I bought a set of used long tubes last month and was looking for a mid pipe today. I notice that my flanges are 3 bolt and the ones on summit are 2 bolt.
5.0mag did a dyno comparison of LT headers...BBK vs Hooker I believe.
The BBK had the ball and cup style connector and the Hooker had the 3 bolt flange like you have.
The Hooker had better dyno numbers and they contributed it to the BBK's restriction on the ball side of the connetor.
But, the ball and cup connetor is supposed to seal better
I know the Cyclone headers on my old Jeep with the 3 bolt style flange was always leaking. It was a real PITA.
Someone cut off the ball socket connection and welded on a 3" 3 bolt flange. Now you need a custom mid pipe made or maybe a dr gas kit will fit. The bbk ball socket joint is restrictive, but instead of cutting it off, I grinded mine to open it up. Its appx 2 3/4" now and i'll open it to 3" when I swap to a much needed 3" mid pipe!
Someone cut off the ball socket connection and welded on a 3" 3 bolt flange. Now you need a custom mid pipe made or maybe a dr gas kit will fit. The bbk ball socket joint is restrictive, but instead of cutting it off, I grinded mine to open it up. Its appx 2 3/4" now and i'll open it to 3" when I swap to a much needed 3" mid pipe!
What I am thinking is this. I got a spare shorty h from my 02 gt. I know I will have to make it fit, so might as well get the flanges to fit also from dr gas.
You can look at this in two different ways I guess
Back in my misspent youth days ..................
Collectors like you have there ... thats all we knew about
When I got back in the hobby and saw headers for my GT
I said to myself ... that looks like a ball & socket joint
Who thought up this stupid idea
as ... its bound to hinder the flow
I then realized it would allow less of a hassle as far as ......
Ease of installation
and
More room for error with sealing
and
Less maintenance
but still
My first reaction was to poo poo the design for performance
Soooo ... having said all that ............
I'd say you got it good on one hand
On the other however ...
Those old school collectors can blow a gasket in a heartbeat
I have seen things that lead me to believe the ball & socket
design does indeed restrict the flow but how much .....
Who can say
A muffler shop would have no probs with those collectors