Installing JBA Shorty Headers

Jba has full instructions on the site I think. you will have to remove the midepipe for sure. there is some line that also needs to be relocated to a differnet moundting hole. I have read over them because I almost bought them untill I read about no real significant ET increase.

I have heard some jack the engine up just to provide more clearance. to get to the bolts.

remove anything and everything possible in the way. mine were done with the engine out.

i made 380rwhp @ 10psi and 11:1 a/f ratio through an auto with them. i think they are worth it for a blown car. especially for the people who need shorty headers for emissions reasons.

UDTBadkarma said:

Errr What exatly does that mean? And do the 2002 GTs have offset steering rack bushings?

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I added them AFTER I lowered my stang. Stock, there should be no offset steering rack bushings unless you actually added them on. They help with the suspension geometry of lowered cars.

If you ask me, the easiest way to do a header install is to either pull the engine or pull the K-member out. I pulled my K-member when I installed my BBK LTs. It was an hour and a half of work that saved me at least 8 hours of time messing around trying to get at the bolts.

UDTBadkarma said:

bump for my last post. Can anyone help out?

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ok man, i'll do my best going off of memory. give me a minute & i'll have a write up for you

UDTBadkarma said:

Installation PDF:
http://www.jbaheaders.com/installsheets/html/1625.pdf

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i've read that befor. seem soooooooo easy doesn't it?

first get the car up in the air a good bit, the high the better. & if you have air tools you are gunna be alot happier. (i used metric for some reason for alot of this, don't ask me why)


take the calipers loose - two 12mm bolts per caliper. you will also need a 18mm open wrench to keep this from spinning also, just look close for the flat spot to put the wrench between the caliper & the bolt head. zip tie out of the way after off. there is also a electrical line you will need to disconnect that is in the fender well, behind the plastic

take loose the sway bar - can't remember size cause it hasn't been on my car in over a year (18mm maybe)

take loose the tie rods - 18mm

put a jack under the a-arm. take loose the strut nut on top - 18mm i believe. then after it's loose SLOWLY lower the a-arms & take the spring loose. at this point you can opt to take the a-arms off if you'd like to lighten the load on the k-member, but i never do. your call. should look like this:


take loose the steering shaft. there will be one 13mm bolt holding it to the rack. pull apart to separate

take the steering rack off. i use an 18mm deep socket for the front & 5/8 deep socket for the rear part of the bolt in the 'back' of the k-member. dont' worry about the rack falling after the bolt is out. it's attatched to the k-member, you have to pull it off. after it's pulled off, zip tie out of the way so the lines don't bend too much.


take cross member off. either 13mm or 15mm i believe.

the k-member has 10 bolts holding it in. two per side in the shock tower (19mm i think), two per side brace bolts - 15mm, towards the back of the k-member on the outside, & 1 per side that is the motor mounts - 21mm. but before you drop the k-member make sure you have the engine / tranny supported. i use a jack & a big block of wood that supports the tranny & engine like this & i usually raise the engine a hair so i know it's supported by the jack

i usually leave the shock tower bolts for the last before i drop the k-member to support it. be careful when you are about to drop the k-member cause it's a heavy bastage, have a friend help preferably. here's a pic of the k-member, you can see where all of the bolt holes are on it

after all of the motor mount & support bolts are out, then move to the shock tower & begin to take those bolts out & brace yourself if you are going to just let it drop. but what i do is i get a second jack & get the k-members weight on the jack. then i have a friend try to support the k-member, cause it will roll towards the front of the car due to the way it's shaped & the weight. then i slowly lower the jack so the k-member jsut doesn't come crashing down




i hope this helps you & i didn't leave anything out, cause i'm doing all of this by memory. i am going to do a full write up on this once i get the time to do it to help everyone here out

I put mine in and yes it is a pita but I did not remove the k-member. I dropped the h-pipe, starter, undo motor mounts, raise motor maybe a two or three inches and install. I think the passanger top bolts are about the hardest to install and for that I ended up cutting a wrench in half so as to get it to be able to swing.
Good Luck

Here's pics from my install.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=403076

I did not do the K-member drop - its not necessary. Redline01 did it the way I did. I would recommend getting a couple reversible ratchet wrenches for the install, it makes installing the headers themselves soooooooo much easier.

Take your time, have patience. Getting the passenger side of the H-pipe off and back on is a biotch. You'll need extensions and swivels for that part.

I had no problems with the starter whatsoever, but some people complain about it. The driver's side header is easy compared to the passenger side.

Good luck!!!

UDTBadkarma said:

removed the starter and the motor mounts huh? Where is the starter, which side? pics?


STANGMAN, thanks for that write up. I would like to avoid the K-member ordeal if I could. Thanks a LOT though. Very helpful

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not whishing to sound negative, but you don't seem to machanically minded, where's the starter, K member and so on.

I think taking on this install may beyond your means and end you up in a whole heep of bother, whch could be very expensive to right as well as damaging to the car.

My advice would be haggle a bit harder and get them for say $150 then flog them on Ebay and save up and spend the money on something else or LT's.

The gains from the shorties will be limited at best, the hassel and/or money of getting on the car really isn't worth the 'cost per bhp gained'. You'd be better off spending the money on something like an electric water pump.

300bhp/ton said:

not whishing to sound negative, but you don't seem to machanically minded, where's the starter, K member and so on.

I think taking on this install may beyond your means and end you up in a whole heep of bother, whch could be very expensive to right as well as damaging to the car.

My advice would be haggle a bit harder and get them for say $150 then flog them on Ebay and save up and spend the money on something else or LT's.

The gains from the shorties will be limited at best, the hassel and/or money of getting on the car really isn't worth the 'cost per bhp gained'. You'd be better off spending the money on something like an electric water pump.

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I would have to agree. This is one of the hardest installs you can do to a mustang. If you have no idea what you are doing i suggest either you just don't do it or get someone else to do it. Thins goes double if you don't have the right tools and equipment and patience. Sorry but maybe you should get something else done instead.