Engine Engine rebuild suggestions
- Thread starter JulianR
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- 302 rebuild 5.0 rebuild
now, for the obligatory "which cheap headers can I use with the GT40P heads that will work?" question 
I read there used to be MAC ones, but MAC is out of business. Someone was talking about BBK shorties, but I can't find anyone giving any particular model numbers.
I read there used to be MAC ones, but MAC is out of business. Someone was talking about BBK shorties, but I can't find anyone giving any particular model numbers.
I found these on Amazon a few years ago... They bolted on fine and I could get the spark plugs in and out with the TF spark plug socket..
Ending up removing them when I found a pair of FRPP shorties.... Honestly not much. if any difference in fit ...
Look for them, they will say " works with P heads"... I paid $82 for mine but I " believe" they are $110 now.....
Ending up removing them when I found a pair of FRPP shorties.... Honestly not much. if any difference in fit ...
Look for them, they will say " works with P heads"... I paid $82 for mine but I " believe" they are $110 now.....
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I'm not fully understanding the whole header dilemma. Is it correct that any shorty header will work with GT40P heads if 90 degree wires are used? So it's like either you buy gt40p specific headers or the 90 degree wires? Or do you need both? Also, worst case is you'll have to remove headers to change a spark plug, or that the plug wires will melt if I use whatever shorty headers my mustang now has?
I've done a lot of investigation on using P heads, while I use long tube headers I had a set of short headers for P heads and same brand for non-P heads, prolly BBK back then, been a minute, and honestly I could not tell them apart, I even installed one set on my stock convertible but don't know which set 
the factory headers looked like sht,
Like I said I use LTs on the Junk Pile and they are NOT P specific headers, can't get LTs specific for Ps any more, I will use a mix of different boots and also 'socks', the plug boot insulators like 'race cars' use, the only unresolved issue will be the dip stick tube/header tube/spark plug that occupy the same area, not much room between those two header tubes but you may not have this issue with short tubes, there is more room than Limps' pic shows, flange thickness will play a part in this, remember, thin, cheap material and you get rust and broken tube to flange welds, FRPP I believe should have a quality product but shop around, spark plug boot angle is, I believe, the only work a round.
Spring for Ceramic coating, NOT CHROME!
now the important stuff, how far should you go with install before start up,
everyone is a little different (duh!) I hook up everything! Just like I was gonna drive it down the road, especially if it's a new engine, just add water, like I was gonna run up the road, I actually did that last swap, a hour after start up I was do'n burnouts.
in your case you want to pre oil with pressure gauge to verify oil pressure, some turn the engine by hand one revolution while priming, fill with water, start up, bring it up to temp and run long enough to check leaks, possible future issues, get the headers hot so when you shut it down you can re-torque the bolts, check valve cover bolts, throttle body nuts, intake tubes tight, stuff like that.
It's gonna smoke a little in the dog house from residual oil, greasy fingerprints and prolly stink a little, after all you did paint it red (??), Ford gray or black works better JMO so have a good fan in the garage or be outsde, after shut down check for leaks, check you nuts and bolts, clamps, run codes, deal with any catastrophes like all that oil you just dumped in the drive because the oil filter was just a little loose.
the factory headers looked like sht,Like I said I use LTs on the Junk Pile and they are NOT P specific headers, can't get LTs specific for Ps any more, I will use a mix of different boots and also 'socks', the plug boot insulators like 'race cars' use, the only unresolved issue will be the dip stick tube/header tube/spark plug that occupy the same area, not much room between those two header tubes but you may not have this issue with short tubes, there is more room than Limps' pic shows, flange thickness will play a part in this, remember, thin, cheap material and you get rust and broken tube to flange welds, FRPP I believe should have a quality product but shop around, spark plug boot angle is, I believe, the only work a round.
Spring for Ceramic coating, NOT CHROME!
now the important stuff, how far should you go with install before start up,
everyone is a little different (duh!) I hook up everything! Just like I was gonna drive it down the road, especially if it's a new engine, just add water, like I was gonna run up the road, I actually did that last swap, a hour after start up I was do'n burnouts.
in your case you want to pre oil with pressure gauge to verify oil pressure, some turn the engine by hand one revolution while priming, fill with water, start up, bring it up to temp and run long enough to check leaks, possible future issues, get the headers hot so when you shut it down you can re-torque the bolts, check valve cover bolts, throttle body nuts, intake tubes tight, stuff like that.
It's gonna smoke a little in the dog house from residual oil, greasy fingerprints and prolly stink a little, after all you did paint it red (??), Ford gray or black works better JMO so have a good fan in the garage or be outsde, after shut down check for leaks, check you nuts and bolts, clamps, run codes, deal with any catastrophes like all that oil you just dumped in the drive because the oil filter was just a little loose.
I found these on Amazon a few years ago... They bolted on fine and I could get the spark plugs in and out with the TF spark plug socket..
Ending up removing them when I found a pair of FRPP shorties.... Honestly not much. if any difference in fit ...
Look for them, they will say " works with P heads"... I paid $82 for mine but I " believe" they are $110 now.....
Most of those China shortery headers are a bbk unequal length copy in stainless.. They can work with p's, and there decent just get better gaskets and hardware., was a few bad batches of them though where the collector hit the block. So those or bbk shorties for new or few more options finding them used.
OBX is clearing out thier inventory and all there stuff is China copies from the same factories pumping out most stuff sold now. Some of the stuff is pretty damn good quality. Looks like all the good stuff for fox bodies may be sold out, but might want to check Wal-Mart market place since that's where they are liquidating all their inventory under advanced manufacturing as the seller.. They had some really crappy knocks offs and some really good ones and listed stuff with the wrong specs all the time, like sn95 heads as fox body etc.. so kind of have to know what they where copied from, and they copied everyone for years for most makes and models under 3 or 4 different brand names they owned. There is some s550 stuff left on there that are decent stainless works copies for a good price.
I grabbed a set of the stainless long tubes for fox bodies at $150 from their other brand maximizer and some bbf swap headers that where copies of kooks headers, the sbf where direct copy of pace setter long tubes, pretty tight around clutch cables where you would need a heat shield and sheath but fit decent, otherwise work with p's, just like the steel pace setters they where copied from both are not listed any more though. EPA cracked down on all the US exhaust company doing volume and there all dropping the stuff for emissions cars it seems except for stuff that is federal legal.or carb approved all ready. Most of the holley brands, mac. Pacesetter, pretty much all the well known brands, well except for bbk so far, rest is either high end low volume stuff EPA hasn't hit yet or China copies of us stuff sold by drop shippers.
OK, so I just took these pictures of my cheapy shorty headers..... I am new to this Ford stuff so I do NOT have the experience that some of Guru's on here have.. So here is my experience being a newby with this stuff.....
I installed a junkyard Explorer engine in my 83 mustang.. First thing I noticed is you HAVE to buy some aftermarket exhaust as the stock explorer exhaust manifolds are truly some engineers wet dream..... I did NOT want long tube headers, I wanted the simplicity of shorty headers.... I do NOT care about going 0.0001 second faster at the strip.... If I could of installed the stock exhaust headers from the car I would have...
All I read about was how hard it is to get " P " head headers that fit well and allow you to get the spark plugs in and out easily... I saw these headers on Amazon " that work with P heads ", and felt that for $82 bucks with FREE shipping they were worth the chance .....
When I was young the only headers were long tube and were no where near as nice as these shorty headers are in " my opinion" ...
I guess you can cut a deep spark plug socket if you want, but I purchased the TF spark plug socket, which is a must...
With P head headers you can hand install the spark plugs right up the the snug point, but you need something for the final tightening.. You cannot get a a full size spark plug socket on and you cannot get an open end wrench on the spark plug...... The TF tool ( will try to attach a link) does this with help from open end or crescent wrench.... I have seen cars from my past that were a nightmare to install new plugs in... Personally with the TF tool on these P heads it was pretty simple...
Using Remflex exhaust gaskets and some locking header bolts....
I did have to grind off a very small amount on the collector to fit... See attached pic..
I can't remember what wires I bought, seems like they were 90 degree boots and I purchased 3 or 4- 135 degree boots if needed....
These headers were installed on the car in the engine compartment and the ONLY reason I am not using them is I came across a set of FRPP headers for sale for $300 I purchased and installed on the engine/car... Remember, I am spending my kids inheritance.........
Personally I don't see much difference between these two sets of headers, but I did not start or drive the car with the Cheapy headers in the attached pics..... The flange seems plenty strong and thick to me and the tubes look like they are machine welded the entire perimeter on the inside....
NO, these are not for sale, I might need them down the road.....
I hope my personal experience helps......
I installed a junkyard Explorer engine in my 83 mustang.. First thing I noticed is you HAVE to buy some aftermarket exhaust as the stock explorer exhaust manifolds are truly some engineers wet dream..... I did NOT want long tube headers, I wanted the simplicity of shorty headers.... I do NOT care about going 0.0001 second faster at the strip.... If I could of installed the stock exhaust headers from the car I would have...
All I read about was how hard it is to get " P " head headers that fit well and allow you to get the spark plugs in and out easily... I saw these headers on Amazon " that work with P heads ", and felt that for $82 bucks with FREE shipping they were worth the chance .....
When I was young the only headers were long tube and were no where near as nice as these shorty headers are in " my opinion" ...
I guess you can cut a deep spark plug socket if you want, but I purchased the TF spark plug socket, which is a must...
With P head headers you can hand install the spark plugs right up the the snug point, but you need something for the final tightening.. You cannot get a a full size spark plug socket on and you cannot get an open end wrench on the spark plug...... The TF tool ( will try to attach a link) does this with help from open end or crescent wrench.... I have seen cars from my past that were a nightmare to install new plugs in... Personally with the TF tool on these P heads it was pretty simple...
Using Remflex exhaust gaskets and some locking header bolts....
I did have to grind off a very small amount on the collector to fit... See attached pic..
I can't remember what wires I bought, seems like they were 90 degree boots and I purchased 3 or 4- 135 degree boots if needed....
These headers were installed on the car in the engine compartment and the ONLY reason I am not using them is I came across a set of FRPP headers for sale for $300 I purchased and installed on the engine/car... Remember, I am spending my kids inheritance.........
Personally I don't see much difference between these two sets of headers, but I did not start or drive the car with the Cheapy headers in the attached pics..... The flange seems plenty strong and thick to me and the tubes look like they are machine welded the entire perimeter on the inside....
NO, these are not for sale, I might need them down the road.....
I hope my personal experience helps......
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here is a link to the TF socket, which is a must have ' in my opinion" ,......
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Damn... Not in stock. I don't have TrickFlow anything but that socket looks like a "damned good to have" kind of thing.
Lethal Performance might have them in stock but I would call.
www.lethalperformance.com
Trick Flow Socket, Spark Plug, 3/4 in. Open Ended, Each - TFS-90500
Trick Flow Socket, Spark Plug, 3/4 in. Open Ended, Each - TFS-90500
www.lethalperformance.com
Lol I guess its from working in shops but I have multiple cheap plug sockets that are cut and modified all ready with the nut end on them
Speaking of cheapy headers, if anyone wants a set that will work for P's but has a 94-95 or doesnt care about capping an egr port on a fox these are p header copies with a egr port added.. Idk wtf they where thinking but they made em.. And $75 shipped.. Idk what's up with the link changing lol its just wally world 3rd party..
Speaking of cheapy headers, if anyone wants a set that will work for P's but has a 94-95 or doesnt care about capping an egr port on a fox these are p header copies with a egr port added.. Idk wtf they where thinking but they made em.. And $75 shipped.. Idk what's up with the link changing lol its just wally world 3rd party..
Any advantages over a good old fashioned spark plug socket that has the rubberish insert that grabs the porcelain?
It has to be short and have a hole at the top to let the top of the spark plug actually come through.... Then you use a open end wrench..
If a socket is too long, like a standard spark plug socket, it hits the header tube not allowing it to seat on the spark plug....
I believe the TF socket is actually labeled for LS engines....
