Gained 23 rwhp with LT Headers (see dynos)

[damacman]

The header haters must have finally left the site. I can't belive that this has been here this long and Mustanglife or oogtdude (IIRC) haven't jumped in about how good stock manifolds are.

BTW, nice gains I have Mac LT's but I have no idea what kind of gains I got because I never had a "before" number.

All right already, PM me the ENTIRE pic in your avatar . . .

 

[mrvax]

The header haters must have finally left the site. I can't belive that this has been here this long and Mustanglife or oogtdude (IIRC) haven't jumped in about how good stock manifolds are.

BTW, nice gains I have Mac LT's but I have no idea what kind of gains I got because I never had a "before" number.

The only good thing about the stock exhaust manifolds is that it makes it easy to r&r the transmission.

 

[DerekStangGT]

so if you dont mind me asking, how much did you pay for the L/Ts and o/r shorty when it was all said and done including labor (if you got them installed)?

 

[01mgvert]

so if you dont mind me asking, how much did you pay for the L/Ts and o/r shorty when it was all said and done including labor (if you got them installed)?

I bought my parts from Thunder Racing. The Hooker LT ceramic coated header (6230-1) cost $699.99. The matching Hooker o/r x-pipe (16762) cost $139.95. The installation charge was $115 @ hour for 8 hours, totalling $920 for labor. The total cost from beginning to end was $1759.94. Whether I stay na or go supercharged, I have no regrets. The 23 rwhp gain was a definite improvement. As others on this discussion board have mentioned, it is not cheap to modify the 4.6 modular motor. Given my induction mods, the headers and mid-pipe were the next logical step. After reading several discussion forums about the pros and cons of shorty headers, I opted for the LT headers. Since I have an automatic, my options were MAC, Hooker, and Kooks. I chose the Hookers because of the quality of their products.

 

[DerekStangGT]

I bought my parts from Thunder Racing. The Hooker LT ceramic coated header (6230-1) cost $699.99. The matching Hooker o/r x-pipe (16762) cost $139.95. The installation charge was $115 @ hour for 8 hours, totalling $920 for labor. The total cost from beginning to end was $1759.94. Whether I stay na or go supercharged, I have no regrets. The 23 rwhp gain was a definite improvement. As others on this discussion board have mentioned, it is not cheap to modify the 4.6 modular motor. Given my induction mods, the headers and mid-pipe were the next logical step. After reading several discussion forums about the pros and cons of shorty headers, I opted for the LT headers. Since I have an automatic, my options were MAC, Hooker, and Kooks. I chose the Hookers because of the quality of their products.

WHY SO MUCH?!?!?! wow, that is insane!! almost $1800?? ive seen L/Ts for like $400, plus the $140 x-pipe shorty. thats only ~$550, plus ive found many guys in the local area who would do the install for under $200. thats only ~$800 where did you get it installed? at a shop, or by a guy on the side? probably a shop. man, even the local ford dealership here only charges $85/hour on labor

 

[01mgvert]

WHY SO MUCH?!?!?! wow, that is insane!! almost $1800?? ive seen L/Ts for like $400, plus the $140 x-pipe shorty. thats only ~$550, plus ive found many guys in the local area who would do the install for under $200. thats only ~$800 where did you get it installed? at a shop, or by a guy on the side? probably a shop. man, even the local ford dealership here only charges $85/hour on labor

I could have gotten the Hooker LT chrome headers (6396) for $470. I decided to go with the ceramic coating for two reasons: (1) the headers last longer, and (2) the engine compartment doesn't get as hot. The shop I went to specializes in performance parts. They knew what they were doing and did a quality job. I did have someone from a performance store offer to installed the LTs for $400. I also toyed with doing it myself (for about 2 minutes). After reading about the difficulty of the installation, I decided to have it professionally done. Considering what I paid for the headers, I was willing to pay to have it done right.

 

[01mgvert]

bump

 

[CottonBurnerz]

I spent $13xx for all the parts (LT, catted X, catback) Installed myself. Here's my graph over stock:

$400 is a decent price for the install IMO. None of the shop around here would install it for me.. so I did it myself.. pics and stuff in sig.. I need to update the site though.. heh.. been a while..

 

[MAC[H]Z]

Most shops around here want $600 for the install

 

[01mgvert]

Most shops around here want $600 for the install

Unfortunately, in the Mpls/St. Paul, we don't have a lot of performance shops to choose from. When I was pricing the installation of LT headers, most automotive shops were clueless. They would look at me like I was from another planet and then ask why I wanted to install them. After explaining that I wanted more horsepower, they said that they could do the job for $100 an hour but they were not sure how long it would take since they had never done this kind of work before. When I finally found a shop that specializes in performance modifications, I jumped at the chance to have the installation done right. This shop was also able to dyno tune my car, using my Diablo Predator, after the installation.

 

[Ryan L]

By looking at the dyno graphs, you were in need of a tune before the LTs. You didn't gain 23 rwhp with LTs only. Most of that came from the off-road pipe and leaner fuel mixture. I still think LTs are not worth the money. Stock manifolds will take you a long way.

 

[01mgvert]

By looking at the dyno graphs, you were in need of a tune before the LTs. You didn't gain 23 rwhp with LTs only. Most of that came from the off-road pipe and leaner fuel mixture. I still think LTs are not worth the money. Stock manifolds will take you a long way.

I think that the vast majority of the gains, approximately 15 rwhp, came from the LT headers. Other postings have described similar gains.