SCstanger

I'm thinkin about gettin a set of long tube headers and hi-flo cats..I was wonderin who else had already installed a set and what they thought of em....Did it make a noticable difference? How about problems with the install or trouble codes popping up afterwards? http://www.lmperformance.com/5827/73.html
This was the brand I had been checkin out..any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated

F1Fan

Hi SCstanger,

The only problem with long tubes and race cats is emissions testing and noise. They work great for making lots of power but you will need a very quite muffler in back or the cops will be looking for you every time you start the car. I've only got JBA shortys and Magnaflow Tru-X Pipe with high flow cats and had to go back to the stock Ford rear mufflers from the JBA mufflers because of the huge noise increase with the addition of the Magnaflow Tru-X pipe with high flow cats. I did not expect that big a difference in SPL (sound pressure level), but my SPL meter read a jump of +10db, that's a LOT of extra noise. If I had it to do over again I'd go with the JBA shortys, the stock Ford cats with a Basanni stainless steel X-pipe welded in place of the stock H-pipe and keep the JBA rear mufflers which sounded really good with the stock H-pipe and incredible with the Magnaflow Tru-X Pipe and high flow cats. I may still go back to the stock cat setup and add the Basanni X-pipe section with the JBA's out back.

Long tubZ with race cats? REALLY too loud for the street which maybe you want but I'm trying to keep my insurance as low as possible and my license as long as I can. The shortys and X-Pipe with high flow OBDII compliant cats is a good compromise. From my own and others dyno testing it seems you only give up a few horses maybe 5-8HP in exchange for much lower emissions (as I've said before we all gotta breathe), as well as not having every cop in the adjacent counties looking for you.

Hope this helps!

SCstanger

Thanks for your insight F1...i'm still pondering which direction to go on the exhaust. The sound is not a problem with me ( half deaf to begin with) and emissions, which I know is ever important which is why I opted for the high flow cats instead of off road, is not tested in my state. So basicly my deciding factor is going to be bang for the buck...i'm going to price some shorties and an x-pipe with high flow cats and weigh the cost vs horsepower.
How hard or easy was the installation on your shorty's? Just curious as this is my first dealings with the moduler motor in any fashion..Whole different world from the 5.0's ..

F1Fan

Hi SCstanger,

Ahh, loud is good? O.K., if power is what you are want in terms of bang for the buck and installation labor is not going to be counted then the BEST bang for the buck is a good CAI (the best are from C&L and Steeda, they have ducts letting in only cool air from the fender), and an ECU programer (DiabloSport or SCT). It's very hard to beat the $700 and 20-25RWHP gain. After the CAI at the same amount of money per HP a Meziere electric water pump (10RWHP+ for $330), is an excellent option and helps the car make consistent power even when it's hot outside. Then comes head work, a good basic gasket port matching of the intake and exhaust, port runners smothed and polished and bowl clean up is good for 40-45RWHP, but this one has a higher labor cost if you cannot do the R&R yourself. Head work is variable in cost to have performed, $1,000-$1,800 is what I've been quoted for a 3 valve head. A well known good shop for head work is Livernois Motorsports, not cheap but they will very likely do a better job than the local performance shop that has never seen a 3 valve head before. Blow By Racing is making a lot of claims regarding cams and head work but so far it's all just talk. They don't have any dyno runs or timing slips to back up their claims though they do have a web site selling they CNC'd head service for the 3 valve GT heads. So far no actual customer feedback has been posted that I've seen. Last in the bang for the buck race is headers and exhaust. The truth is that for $1,300-$1,500 even with the best long tube headers (JBA), and a nice 2.5" X-pipe and NO cats you are only going to get 25RWHP at best on a stock '05 GT and this number will likel be lower on a car with intake mods. Adding cats hurts you 3-5HP depending on the cats and the X or H pipe used. This is not so a cost per HP as you can see even the head work is a better deal assuming you can R&R them yourself correctly.

I was in a BIG hurry when I had JBA install the shortys and I'm really glad I did! JBA installs these things all day long and even with two mechanics working on installing the parts on a 2 post lift and plenty of experience it took most of a day to get everything installed. I was there for over 8 hours and watched the install from beginning to end. They installed a set of JBA shortys (which is a large time suck, likely about 5-6 hours of actual time), JBA rear muffs (20 minutes max.), Steeda motor mounts (they come out anyway for the header install so no time lost there), Steeda G Trac Brace (5 minutes and 2 bolts to install), Steeda CAI with the Diablo Predator (this takes less than 30 minutes to install and download), and a set of Eibach ProKit springs (I installed my new Tokico D spec struts & rear dampers in less than 3 hours actual time having never seen it working alone and without a lift so springs alone must be 2 man hours on a lift).

Hope this helps!

Cheers

hawgman

JohnnyZ has been posting feedback on the head and cam work they did to his car on pretty much all of the major forum boards, including forum threads that I have seen you reply in. There is feedback out there. In fact, that is his car in the video that got plastered all over the net with the cams in it.