Headers and High Flow Cat Convt | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Headers and High Flow Cat Convt

you change your mind like i do lol
said you wanted headers when this was started, no headers on the 12th, and now you want them again :)

i think the pacesetters fit better, but i have a set of jbas, they have a weird weld lip on them so theyre only flush around the port and the rest is raised. but i put a gasket and rtv for extra help. when its running again ill get to see if theres any leaks from it
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





well i was undeicive because of the wife.. and price.. but she said its ok to spend the 25-50 more to get em.. but that was with wrap, it might not give any gain at all it might be for looks, but at same time still better then manifold etc
 






i run headers and if you do have a stock system or dont have head work done,they are a waste beside for appearance.im going to have to disagree with some of the statement that Anime made,i have run pacesetter on everyone of my toys and they are just find headers.they are not cheaply made at all,i have had all three brands and compared them all and pacesetters had the best flange and welds(pacesetters,headmen,and jba,jba being the worst design)!!ps i would put the extra money out to get the ceramic ones either,the black ones are the best bet if you have an oven you can use.the black paint IS NOT HIGH TEMP,you need to strip that and ceramic paint and bake them yourself.this pic is after 3 years and about 6,000 miles and they still look new!

Maybe the Explorer ones are better now, or maybe they have some designs with thicker flanges and bigger tubes, but for the longest time, and AFAIK to this day, Pacesetter remains the biggest joke in the exhaust industry, right after Flowmaster.

That's different than actual hands-on though, I've never had Pacesetters, and if yours have worked for you that's great, and if they do ok after ceramic coating even better. But keep in mind that's only 6,000 miles. Mild steel headers, even ceramic coated ones, and especially wrapped ones, would probably be a different bag on a vehicle that sees hundreds of thousands of miles. If they do ok though, maybe they are just the thing for someone that wants them but without spending on JBAs.


Xeek said:
i think the pacesetters fit better, but i have a set of jbas, they have a weird weld lip on them so theyre only flush around the port and the rest is raised. but i put a gasket and rtv for extra help. when its running again ill get to see if theres any leaks from it

Sounds like they're relying on the weld lip to press into the exhaust gasket and seal it, rather than a whole flange. General concensus is usually that the JBAs are top notch, this is the first I've heard that Pacesetters are better. Maybe you could post pics of each on the project motor or just side by side for comparison for those who search for header threads later on.
 






I dont know any one with hundred of thousands of miles on any exhaust,headers or pipes that arent rusted or broke after that many miles.i have had both and from personal in person experience that pacestters are better in all areas,the welds and flanges.i had them on a old built 200sx i had for over 8years and my acura for just as many years,both were wrapped and i sprayed NOS on both cars,both being dds.for the price of jbas,ill buy three of my pacesetters or one set and a whole exhaust!why would anyone spend that kind of money on anything that has been proven not to give large or much of any gains!:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 






Sounds like they're relying on the weld lip to press into the exhaust gasket and seal it, rather than a whole flange. General concensus is usually that the JBAs are top notch, this is the first I've heard that Pacesetters are better. Maybe you could post pics of each on the project motor or just side by side for comparison for those who search for header threads later on.
i dont have any pics of the said lip. they are installed and the engine fired up saturday. i can say there are no leaks from what i can see, just the rtv i added burning off. only leak is from the y-pipe included which is a two-piece pice with a clamp. there was a lot of smoke coming from there. but its to early to tell if it was just break-in smoke/steam or its really a leak or not


luckily i only paid $200something for them, not $800
 






I think every application is different paired to what your working on. Ive used pacesetter on the two other cars, i didnt have problems but for the one on the Geo, only problem there is they didnt come with a seal so i bought a cheap seal from Napa, i ended up buying some expensive out the ass exhaust silicone gasket maker to do the seal. so im hoping on faith that the PS headers will be good on this to, now while it might not give me gain at all it might be for looks... but its more then that, its the small things to... im hoping unwrapped PS headers will be fine on mine seeing how the motor has 215k miles on it.

the high flow cat convt, well if i dont want to go universal or junkyard i havta get the magnaflow high flow direct fit.

from my experience with mufflers, personal experience no data to prove, Flowmaster is still better for an everyday car while Magnalow is good for something that is very well supped up
 












Only problem if you wanna call it a problem ive had is that they are made for a egr and have two O2 witch i have neither,also had to take a dremel and grind a LITTLE grove in the flanges to gain a little more space for my plug boots,just to close for my comfort. I dont run stock boots or plug wire though. Mine may only have 6,000ish miles but are 3 years old and rust is like oxygen around here!!
 






Hi SwaintaN, Why you wouldn't wrap them?

My Ex motor is no where near in mint shape, leaky in places etc. I didnt wrap them with the Geo because the motor in that car was SO SMALL that it was never really hot anyway. In the ex i run a lower then stock thermo, high top snorkel for air so not 100% about the heat.

I run stock wires and boots (for now). Itll prob be a long time before I ever am able to upgrade, thanks for the head up though ill look at grinding them for clearance.
 






Specs
Headman $269painted $529cermic
1 1/2 primary
18 gauge
1/4 flange
2 1/2 collector

Pacesetter $237painted $395 cermic
1 1/2 primary
16 gauge
3/8 flange
2 1/2 collector

JBA $672 natural $834 cermic
1 5/8 primary
14 gauge
3/8 flange
2 1/2 collector

So yes the jba are 1/8 larger and 2 gauges thicker but everything else is the same.so they may last a little longer and flow a little more but for $439 or $435 more it would be soooooo minute that it wouldnt be worth it!!:rolleyes:
 






pacesetters are better then the headmens but cheaper. lol im glad i got mine on a good deal used.
only issue i had besides the lip thing is they would be a HUGE PITA to take off with the engine in. top bolts, easy, bottom bolts..... had to use a 10mm wrench and get 10 degree turns before resetting on some bolts. that was with the engine out. ratcheting wrenches would greatly help tho

dont know how the other headers are, but just saying they were a pain to bolt on
 






pacesetters are better then the headmens but cheaper. lol im glad i got mine on a good deal used.
only issue i had besides the lip thing is they would be a HUGE PITA to take off with the engine in. top bolts, easy, bottom bolts..... had to use a 10mm wrench and get 10 degree turns before resetting on some bolts. that was with the engine out. ratcheting wrenches would greatly help tho

dont know how the other headers are, but just saying they were a pain to bolt on

I have only found one vehicle EVER where the headers are easier to install than the stock manifold..... Ford contour with a V6 btw....
 






the geo was easy as pie to install.. dropped in from the top, access to all the bolts because of the pipes instead of solid piece, in the Geo it took half hour to take out stock, scrape, seal and bolt in headers
 






jd4242 said:
why would anyone spend that kind of money on anything that has been proven not to give large or much of any gains!

Maybe you should ask yourself that question. :p:

Even if it just gave an ever so slight improvement, it'd be worth it when paired with highly modded heads, a wild cam, and a straight-through exhaust with mandrel bent pipe all the way back.

I think every application is different paired to what your working on. Ive used pacesetter on the two other cars, i didnt have problems but for the one on the Geo, only problem there is they didnt come with a seal so i bought a cheap seal from Napa, i ended up buying some expensive out the ass exhaust silicone gasket maker to do the seal. so im hoping on faith that the PS headers will be good on this to, now while it might not give me gain at all it might be for looks... but its more then that, its the small things to... im hoping unwrapped PS headers will be fine on mine seeing how the motor has 215k miles on it.

the high flow cat convt, well if i dont want to go universal or junkyard i havta get the magnaflow high flow direct fit.

from my experience with mufflers, personal experience no data to prove, Flowmaster is still better for an everyday car while Magnalow is good for something that is very well supped up

The main reason not to run wrapped headers, especially mild steel ones (vs. stainless) is that they will rust apart under the wrap, and literally rot. This isn't a point of debate, it's a fact. High performance cars wrap them for the insulative effect, which is worth it for them, as a new pair of headers every so often is nothing when you're looking to squeeze power out of something.

The universal 3-way high flow is probably best in terms of budget, but the $200 magnaflow is almost a bolt-in, though it looks like they don't come with the hanger attached (or at least not welded on, some versions show an optional clamp-on hanger).

Flowmaster does "better" on regular cars since the mufflers flow less but people overdo it with the pipe size. Since people put a 3" exhaust on a car that just needs 2", the restrictive Flows bottleneck it to make the exhaust velocity closer to that of a 2" system, so sometimes it DOES work better. But in a backwards way.

I'd say Dynomax, Magnaflow, Borla, etc are all way better choices. But for those who like the Flowmaster sound, to each their own. Just get a larger size muffler than you think you need if you must have Flows.



As for the headers, the smaller primaries and the crush bends on some of these makes me wonder if the flow is any better, (or actually even worse) than the stock manifolds? They're 3-into-1 tubes, but they are pretty big openings.

I think Xeek should test out the motor when it's all done with manifolds, the JBAs, and the Pacesetter so we can finally know what flows the most.
 






i had a magnaflow muffler on mine and now a FM Delta 40. Didnt see no performance gain in either, mine was mainly for sound and i have a 2 1/4 piping on mine, like i said on the MF cat convt, only reason im going with it, cause its a direct bolt on. but the hanger? i dont see one on my stock, i have two hangers, one at the rear and one after the muffler area. ill probably stick with PS headers because of price, i cant image that im gonna get many more years out of my explorer with as many miles are already on it

these are just my opinions, ive never taken it any of mine to the track nor dyno, just went by feel and how they reacted.
 






hey i soooo didnt think to ask but umm how hard are these to install on an explorer? come from underneath or above? gotta remove ne thing else before install?
 






Depends how small your hands are and whether or not it has A/C. Also depends how rusted to the head the stock manifolds are, and if the bolts are rusted to the manifold or not. If you soak the manifold-to-head bolts long enough with penetrant, and take your time getting them out, you're just looking at a few hours of removing stuff to make access easier (belt drive, coolant hoses, ignition, etc. It's even easier with the upper manifold and associated components off.

Personally I think it's a job best suited for when the heads are off the block. Even better, for when the heads are replaced with aftermarket ones. Pull the old heads off with the manifolds still attached, then just bolt the headers on the new heads. Much easier.
 






find, nice to know only stock is the easiest :/
i cant speak on installing while in the vehicle. but even out they were difficult.

i didnt even bother taking them off my old heads. since i was getting new ones. but you may as well get new heads atleast. the 90tm heads that came stock are prone to cracking? mine were replaced by the old owner so mine didnt look cracked to me tho
 






Im not mechanically knowledge.. lol to say the least.. so when you say replace the heads?? what exactly (technical term so i can look it up) do you mean
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





the rusted up part with the stock manifold and sparkplugs on it. technical: cylinder head
DSC_2149.jpg


you would have to transplant the vlaves, springs, retainers, caps, and retaining clips to the new heads. along with new valve spring guides.
if nothing is new, they would have to go in the same place i believe
 






Back
Top