headers
 

Hey everyone,
I wanted to put some headers on my 90 lx and I was wondering what would be the best and cheapest ones to go with. There are so many different choices, and I really don't too much about headers, so I wanted to know what to go with - equal length, unequal length, etc. Thanks

Well it's all a matter of opinion I personaly like the equal length. Summit had flowtec for about $170 equal length.

It all depends on what you're bringing to the table. If the ol' LX is pretty much stock, just the fact that you're putting headers on her will wake her right up. If she has any mods at all, go with the equal length jobs. And it's a proven fact that full lengths are better than shortys.

I guess it all depends on what you have to start with. Just make sure you don't take any sideways steps, we want to go forward!!!

i second the long tubes from flowtech i just bought a set and they work great .

Cool. Thanks guys. It sounds like I'll go with the longtubes. The car is pretty much stock - nothing major. All I have is a 70 mm mass air, 65mm tb, tb spacer, and underdrives. Will I feel the longtubes in the "a$$ dyno" with this setup?

full length long tubes... awsome choice sound great!!!!

install
 

Is it any harder to install Long tube compared to equal length?

I have the BBK equal length shorties on my 302 car and the BBK longtubes in my 351 car. One is not really harder than the other. Only thing about longtubes, is when the tranny comes out, so do the headers. With the shorties, you only have to remove the h/x pipe. Spark plugs are easier to change with the lontubes too.

Does anybody know some places where I can get the longtube flowtechs? I think I found some on Jegs website, pn 387-12104, but I was wondering if anybody had a pn for these headers at summit. And are these that I found at Jegs the headers you guys are talking about? One other thing is that I need the headers to have a carb number as I am in CA and this is my daily driver. I want to make sure I can still pass smog. Thanks in advance.

summit racing and jegs is a good source.

The part number at summit for the same headers would be BIG-12104.

Just remember w/ longtubes you'll need a short mid-pipe to match it!

For a relatively mild motor arent shorties better? The longer tubes will kill low end torque and force the fellow to buy a new h-pipe. For shorties, I warmly reccomend mac 1 5/8 equals lengths. I've seem them for $160 all over the place. They make the exhaust sound much meaner.

You bring up a good point, however, I never heard of any power loss from longtubes rather shorties, I will research this however cause this makes me curious. I would have gone with long tubes without knowing this info. But I will look into this.

I was always told that putting longtubes on a mild low revving motor would lose the velocity in the exhaust and interfere with scavenging and air pulses (or something like that =P ) .

Longtubes, generally, will yield a more-broad torque curve.

One of the Mustang rags did an article on this very topic and gave torque curves for all of the different types of headers. The most significant item of interest was that the torque difference between equal length and regular shorties wasn't large at all, maybe 6-7 lb-ft if I remember correctly. Long tubes seemed to dominate, and the size of the primary tubes had *some* effect on the peak torque RPM. This is all from memory and experience with resonance tuning, so if I'm wrong....have a nice day. :)

Thanks for all the replies. So if I do get the longtubes, I'll need a shorter x-pipe, right? What if I decide to go with the shorties? I am assuming I will still need to have a pipe made for the space between the headers and the x-pipe. If there is only a 6-7 ft-lb diff, then on my street motor that shouldn't make a big deal. I also would like my exhaust to sound a little meaner without putting downpipes after the mufflers, so what do you guys think? If the shorties will fit exactly in place of the stock manifolds, then maybe I'll go with those as long as they will perform just as well as longtubes. Thanks again.

Yes, if you get longtubes, you have to get the matching h or x pipe. You can put equal length shorties or unequal length shorties in place of the factory headers. If you are going to buy headers, might as well upgrade the rest of the exhaust system too. If you don't have to do emissions inspections, you can put a off road h pipe or x pipe. The h pipe is a little louder at idle speeds, but in the high rpms, they are about the same. The main thing in the sound category will be the after cat muffler choice. Most popular ones are flowmaster 2 and 3 chambers. But they all sound good. Go here and listen for a good comparison. IMO, I would get some longtubes with a matching o/r x pipe, with any performance muffler. I doubt you would regret any selection you make.

Oh yeah, the h/x pipe is the pipe that goes from the headers to the mufflers. You will not have to have anything special made.

X-pipes are nice, i have heard they offer better HP ( 1-5 ) more over h-pipe. is it worth the $$$$ probably not. If you can spend it on them then go for it. :)

Thanks everyone. I just about have all the money together, so I'll probably get everything in a week or two. Thanks for everyone's help.

i have no knowledge on this subject but a quick question ive heard that longtubes wont pass emmisions. i dont know if this is true or not or if it has to do with the cats on your h/x pipe. if anyone can help me out with this that would be great...thanks:confused:

They'll pass if you go through the trouble of getting a pair with o2 sensor bungs and a short h-pipe with cats. $$$

Otherwise I do not believe they change the emissions profile that much.

Then again, here in MA, everything is illegal anyway. Just get a mechanic who doesnt open the hood.

Crazypete - are emissions in MA hard to pass as well? I live in CA and I've heard that CA smog check is the hardest to pass out of all the states. Either way, the headers I have to get have to have the spot for the O2 sensor as well as a c.a.r.b. number for california. I have a mechanic who'll pass it without a c.a.r.b but I don't like to use him alot as I have other cars that need passing. If I can do this and keep it "smogable," it would be much better in the long run.

As I hinted before, practically nothing is legal. I have seen holley carbs complete with egr and pcv nozzles stamped not legal for use on emissions controlled vehicles.

As for actually passing, if you have cats and o2 sensors, I do not believe anyone will give you trouble about it unless they dont like you to begin with. I cannot imagine the lovely state of california being filled with hotrods rodding around on stock exhaust. Think about it that way. The first thing to go on any mustang is usually the exhaust. Plenty of stangs in CA which means the shop guys are used to seeing lots of aftermarket exhaust.

I took my car to a ford dealer once and I got nitpicked on everything. I took it to a local shop where the guys have done a lot of installs for me before and they passed it to keep me happy and keep my business. Technically, I think the blue lightbulbs for the headlights are illegal here too but I see every 10th car driving around with them. It's all about who you go to.

I think the point of all these regulations is to give "the man" an excuse to stop anyone anytime. You dont have to take them all seriously and most mechanics dont.

UNLESS the inspections are done at state centers (RI I think does it that way). Then you'll have some official ignoramous looking at the bottom of your car and he'll see something shiny and fail you in all probability to cover his butt just in case.

Just my thoughts. I say go for it. You only live once. There has to be more than 1 cool mechanic in your area.

I agree, nothing is legal, and there are more important problems then loud exhaust and xeon lights.. in my opinion on that who the ***K cares about the emissions.. Look at all the desiel semi's poluting the air and factories.. that out weights anything our cars will do. Find a shop that loves hot rods, and go there, you won't have a problem..