Exhaust Combo

[1hot5.0]

I am looking into an exhaust combo. I am on a pretty tight budget (16 still in high school, only have enough to do it once) and was wondering what you guys thought of this exhaust combo.

• BBK 1 5/8 Shorty Chrome Headers
• BBK X-Pipe with Cats
• MAC Flowpath 2.5 inch catback with 2.5 inch tips

Will this combo be to loud for a daily driver? I have a vert so as long as i can hear my stereo in my car and talk its all good. Along with this, I am thinking of getting a MAC cold air intake (fenderwell). Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

////Stang is broken down////
Im taking my stang in this Saturday to get the starter replaced. It just grinds when I try to start it. Will have it back by Saturday afternoon. I will also get new pics of her. I just put a bra on the front end. It came out quite nice.

[82 GT]

Don't waste your money on the cold air intake. Use that money for something else. The money you spend isn't worth the small horsepower gain. You would feel more HP gain with a set of underdrive pulleys.....IMO

[1hot5.0]

Any opinons on this exhaust combo?

[82 GT]

Well, seeing how you seemed to completely ignore what I just said about your other mods you were planning, I don't think you would listen to any sound advice about exhaust either.
Maybe that's why nobody is replying to you.

[87gt17815]

hey man it sounds good but iwould go with equal length shorties. they will grow with other mods you may do in the future.

[1hot5.0]

Wow 82GT don't jump to any conclusions. I took into account what you said and went and read reviews and saw that alot of people were saying they only got about 5 hp from the cold air induction kits. When I came on earlier I was in a real rush, and didn't have time for a long post. Anyways, 82GT, thanks for the help, any input is greatly appreciated appreciated by anyone.

87GT, thanks for the input. I have heard that the shorty headers are easier to install then the Longtubes, but I heard that the longtubes can give you torque. Is this true?

[1hot5.0]

Also, what kind of hp gains am I looking at with the underdrive pulleys? It won't effect my A/C or stereo at all will it?

[82 GT]

They claim 15-20hp with the pulleys. Most people don't use the underdrive pulley for the alternator because it slows it down and could case charging problems with a stock alternator.
If you have a stock 80amp alternator and a high-powered stereo system I wouldn't use the pulley for the alternator unless you bought a 130amp alternator, which would be another good idea to do anyway.
If you want power you can "feel" then I would say buy the exhaust you mentioned, underdrive pulleys, K&N air filter, 3:73 gears and advance the timing to 14 degrees.
All that stuff would knock almost a full second off your 1/4 time.

[82 GT]

Oooops, I just saw your signature. You have a convertable with an AOD? Make those gears 4:10 instead of 3:73

[1hot5.0]

Cool, thanks for the info, it really has helped me out alot. Im thinking of getting the exhaust done first, as I want the "Mustang Rumble". I already have done the K&N filter thing. Ill then do the underdrive pulleys and then the 4.10's.

With the 4.10's, I have heard that you can never adjust your speedometer to be acurate again, even with the correct gear in your transmission. Is this true? I appologize for asking so many questions, I just want to do a lot of research before I make any purchases. Thanks everyone!

[90LxDroptop]

Originally posted by 1hot5.0
Cool, thanks for the info, it really has helped me out alot. Im thinking of getting the exhaust done first, as I want the "Mustang Rumble". I already have done the K&N filter thing. Ill then do the underdrive pulleys and then the 4.10's.

With the 4.10's, I have heard that you can never adjust your speedometer to be acurate again, even with the correct gear in your transmission. Is this true? I appologize for asking so many questions, I just want to do a lot of research before I make any purchases. Thanks everyone!

Hey there. about the speedo being read "exact", it won't be exact with the gear, but pretty darn close, you won't really notice the difference, if you want it the same, I think you have to take it to the dealer and have them tweak the computer, I think. Just trying to help you out, If I were you, I'd put in the 4.10's first. I got 3.73's and I really like those. I would go with either. Forget the pullies. You might drain your alternator like 82 gt said, and that would set you back even more money, and you don't want that. I'm in your same situation. I'm 17 in high school, and I work at an ice cream store. buying aftermarket parts, I barely have money to buy aftermarket parts. IMO, I would hold off on the exhaust and get the gears, and a good torque converter, and shift kit to beef up that AOD. No point in having your car sound bad as hell, when it's not running so fast...that's just my opinion tho. later

Suave

[TwiLighTBluEGT]

The exhaust sounds like a good set up, but I would go with the Equal length shorties and make sure you buy the cermanic coated ones. The regular chrome shorties will look nice for the first few hundred miles, but then quickly discolor and rust.

As for gears, if your car is your daily driver meaning you drive it where ever you have to go (highway, rain, etc), then I would not go any higher than 3.73 gears. I have 3.73's in my AOD and I love them. Add a shift kit and you'll be chirpin 2nd hard in no time!

Oh yeah, make sure to get a tranny cooler too

[HiFlow5 0]

Get gears first. I have 3.73's, but kinda wish I went with 4.10's in my AOD. Still the gears made a big difference in acceleration and is by far one of the best mods you can do!

Then do your exhaust. I would stay away from equal length headers, I guess I'm just not a fan. Their a pain to install, and you loose some low end compared to unequals on a fairly stock stang. The equals scavenge more then unequals. The more a header scavenges the less tourqe it will make. Hp will probably be close to the same. If you want more tourqe and hp out of a header get longtubes. I have the same BBK chrome headers you want. They are a pretty decent header, But be prepared for them to turn blue. I have never heard MAC flowpaths so I can't really make a decision on them. I do like the sound Dynomax or Magnaflow mufflers though.

Pulleys are a great cheap bang for the buck. I personally have never had a problem with my alternator charging while running the pulleys. My autometer volt gauge reads 13 volts at idle and 14 volts while driving, so I don't see what all the whining is about

Hope this helps to clear a few things up for ya.
-Craig

[Mustang_289]

long-tubes are great - my opinion they sound better - and everything I've read provide a better torque curve. The downside is they're time consuming to install.

Take the advice of other posts - don't go with Chrome they really look nice when you install them but they turn colors and look bad if the car is a daily drive. Go with the ceramic coating looks great, lasts long, and reduces heat in the engine compartment.

We put underdrive pullies on my son's and mine project 88GT - we put them and replaced the alt to a 3G 130A as the stock 65A was bad. I also agree with the other posts - don't run pullies if you're not planning on upgrading your alt. I would suggest when your stock alt dies upgrade to a 3G 130A and than put pullies on.

[7000rpmisheaven]

This is just my opinion but bolting a full exhaust up to stock heads while you have the stock gears is not that great of an idea. You wouldn't really gain alot of HP from the headers because its the heads that are the bottleneck. Althought you might lose some torque. I wouldn't want to lose torque while running the stock gears in heavy vert. Definitely not on a car driven mostly on the street. I vote for the gears like some of the other guys said. If you skipped the headers and the cold air intake you could probably afford to have a set of gears installed and still spend about the same amount.

[Mustang_289]

I agree the best upgrade you can do for quick noticeable performance increase is gears. I also agree that stock heads are a bottleneck. We needed to replace the exhaust anyway so we went with long-tubes. We listened to several different exhaust setups and liked the sound of long-tubes with high-flow exhaust.

We can't go with new heads until we do away with the speed density in our 88GT. Looking forward to adding 3.73 gears, new intake and heads hopefully over the winter. Everything I've been told and read - we've also got to convert to MAF and get rid of the speed density.

[7000rpmisheaven]

Originally posted by 7000rpmisheaven
This is just my opinion but bolting a full exhaust up to stock heads while you have the stock gears is not that great of an idea. You wouldn't really gain alot of HP from the headers because its the heads that are the bottleneck. Althought you might lose some torque. I wouldn't want to lose torque while running the stock gears in heavy vert. Definitely not on a car driven mostly on the street. I vote for the gears like some of the other guys said. If you skipped the headers and the cold air intake you could probably afford to have a set of gears installed and still spend about the same amount.

I agree the best upgrade you can do for quick noticeable performance increase is gears. I also agree that stock heads are a bottleneck. We needed to replace the exhaust anyway so we went with long-tubes. We listened to several different exhaust setups and liked the sound of long-tubes with high-flow exhaust.

What I was saying really only applies to shorties. I guess I forgot to say that. From everything I have seen and heard long tubes are good even on a stock setup. You get a noticeable difference in torque and HP on a stock setup, and even more so when the rest of the motor is opened up.

[HiFlow5 0]

Originally posted by 7000rpmisheaven
This is just my opinion but bolting a full exhaust up to stock heads while you have the stock gears is not that great of an idea. You wouldn't really gain alot of HP from the headers because its the heads that are the bottleneck. Althought you might lose some torque. I wouldn't want to lose torque while running the stock gears in heavy vert. Definitely not on a car driven mostly on the street. I vote for the gears like some of the other guys said. If you skipped the headers and the cold air intake you could probably afford to have a set of gears installed and still spend about the same amount.

Have you even seen how restrictive the stock exhaust manifolds are? They have so many kinks and bends its not funny. Yes the Stock heads don't flow the best on the exhaust side, but headers will still help to free things up. Gears are the first choice in most everyones opinion. Then its my opinion that a full exhaust will help out pretty well too!

[7000rpmisheaven]

Have you even seen how restrictive the stock exhaust manifolds are?

Yes of course I have. I agree they are very restrictive. It is just my opinion that I would not want to lose anything on the bottom end in a vert with stock gears intended mainly for street use. I think headers are a must-have for performance. Its just my opinion that 1hot5.0 should not get them yet.

Stock heads don't flow the best on the exhaust side, but headers will still help to free things up

The stock exhaust in general is pretty restrictive. You can make it bigger and bigger all you want but at one point it can be too much.

[1hot5.0]

Cool, thanks again guys. I really appreciate all of the input. Im probably going to hold off on the cold air intake, as I have my air silencer removed and a K&N panel filter in there now. Im going to probably get my exhaust done, then get rear end gears. Thanks again for everyones help.