ANY other header options?

[ChicagoLimited]

All I see is TorqueMonsters....

I don't care about modding things to make them fit. Eventually, I plan on building the bottom end of this thing and possibly going forced induction/nitrous. I have built a few other vehicles and paid less for stainless (or coated) long tubes than these shorties. Also, at some point, the primaries are going to be too small.

I understand some of you just lovvvveeee your headers, but has anyone done any writeups on making other model headers fit?

 

[Turdle]

Go price a set of kooks GTO headers--$$$$$$$$$$$$



The Torque monster headers are worth every penny. I predict custom headers to cost way more, unless you get the labor free.

Way back when a member took his explorer to have a custom set made, and was told buy the very large header maker they would never touch one again.

Kooks wanted my truck for a week, and a minimum 1500 deposit to get to work. And if your truck is awd, kiss the long tube idea good bye.


So, yeah, good luck. Until you change perception along with the change of vehicle you will bang your head. Don't compare prices against your previous experience, or you will get sick fast. Just do it and go on to the next modification.

 

[CDW6212R]

I can point to someone who built his own 1.75" headers, for a 351W in his Ranger. He is a welder and had plenty of room to work. He hinted that he ended up with over $1000 in them. He did have them jet hot coated etc. The point I took from that is that it can be done, the proper sized primaries will fit in the truck.

 

[410Fortune]

Robert of TM also builds headers for the 5.0 with larger primaries and custom jobs for other trucks I have seen

It doesnt hurt to ask

We LOVE our headers so much because FORD decided to totally rob the power potential by settling on the POS stock manifolds, Robert is the only one that came to the rescue, went through the CA carb certification, redesigned the headers with improvements each time

So yeah we speak highly of them, worth every $$$$ IMO

Other option is to build your own, or modify an existing manifold, both roads have been gone down as long as SBF's have been shoehorned into Rangers.....

 

[celly]

Yum. TMH. I best order my fairly soon. Late June is getting closer.

 

[Cobraguy]

I know of no other option right now other than custom made.

IMO, Kooks builds the best tubes in the world. The R & D, the craftsmanship, the performance, is all as good as it gets. But my God you pay for it. I gave them almost 3 grand for a set for a race car several years ago. The car was .15 and 1.5 mph quicker than with Hookers...and Hookers were damn good. For some applications, I wouldn't consider anything else.

This is not one of those applications. The best bang for the buck is going to be TMH. Not even close. Plus, they are legal. Long tubes would not be legal in any of the 50 states. None. It's a federal offense to move, or remove, the cats. So go with Bob's tubes. You won't be sorry. Besides, they look damn good too!

 

[ChicagoLimited]

I know of no other option right now other than custom made.

IMO, Kooks builds the best tubes in the world. The R & D, the craftsmanship, the performance, is all as good as it gets. But my God you pay for it. I gave them almost 3 grand for a set for a race car several years ago. The car was .15 and 1.5 mph quicker than with Hookers...and Hookers were damn good. For some applications, I wouldn't consider anything else.

This is not one of those applications. The best bang for the buck is going to be TMH. Not even close. Plus, they are legal. Long tubes would not be legal in any of the 50 states. None. It's a federal offense to move, or remove, the cats. So go with Bob's tubes. You won't be sorry. Besides, they look damn good too!

Just to play the devil's advocate here....

Short of one off custom Kooks, they are a lot cheaper than that. They are sitting on a 9 second car in my garage right now.

Secondly, if you wanted emissions legal LT headers, provisions can be made relatively easy. After briefly reading the EPA Clean Air Act, I see nothing about "moving" the cats (and who, from the EPA, would really would go out and measure where they are located vs stock location).
http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/title2.html

Thinking about it more, the street legal SLP headers for F-Bodies, do "move" the cats

Thirdly, it's VERY easy to remove the flag in the ECM that looks for the rear O2s or to utilize a simple resistor/O2 simulator in order to defeat this check, though yes, it's still "illegal". Illinois does not perform visual inspection but rather a simple OBDII system check (if the SES light isn't on, you're clear to go)

Lastly, the quality was never in question. I understand that they are quality pieces. I was just curious if anyone had done any tweaking to other headers... A set with larger primaries for one...

In the end, I would love to meet the person that got the task of making exhaust manifolds for this. I would slap him or her upside the head for getting paid to be such an idiot.

 

[Four0Sport]

Theres always the FMS headers. That was the WORST purchase I ever made. Horrible craftmanship and even after I sent pictures of the broken welds and misshapen port holes Ford still claimed that they do not make a bad set of headers. I ended up selling them to someone on the board who had the skills and ability to clean them up.

 

[Turdle]

In the end, I would love to meet the person that got the task of making exhaust manifolds for this. I would slap him or her upside the head for getting paid to be such an idiot.

Well, after spending 3 million dollars to design a 5/8" diameter header bolt, they had to find a way to make them fit--


Janitor who happened to be looking--" Look, all we have to do is squeeze those tubes--and voila"

Project leader---" Give that man a bonus--no wonder his middle name is Edsel"



I agree, the line forms right behind me.

 

[Cobraguy]

Just to play the devil's advocate here....

Short of one off custom Kooks, they are a lot cheaper than that. They are sitting on a 9 second car in my garage right now.

This was long before he began to build tubes for the masses. He built them one at a time. And they were put on a 4 time NHRA National Record Holder. And I still have the receipt...and the National Records hanging on the wall.

A brief perusal of the EPA is hardly going to go and tell you what is legal. It is most definitely illegal to move the cats...unless you are willing to pay to have the vehicle recertified. I would contact SLP and find out if there's has a CARB number...and if so, how much it cost them. Grab your ass...it's a bunch. I don't care what you can get away with...it's what is black and white that concerns me. It's also illegal to dump Freon into the atmosphere, but how many people do it? Of course, that only cost a few folks 10 grand in Florida who didn't think it was any big deal.

 

[ChicagoLimited]

This was long before he began to build tubes for the masses. He built them one at a time. And they were put on a 4 time NHRA National Record Holder. And I still have the receipt...and the National Records hanging on the wall.

A brief perusal of the EPA is hardly going to go and tell you what is legal. It is most definitely illegal to move the cats...unless you are willing to pay to have the vehicle recertified. I would contact SLP and find out if there's has a CARB number...and if so, how much it cost them. Grab your ass...it's a bunch. I don't care what you can get away with...it's what is black and white that concerns me. It's also illegal to dump Freon into the atmosphere, but how many people do it? Of course, that only cost a few folks 10 grand in Florida who didn't think it was any big deal.

We can argue all day about legalities... I don't care. In many states ANY modifications to the exhaust is a no-no and since I don't live in California, I don't know why in the hell CARB is important to me but thanks for the info

In my other thread, you'll see I couldn't care less about it as I plan on building this thing up like I do with just about everything I own. I am going to stick with the 302 platform as it has more of a following and parts readily available compared to other options. I am new to Ford, but once I get my hands dirty and get all the details worked out, you can grab a lane.

 

[CDW6212R]

Well welcome to Ford country, and you might do really well to join and browse another forum for Ford engine tech information. I learned quite a bit from my camshaft designer, and the engine builder, and the site which they run. Fordstrokers and Jay Allen can point you to a 302 based engine making well over 400hp at 6000rpm. My 347 is tamed compared to what would be built for a higher rpm Mustang, but I hope to have something near that. Try SBFtech, there is a ton of real information there, and they don't tolerate rumors and common myths, like the Corral does.

 

[ChicagoLimited]

Well welcome to Ford country, and you might do really well to join and browse another forum for Ford engine tech information. I learned quite a bit from my camshaft designer, and the engine builder, and the site which they run. Fordstrokers and Jay Allen can point you to a 302 based engine making well over 400hp at 6000rpm. My 347 is tamed compared to what would be built for a higher rpm Mustang, but I hope to have something near that. Try SBFtech, there is a ton of real information there, and they don't tolerate rumors and common myths, like the Corral does.

Thank you for the insightful reply, I will definitely check that out. I am essentially going to build an engine and trans and then swap it out. Since 302 blocks are a dime a dozen (and parts for them equally cheap), I can afford to have two of each.

 

[CDW6212R]

Set your budget first, you can't do much with say $1500 for an engine. I had bigger plans and knew my slow nature, so I put $4000 into an engine that may be my 2nd combination plan. So in my quick decision I skipped over the block strength issue and chose $450 better crank/rods than really needed.

For under say 450hp you can do almost anything with a stock 302 block. If you could ever go past that then don't settle for the stock block. A Mexican block can still be had for an extra $300 or so I believe. At the Fordstrokers.com site you can still get the best deal going, a complete 347 shortblock for $1900. Don't jump to that though if you plan the rest to be all stock. Most of the power is decided by the heads and camshaft, and you can spend more there than the shortblock.

I loved the chart that someone posted there of a dyno test of his 92ish Mustang with a 331(332). It made 399rwhp, he posted that last Summer, and then sold the car before fine tuning it. The future of pushrod Ford's is great still, the modular engine still cost too much for the power had.

 

[ChicagoLimited]

Set your budget first, you can't do much with say $1500 for an engine. I had bigger plans and knew my slow nature, so I put $4000 into an engine that may be my 2nd combination plan. So in my quick decision I skipped over the block strength issue and chose $450 better crank/rods than really needed.

For under say 450hp you can do almost anything with a stock 302 block. If you could ever go past that then don't settle for the stock block. A Mexican block can still be had for an extra $300 or so I believe. At the Fordstrokers.com site you can still get the best deal going, a complete 347 shortblock for $1900. Don't jump to that though if you plan the rest to be all stock. Most of the power is decided by the heads and camshaft, and you can spend more there than the shortblock.

I loved the chart that someone posted there of a dyno test of his 92ish Mustang with a 331(332). It made 399rwhp, he posted that last Summer, and then sold the car before fine tuning it. The future of pushrod Ford's is great still, the modular engine still cost too much for the power had.

I currently don't have an exacting plan. My last build started with a 3,000 dollar budget and in the end, was close to 12,000 smackers....That was a 2000 Trans Am.

The other current build (P-1SC blown Camaro) is going to be a lot more than that due to the extensive chassis work (going to be maxing that thing out and hitting it with spray). That also means secondary fuel system yadda yadda yadda....

Right now, I am shopping around and seeing what has and can be done. It will more than likely be a month or so before I have a plan laid out in it's entirety as I want to learn every little detail on my options first. This is still going to be a DD, so want reliability as well as performance.

 

[CDW6212R]

I would try an FMS header if they turned up cheap, but remember the EGR versions are GT40P headers. They would work with OEM GT40P heads, but who knows if they would with aftermarket heads. My Canfield's have .400" raised exhaust ports, watch what kind of ports are on various heads, some will be in the stock location, some can be as high as .800" raised.

When you get a hint of an idea for a budget and power level, spend some time on SBFtech finding out where to spend good money, and where not to waste it. You will read many times that trying to save money with various used parts or what you happen to have, that will cost you a lot more in power and money. Take your time,