headers

charter86 said:

does it hurt to run the car with strait headers until i can get my exust re welded i have flow masters on it now with the h pipe can i reuse this

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It is possible to hurt your engine by driving it open header. It isn't likely, but it is possible for the engine to suck up cold air back through the headers and burn a valve while decelerating.

The most affordable option is to buy a set of longtube headers in combination with a matching intermediary (h-pipe). You can have an exhaust shop cut down the factory h-pipe, and make it fit, but it will end up costing more than just buying an aftermarket unit. the factory H-pipe is also restrictive. The factory exhaust is 2 1/4", while all the aftermarket pipes are 2 1/2" If you buy a set of longtubes with the matching H-pipe, there won't be any welding required, it's all bolt in.

Here are some things you need to know with longtubes.

1. Installing the headers is not hard, but is time consuming. You will have elevate your car quite a bit, so that you can get a good angle to install the left side header from the bottom. You will have to unbolt each motor mount individually, and jack up the engine to get enough clearance on each side to get the header in. This isn't as hard as it seems. You will also need to disconnect the steering shaft to get the driver's side header in. Also not that hard, it's only one bolt.

2. The position of your oxygen sensors will change. You will either have to extend the harnesses on your Oxygen sensors, or buy new Oxygen sensors. If you decide that it is a good time to change your Oxygen sensors anyway, you need to go to the parts store and ask them for a pair of oxygen sensors for a 92' Ford Ranger V6 (3.0 or 4.0 doesn't matter, they are both the same). This will give you the oxygen sensors with the correct length pigtail.

3. Most people agree that the BBK headers are the best fitting. If you get the BBK headers, you will find that the AC liquid line gets pinched between the passenger side header and the inner fender. The heat from the header WILL melt your AC line, and cause all your gas to leak out. This is an easy fix. All you have to do is drill a hole in the strut tower a little higher up, and remount the line about 2 inches higher. It flexes up easily with your hands. If you don't do this when you do the headers, you will most likely burn that line out immediately, and have to replace it.

4. The BBK headers have a bung to reattach the line to your EGR on the passenger side. However, the tube itself has to be "motivated" to fit. BBK sells a replacement tube that fits, but you can get the factory one to work by bending it.

5. I just put a BBK longtube in a customer car a few weeks ago. The BBK X-pipe was about an inch to narrow, and I had to bend it out a little bit to fit. I used an engine hoist with some ratchet straps, but I have heard of people putting a floor jack in between the two pipes and bending them out. If you intend to do a lot of modification to your car, and you buy a lot of aftermarket parts, get used to these inconsistencies.

6. The factory header bolts are big and nasty, and tend to have the unattractive, but helpful characteristic of rusting themselves into place. You will not be able to reuse the factory header bolts because the primaries on longtubes are bigger. However, if you use the provided bolts with the headers, they tend to have the crappy characteristic of backing out, requiring constant tightening. It's not a bad idea to get a set of locking header bolts with the headers. The most common brand it "Stage 8" and Summit racing sells them.

7. The header gaskets provided with the headers are paper, and suck balls. It's also a good idea to cough up the $8 for a set of Fel-pro gaskets from the parts store.

8. If you have never done this job before, give yourself a full 2 days to get it done. I have put longtubes in a Mustang at least 20 times, and it still takes me almost a full day to do it by myself.

Longtubes require quite a bit of work, but it's totally worth it. It makes a big difference in performance.

Kurt