Best Long tube headers

Luca11 · Dec 11, 2011

What are the best long tube headers for performance and sound??

DavidEwers · Dec 11, 2011

Kooks for the track

VibrantRedGT · Dec 12, 2011

Make sure you get ceramic coated. I've been through 5-6 headers and the last one I bought were ceramic coated. They still look brand new, never discolored.

MAC 1-3/4" Ceramic Long Tubes w/ 3" Collector.

BANGERSTANGER76 · Dec 12, 2011

VibrantRedGT said:
Make sure you get ceramic coated. I've been through 5-6 headers and the last one I bought were ceramic coated. They still look brand new, never discolored.

MAC 1-3/4" Ceramic Long Tubes w/ 3" Collector.

Very nice and exactly what I'm looking for. I'm running shorties right now. JBA stainless. But the more I see them, The more I want full lengths. Might go that route this spring.

Jason 302 · Dec 12, 2011

I'm highly disappointed in my BBK 1 5/8" long tubes. I got them ceramic coated from BBK and they are rusted up around the heads. Car has always been garaged and never seen salt. The welds inside the tubes are pretty gnarly too.

They do seem to run well though and they have a nice, thick flange.

Rick 91GT · Dec 12, 2011

The best ones are the ones that fit..lol

Stainless gets my vote, they will last for ever...

Whats the combo and car year?

Gearbanger 101 · Dec 12, 2011

Like the look of the Mac's...like the price of the Mac's, but once you've got them on, make sure you used good gaskets and never take them off again. The individual flanges tend to warp and shift around when heat cycled. I've never seen a set of Mac's that didn't leak and/or require considerable effort to prevent them from doing so.

Like the look and price of the BBK’s as well…but I’ve heard conflicting reports of the collector being too close to the starter. If you’re going to run them, I would suggest some serious heat shielding to prevent you from cooking your starter. They're also no good if you're running an automatic transmission from what I remember...although they may offer ones for an automatic now?

Liked the looks, fit and finish of the Kooks…hated the price. Ran these on my Cougar and they were the best header I’ve ever come across. Excellent welds, perfect fitment and the ceramic coating option is a real JET HOT coating. Had them on the car for 6-years before I sold it and they still looked as good as the day I put them on.

You really get what you pay for with headers. The usual area’s most of the less expensive headers suffer are fitment and the quality of their finish. Functionality seems to be pretty much standard across the board for all of them though. So if you don’t care if you’re header might spring a leak, or look a little gnarly after a couple of years…go ahead and get the cheaper ones. But quality is quality and it comes at a price.

2vNotch · Dec 13, 2011

+1 for kooks

rj95svt · Dec 14, 2011

i heard accufab makes some nice headers but i have no first hand experience with them and Macs are very aggrevating after they are removed.

ddec74 · Jul 29, 2013

anyone using the pypes headers with OR x-pipe for a 2011+ ?

TOOLOW91 · Jul 29, 2013

ddec74 said:
anyone using the pypes headers with OR x-pipe for a 2011+ ?

Wrong forum this is the push rod section . check the s197 section

Sent from my iPhone using my fingers

reldla1996 · Jul 29, 2013

Performance and sound, I'll vote for Kooks, but mine sure were a pain to install. You should get ceramic coated regardless of the metal they're made of. BBK's are a nice compromise between price and performance. My ceramic coated long tube 1 5/8" BBK's looked like new after 10 years of use and 100K plus miles, except at the collector where they rusted through in the middle.

mikestang63 · Jul 29, 2013

I would say for price and performance the BBK are a good choice. If money is no object Kooks. Personally, I wouldn't put anything MAC on a car, Their quality is terrible and don't ever plan on trying to reinstall them once you remove them. The individual flanges tend to distort greatly.

SVT32VDOHC · Jul 30, 2013

The BBK's on my 96 Cobra lasted a long time. Def go ceramic whatever you may purchase. I had BBK's on an 89 LX I had last fall with a BBK H pipe and brand new catback (FLows) Sounded great, but remember L/T's are quieter than Shorties.

cleanLX · Jul 31, 2013

Ball and socket designs do not make any sense to me.
I looked at them all and went with Hooker, and it had nothing to do with price or prettiness.
The reason you never see advertisements for Hooker or Kooks is because their stuff works so well they do not need to advertise.
Look around at the fast non-sponsored/contingent race cars. The majority will be running custom, Hooker and the wealthy guys will have shiny Kooks.

cobra10494 · Aug 1, 2013

For the power gain vs ease of install vs sound you really cant beat a nice unequal length shorty.But that's just me...

89stang1 · Aug 2, 2013

i really like my BBK longtubes when Rick built my stroker the ceramic was looking shotty so he suggested Eastwood header paint. That was 4 years ago they look no different now i would use it again even over having headers ceramic coated

Gearbanger 101 · Aug 2, 2013

cleanLX said:
Ball and socket designs do not make any sense to me.
I looked at them all and went with Hooker, and it had nothing to do with price or prettiness.
The reason you never see advertisements for Hooker or Kooks is because their stuff works so well they do not need to advertise.
Look around at the fast non-sponsored/contingent race cars. The majority will be running custom, Hooker and the wealthy guys will have shiny Kooks.

All a person needs to do is blow out a few collector gaskets to see why ball and socket designs make sense. the flat, three bolt collectors never seal right...and if by some miracle you get them to, it's never for long.

This was an issue I was continuously fighting with my last set of Kooks....and I tried every type of gasket. The just outright were not designed for long term use.

And one only needs to open any other domestic car magazine other than one based solely on Ford Mustangs to see that Hooker whore's out their headers as much as the next guy. To be frank...."quality" is never the first thing that comes to mind when I think Hooker. They're famous for building cheap . They're an off brand of Holley after all.

clement · Aug 2, 2013

sealing the collector is a seconadary issue to performance, that's where three bolt collectors have an advantage over ball and socket.

Gearbanger 101 · Aug 2, 2013

clement said:
sealing the collector is a seconadary issue to performance, that's where three bolt collectors have an advantage over ball and socket.

I guess that's a matter of perspective. I drive this car as a daily in the summer months and since I consider track duty as secondary, it's more important to me to have a quiet, leak free, durable no maintenance exhaust system than it is ringing every last ounce of horsepower out of my engine....all of which would only be felt at the top of the tach anyway.

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