Some of you guys already know that I have a warped manifold on the passenger side. What I am going to do is replace them both with a set of headers.

What I would like to know is which ones are better, shorty or long ???

Also, who is better to buy from (JBA, Ford Motorsports, Hedman, etc) ????

Neal is running a set of JBA's and he said they helped him alot. JMC, I am not sure if he is running headers or not. Myself, I can pick up a set of Ford Motorsport Shorties (direct-fit) for around $550 CDN. I am going to have the dealership that I go to for maintenance put them on for me, that is why I am looking for direct-fit headers !!! Well that and the fact that if they break one of the bolts off they can fix it better than I.

There have been a few guys that have added headers just recently so please give your feedback on your headers.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

I had a set of MAC equal length shorty headers on my 87 F150 5.0. They were on for over 10 years with no problems. I traded it in 99 for a 97 and they were still in excellent shape.They are a quality product and would recomend them to anyone.They do have a website to view them.

 

I have the summit truck headers on my 92 302. They have only been on there for about 3 months,but I am very happy with them so far. They are the same thing as the flowtech headers. As a matter of fact they say flowtech right on them. The price on them cant be beat at $160.00,and they bolt right to your stock exhaust.

 

Did you guys feel any difference after you installed them ????

DG13 - Where in Ontario are you from ????

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

The main reason for the headers was the manifolds kept cracking.There was a noticeable difference but I also opened up the airbox added a superchip and flowmaster exhaust system at the same time.

I'm from Whitby just east of Toronto.

 

anyone tried longtubes? i had my eyes on the dynomax and the heddman long tubes for some time now but ive been waiting to see if anyone's tried them.

 

Donate54, I have heard that they are only good for racing situations where you are always running at high rpms all of the time.

Another question, what is better equal shorty or un-equal shorty headers ???????

Thanks so far for all of your help !!!!!!!

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

IzzyEddy & Donate54,

IzzyEddy first...I noticed in your Signature that you have a single cat. Is it a high flow cat, or did you just remove one?

Donate54, in your signature, you DO have a High Flow Cat...I've asked about them on this message board before, but never got enough replies for or against. What can you tell me about yours? Kind? Performance increase decrease? Sound increase decrease? A lot of people tell me "NO" because it will mess up my backpressure, but I think that it will be fine with a high flow convertor. Thanks for any input!!

 

fordby4-
about a year ago my fuel pressure regulator somehow stopped working and stopped regulating the gas to the engine causng it to run very very rich. this caused both of my converters to be clogged. so what i did was i too the truck to my dad's buddy (who owns a muffler shop) and he installed for me the hi flow cats in place of the old ones. as far as sound and performance it would be hard for me to tell you how much is due to the cats alone because i got my straight pipes at the same time the cats were put in. with the cats and the straight pipes the truck lost a little bottom end (hardly noticeable unless you use the truck for towing) but sure did gain a lot on the top end (highway driving). my suggesiton would be to use the converters if youre looking for more top end power than bottom end. you probably wont see too much of a change replacing your old ones for these though. hope this helps!

 

fordby4, my set-up originally was the two cats., where the first one acted like a "y". The front of it had the entrance for two pipes and exiting with a single. This would go into the second cat then out to the rest of exhaust which was stock at the time.

I wanted to change this over to an aftermarket one and was planning on true duals right off the manifolds but ended up not doing this. What I did do, was take everything off from the manifolds back and replaced with the following. A replacement cat. converter followed by the Raven Z55 muffler with manderal bent dual tails. These were finished of with the chrome tips. It went from the manifolds into a "y" pipe (original size) into the front of the cat. Out the cat into the Raven with 2 1/2" pipe. Out the raven with 2 1/2" tail pipes. The inlet of the Raven is actually 3" so the shop had to expand the pipe to 3". The cat. converter was just a direct replacement in any auto shop exhaust book. Did it with my '87 when it became plugged.

Bad drawing but gives you an idea of what it looks like.
_
_|- Cat. --------- Raven |=== Chrome Tips

I think I might have lost some low end torque but not sure ... I am dealing with a 5000 lbs. truck, so I don't expect a miracle with these add-ons.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

i gotta tell you guys that everyone i have ever talked to said that the aftermarket headers always leaked. (if they leak you will see a carbon build up). It is true that the factory's crack, very common. I have a 89 f150 w a 351 5.8 engine and have to do a complete exhaust on it. somebody who owned the truck before me obviously played with it.

I noticed the carbon buildup when i put it on a lift. i may have to change the y pipe(in front of the cat coming off the headers) The only thing that is salvageable is the cat. (high flow, works well may i add) what kinda headers are you guys running as well as exhausts? I can't put in a true dual cause of the laws here in nyc. so i may just go with headers to a y pipe to a 3" inch pipe to the cat then to the muffler then to one 3 inch pipe exiting in the rear.

I have a rich smell now which can be caused by the o2 sensor or can be caused by the engine not burning the all the gas. really in a bind here. let me know what you guys think. curt

btw if you guys know someone that will put in a true dual in my area [please let me know. I live in NYC

 

curt73, I am currently looking for a set of headers and I am trying to find out which ones are the best for performance. There are so many to choose from that it is just crazy.

You may want to take the truck in and have them throw it on the computer to check the voltage of the O2 sensor. This should tell the story on whether it is working correctly or not.

You should check your local emission office. Here in Canada it is called DriveClean. Talked to a lady there about my truck before I did anything with the exhaust. She was saying that as long as I have a catalytic converter on each side on the motor if I were going with the true dual set-up that I would should pass the test. She said as long as you have a converter in-line for whatever set-up you are going with, it would pass the visual inspections but whether it will pass the measurement test would depend upon the condition of the motor, etc., obviously. But if you keep it up-to-date with all of it's regular maintenance then really you shouldn't have a problem. I had mine tested last November and it passed by a huge margin compared to the limits.

The smell that would are talking about, could be caused by the cat. too. I have heard that sometimes they smell like a rotten eggs smell as well. Hope this helps.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean

 

Izzy or Donate,

Do either of you guys have a sound bite of your trucks?

 

no sound clips but the 302 sure does sound sweet with the turn-downs. i get a lot of noise in the cab but i like it

 

Sorry man, I don't have a sound bit either. I get a little drone in the cab but it isn't bad unless you stay in a 500 rpm range while driving.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean