the Bassani's to the JBA's. I have heard that the equal length tube headers allow the engine to work better since the exhaust pressure is equal across all of the cylinders. Let me heard your comments good OR bad !!!

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

Dean,

Depends on what you want to spend. Personally I can't see shelling out big bucks for headers on a stock heads/cam 302. You could probably pick up a set of GT-40P heads and some used headers (or cheapies) for the price of the Bassanis. The 'Stang guys have these laying around in corners of the garage...

Bassani makes great stuff, but they are proud of it. You could find some better priced headers and have enough for some underdrive pulleys or other small mods.

As another example, I picked up an ignition system complete with box, coil, wires, installation crap for less than the Bassanis. Saves on the gas bill, and gives gains down at lower revs where we drive more often.

Then again, maybe we should build in opposite directions. We could hit one of the rallies and line up your 20 ft beast against me 18.75 ft beast. (Mine is a reg bed 4x4 Supercab)


By the way.... Jimmy Lee didn't mention headers. He just said he would get hookers for your model ride!

 

Signmaster, right now all I want to do is get the best HP gain for the money that I can spend at the time. I have close to 195,000 kms on the truck and the body is in really good shape. The wife "did" mention that if I ever get another truck in the next few years and this one is still in good shape then I could "play" with the motor Hmmm ... what could I do ???? Depending upon resources, maybe a V10 or a bigger motor !! Just imagine pulling up beside a 20 ft long truck and it leaves you in the dust just like Neal does with people now. Man, that would be SWEET !!!

As for the race, you would probably beat me. Personally, I consider my truck to somewhat slow. I am doing the quarter in about 17.4 seconds. I hope the headers would help but I am not expected a miracle, like you said, it is stock still.

Talking to JMC and Neal last night about this and they both said equal length and if not stainless steel then ceramic coat them. JMC wanted me to put long tube headers on but I think he was trying to slow me down. I will probably go with the Bassani's unless I can find someone else that has equal length headers for less.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

Just searching around on the net and ran into this site that explained some things about the different types of headers.

Sanderson Headers

Read this and let me know what you think. If what he said is true, then I can get the Ford Racing ones for around $550 CDN plus taxes. Makes things much easier then too, the company that I would buy from is here in Canada. For the Bassani's, I have found two places, truckperformance.com and outlawperformance.com and the S&H for outlaw is about $40 for the set.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

Dean,

Not sure what you pay in taxes, etc. to ship from the U.S. but the local FRPP dealer sells the truck shorties for $280.

As for the comments on the long tubes in the link, I would have to agree. They are more or less tuned to specific engine flow rates, which must be why there are few that are advertised for many applications. As for the equal vs unequal length, this has also been debated for years. One of the 'Stang guys I know put both on the dyno, and the HP difference was less that the variance between the two base line runs. Maybe different on other builds, but I doubt it's a big concern.

 

Dean,

As a follow up to our discussion last week; check out http://www.ssheaders.com/header.htm

It will explain what I was saying about the length of the headers. Longer = more low rpm torque.

Regards

Jean Marc