Thank you and everyone else on the forum. It's good to be back...
On Headers with 1 5/8" tubes question... it's extremely restricted in how much Header you can stuff into the Explorer/Mountaineer engine bay. The Headers you have pictured are for a vehicle with more room in the engine bay. Before Torque Monster Headers, there were no 4 into 1 Headers available. They also fit both spark plug angles of the GT40 and GT40-P heads. The Headers were also tested for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and are emissions legal in all 50 states. There are 6 other states that follow CARB rules. Saved on a lot of legislation in their states.
However, a few years back we did develop a pronto type torque-step (1 1/2" to 1 5/8") set of Headers. I sold them to a gentleman in New York and he promptly put them on his living room wall and said, "These are too nice to install". Not sure if he ever used them.
It would make sense to design a 1 5/8" header for just a "normal" plug angle. GT40p are the only head designed with a straight plug angle and are limited when making big power and restrict where the primaries can exit because of it. The TMH's are well suited for a 302 motor with gt40p's with max rpm +/-5,000rpm and stock gearing. No complaints there. We really just need something bigger for Aluminum Heads. They do make shorty 1 3/4" headers fit on sbf heads.
The Ford Motorsport headers were 1 5/8". If you added 3 more primaries to those with a 4-1 collector (or even a tri-y style) we'd be golden. There is room.
The headers I posted earlier are Hedman 88400's and someone HAS fit them on a 2wd mountaineer by modding one primary that was contacting the passenger side motor mount. Not a far stretch to make them 1 5/8th" and re-position the collector two inches to the oem position for clearance for 4wd.
I realize that it's about economics and what people can afford. As far as cutting the price to $300-$400, we would need to have them built overseas (i.e. China, India, Vietnam, etc.). We design our own stuff from scratch in the USA and build on it from there.
However, some companies/people will steal designs/ideas and go overseas to have them built for the price range you're suggesting. They also don't get them tested, go around CARB and save on not having to pay for American labor.
Torque Monster Headers is a registered trademark with the U.S. Trademark & Patent Office.
Sounds like if you did design a simple shorty header your biggest concern is China copying them. We seen them try to copy TMH's with very poor results mostly due to there complicated design (to your credit) but they are difficult to install and access the bolts. I'd cut to the head of the line for any soapbox to promote USA made products wherever there is one but sometimes we have to work with the world we're dealt. But I can see it's a real threat to would-be profits and understand that. Even if you did make an American made set with the same quality you've put into the TMH's, $1,200 would not be an unfair price considering the circumstances.
If I had the capital, I would pay someone to custom make a set then find a China producer to recreate and make enough to fill a shipping container, then sit back and take orders on ebay (giving the designer his cut of course). I'd tell the producer they are 302 Feiro swap headers (or something) in case they tried to copy them right away. They wouldn't be to sell more then 3 set if they tried(all returned of coarse) lol. But the initial volume of the order is what would make or break profits. Obviously, the more you order, the cheaper to produce. If a would-be chinese butthead were to copy them they would have to make a lot more than a 300 "feel out" run to compete. On the other hand, they'd have to be designed to fit gt40p's as well if you wanted to ever sell more than 300 sets. Good thing is you don't even need to pay for advertising either when you have word of mouth from enthusiast's on sites like explorerforum, therangerstation, ford-trucks and people just searching for 5.0l explorer/ranger headers ebay.
I dunno, just some thoughts. We're all in an unfavorable position but there is a demand for them (as you can see) and an opportunity to make money if you can stop China from cutting in, but I'm sure you'll think of something Bob. We're all counting on you so don't let us down!
