Exhaust Manifold fitment

[97explorerkid]

Would it matter if I put in the 98 exhaust manifolds on my 97? I would much rather have cast iron exhaust manifolds because the longevity aspect. I've got the original 5.0 exhaust manifolds. Should I do the torque monster headers, or would I fail emissions since I live in Liberalfornia. I've read all sorts of older forums regarding this topic, failed to find anything that really hit the nail on the head. I just need a straight forward answer cause either one for me is completely fine as long as one of them works at least.

 

[410Fortune]

Use the cast manifolds 99-01 (many 98 had them too)
The 96-97 welded manifolds are junk and at this age they are all falling apart.

Dorman makes a set of cast manifolds you can use just search for 2000 explorer 5.0
They are not bad for the $$$$

Torque monsters are California emissions legal, however they are also $1000+ and people are waiting over a year to get them. So unless you have other supporting mods or are building a higher powered v8 the stock cast manifolds will do

 

[97explorerkid]

Use the cast manifolds 99-01 (many 98 had them too)
The 96-97 welded manifolds are junk and at this age they are all falling apart.

Dorman makes a set of cast manifolds you can use just search for 2000 explorer 5.0
They are not bad for the $$$$

Torque monsters are California emissions legal, however they are also $1000+ and people are waiting over a year to get them. So unless you have other supporting mods or are building a higher powered v8 the stock cast manifolds will do

Damn that’s crazy those headers would be taking so long and I wasn’t expecting them to be worth that much. I was going to delete my cats and also install a cai and what not because I thought my vehicle might be old enough for CA smog not to bother me till I actually looked into it so I’ll probably mainly be going stock with some light mods like a better muffler or a wider throttle body, etc. Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[donalds]

Speed costs money!
lots of money

 

[97explorerkid]

Speed costs money!
lots of money

yeah it just isn't worth it for that thing, it's my first car lol

 

[410Fortune]

That is a great first vehicle!! Welcome
There is tons of info here that can help you enjoy and fix your new ride whichever direction you decide to take it!