98 5.0 Headers?

[JWalker814]

Ok so i just completed a swap in my ranger.


I swapped in a 96 ranger body onto a 98 frame and 5.0 motor.
was looking for headers for the motor and i called a local ford shop and they said BBK headers should fit. He also mentioned that my motor came with GT40P heads. and that really any gt40p headers should fit. so like a fool I went to craigslist and scooped up a set of MAC headers for a decent price.
just tried fitting them and find out on the passenger side, the second cylinder tube wont pass the rear control arm bracket. and i also noticed the collector wont fit frame, i have no problem notching frame.

i really want headers but after looking through some searches here it doesnt look feasible I dont see a point in buying $700 headers that are going to cause clearance issues when I bag my truck; plus most of the posts seem to be OLD! (pre 2005)

Anyone have any insight/options on headers?

also if anyone is interested i may be interested in selling the MAC headers if anyone is interested, PM me.

failed fitment :thumbdwn:

modify mount?

pics of swap

 

[vroomzoomboom]

the only, and i mean ONLY person that makes headers for any rbv is bob at torque monster

http://www.torquemonsterheaders.com/

they are not cheap, but then again, he doesnt build cheap headers. you will need to wait for a bit if he doesnt have them in stock, but they are worth it. i was able to swap a 5L in my sport with them on the motor when i put it in with no problems.

 

[JWalker814]

FML thats wack!
Ill make my own before i pay that price.

 

[CDW6212R]

You could fabricate a log type of manifold that is cheap, and flows better than anything feasible. Headers for anything but a stock 302 should be 1.625" minimum, 1.75" ideally for a high performance engine.

Welcome,

 

[JWalker814]

You could fabricate a log type of manifold that is cheap, and flows better than anything feasible. Headers for anything but a stock 302 should be 1.625" minimum, 1.75" ideally for a high performance engine.

Welcome,

yea thats what i was looking at today. just dont know how to make the mounting plates that connect to the heads.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

FML thats wack!
Ill make my own before i pay that price.

K, good luck with that

 

[Dan Whitaker]

You know, I seriously get tired of people *****ing about the cost of Torque Monster headers. Go price a set of Kooks for '94-'97 T-Bird or Cougar. They are in the $900-950 range. Look at how ****ty those BBK headers are built. It looks like a child welded the things.

When you don't own a cookie cutter car like a Mustang you have to pay the price to play.

 

[CDW6212R]

I got into cars when $75 was a cheap set of headers, any normal size you needed. $250 was what top end brands like Hookers cost.

I do not constantly bash TM headers. But I also do not shy away from telling the truth.

It makes no sense to me at all to pay one cent for a header which is too small. Ford made the 2-3 choices that they did, out of need and to throw something together for their catalog.

Any actual product dedicated to be a performance product should actually attempt to meet the needs and goals of a performance vehicle. That is regardless of price.



I don't care if the headers were $1500 a set, or only $200 a set, TM headers would still be too small. Any stock(bone stock EFI 302) needs a 1.625" header, period, no argument. Any actual performance minded 302 needs larger headers than that.

The fact is that there have been custom headers made which do have 1.75" primaries. The point is not what those cost. The point is that those size headers can be made, and TM chose to make theirs too small. The price makes no difference, the TM headers are too small. If they would tell the truth and market them as economy headers for stock and towing only, that would honest. That's what they are, yet they are marketed as high performance parts, which they are not. That is the point.

 

[FIND]

No bone stock EFI 302 needs 1.625" primaries, especially not on an Explorer. 1.625 is in the top end of the range for big blocks bone stock. You need a REALLY highly modified 302 to be needing something with 1.75" primaries. These heads and cams just don't flow anything NEAR enough in stock form to need ANYTHING bigger than 1.5" primaries unless you want something that falls flat until you are over 5500 rpms.

Also, good luck making a log type manifold that flows better than even that stupid FMS header. Sure, it would improve on the worthless stock manifold, but, flowing "good" is being optimistic.



Also, people complaining about a ceramic coated tuned header costing 700 bones? This is why all that cheap chinese knock-off junk sells so well on E-bay and why Walmart runs every decent business in the country out of business.

 

[JWalker814]

K, good luck with that

yup. im glad my neighbor is a welder for a chemical plant. and i know numerous people that work for machine shops

 

[JWalker814]

You know, I seriously get tired of people *****ing about the cost of Torque Monster headers. Go price a set of Kooks for '94-'97 T-Bird or Cougar. They are in the $900-950 range. Look at how ****ty those BBK headers are built. It looks like a child welded the things.

When you don't own a cookie cutter car like a Mustang you have to pay the price to play.

I seriously get tired of people that make pointless replies to my post.....
When im going strictly for sound, IDGF what the welds look like, as long as they hold up.

And if u read the post right they are MAC headers not BBK just saying...
if i were worried about performance or looks id spend the extra but those TM headers are IMO fugly. so ill attempt the log style to get the little extra flow and hopefully a better sound


now take ur trolling ass elsewhere

 

[Turdle]

Good luck with the headers. I want to see what you come up with.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I seriously get tired of people that make pointless replies to my post.....
When im going strictly for sound, IDGF what the welds look like, as long as they hold up.

And if u read the post right they are MAC headers not BBK just saying...
if i were worried about performance or looks id spend the extra but those TM headers are IMO fugly. so ill attempt the log style to get the little extra flow and hopefully a better sound


now take ur trolling ass elsewhere

MAC, BBK it's all junk. Why waste time & money if all you want is sound & looks I thought you were building a driver not a show trailer queen.

BTW I'm not trolling & I'm not the only one tired of people *****ing about the cost. I'm stating how I feel. If you are so smart why didn't you search first before you bought this MAC headers? Countless people over the years have all said the same thing. I'll build my own. I think one person out of those actually has.

You'll spend a hell of a lot more trying to build your own custom set of headers than what you will on the Torque Monster headers.

 

[ExDude]

 

[FIND]

You say this,

yea thats what i was looking at today. just dont know how to make the mounting plates that connect to the heads.

but then you say this?

yup. im glad my neighbor is a welder for a chemical plant. and i know numerous people that work for machine shops

Just saying, I'm willing to bet at least half of us in this thread know how to make a set of headers or log manifolds, even if some of us may not be skilled enough welders to do it by ourselves. Want to guess why we don't bother doing it? Want to re-read your response to people on here and guess why you aren't gonna get much help? I made a set of headers for my escort 10 years back so I could bolt a turbocharger up... Never doing it again, and that vehicle was probably easier to work with than getting around the mount, frame and all that other noise on your ranger.

 

[JWalker814]

well, now that you point that out, i am glad that you, and only you will be making them with no ones help. BTW, dans trolling ass was trying to help. you may want to consider how long some members have been here, and how long you have been here next time you feel obligated to lash out at someone.

whats wrong with me having help? isnt that part of the reason forums?
and yea dan was trying to help by basically saying "quit bitichin"

good call on that one

No one is gangin' up or trolling you JWalker, it's just this topic and conversation has been Deja-Vu every month for the last 7 year's on this site since TMH's have come out. Every time a "Doubting Thomas" comes along and say's they will make their own for that kind of money, they NEVER come back and show off what they came up with. Considering TMH's come with all the bolt's, gaskets, modified egr, instructions, ceramic coating (for a reason), engineering and back-to-back dyno's and E.T.'s, TMH's have proven they're worth it, and I DO think they're worth it if you're looking for any kinf of performance out of your Ex. Having said that, I always encourage anyone to come up with a cheaper (not really better than TMH, but better than the stockers) alternative to TMH's. In reality, there has, and still is, 100's of people pondering ways to make, fit and mod a "poor mans" header for the 5.0 Explorer, yet no one (in 10 years) has come up with a solution. If there is a solution, I think it lies in modifying a cheap set of short-tube headers from a 5.0 mustang. BUT, after you modify certain primaries for shock mounts, GT40p plug angles and steering shaft, you are left with the collector flange angle and position. I just don't see it, and believe me, I, like many others have tried.

I encourage you to come up with a solution that is better than stock but less money than Bob's. And if and/or when you do, you have my money...

-Nick

i have an idea of what to do, the thing is headers are the last thing on my list. i got much more important things to do than to make/design headers.
only reason i bought the ones i have now was because the deal was too sweet to pass.
and if i cant sell these headers i just might modify them to fit.

and im even contemplating making a p51d mustang style exhaust out the fenders for ***** n giggles. i plan on having a sorta plane scheme with the whole truck so it kinda seems fitting. but like i said its just an idea and is way down the list.

MAC, BBK it's all junk. Why waste time & money if all you want is sound & looks I thought you were building a driver not a show trailer queen.

BTW I'm not trolling & I'm not the only one tired of people *****ing about the cost. I'm stating how I feel. If you are so smart why didn't you search first before you bought this MAC headers? Countless people over the years have all said the same thing. I'll build my own. I think one person out of those actually has.

You'll spend a hell of a lot more trying to build your own custom set of headers than what you will on the Torque Monster headers.

actually im building a show truck that is possible daily. a project for me an my dad. the ranger was my first vehicle and we've been working on it since i got it senior year, 3 years ago. so at the moment the motor work will be last on the list.

and i did search before i bought them, guess i didnt search the right places (not hear.) and i made the mistake of calling a local "expert" who actually told me bbk or similar headers would fit. so i went by what the "expert" said and got the headers to find out they dont fit. but i guess StangHi is truly only a mustang expert and not as general to Ford as they claim.


and maybe if yall would quit bashing people they might actually come out and tell you what they did, how they did it. or maybe did u ever stop and think that those people decided other things were more important.


and dont get me wrong if i found a set of TM cheaper than $300 id prob jump all over it but like i said. headers are WAY down the road.