70 MACH I

I finally got my car back on the road this weekend after 2 weeks downtime for mods, the headers being the biggest headache. Here are my impressions and ratings:
BBk Shorties: B+
PRO'S Great throttle response, great acceleration, smoooooth feel while accelerating, nice gurgly sound through exhaust,
I did not experience a loss of torque, (in fact I think, it's improved, I can stay in 5th, 35mph, w/stock gears and smoothly accelerate away) improved fuel economy, I just hit 200 miles on my trip at 1/2 tank

CON'S tough-fitting-installing especially RS, A lot of weld inside of flange (chokes opening down to 1 3/8" (I removed with die grinder), Left side flange needs to be ground in order not to interfere with dipstick, Both sides, some bolts that can only be tightened with open end wrench, (on left side I separated tube from flange by hitting with end of open end wrench, I had to take header out and re-weld it, DOH!) , No studs on LS (I welded tabs on grade 8 bolts to keep heads from turning, the provided bolts were grade 5) cheesy
header gasket from 1970's provided, I replaced with Percy's XX Carbon Seal-for-life's A+++++ gasket, 300 miles, no leaks

Maximum Motorsports Panhard bar: A++++++
PRO'S: awesome handling, no more bump steer on choppy roads, car handles as if on rails around corners, I finally have a sports car, not a Crown Vic, nicely finished, top notch hardware, you don't know it's on the car till you turn the wheel, no loss of ground clearance

CON'S two person install to hold up and mark on frame, drilling frame rails to 1/2", Must be removed to change exhaust (don't weld on frame as suggested, or you're screwed)

Steeda UDP'S: A++++++
PRO'S: beautiful workmanship/construction, jewelry-like finish, easy install with impact wrench (even the alternator was accessed on the car with impact) thorough instructions, retain stock belt, and routing, no loss of electrical, cooling, or AC function (stock accessories) I feel improved torque/revving/gas mileage
CON'S : Gotta have an impact!

Of all the products I installed, only one I would not put on another car, the BBS shorties, (I bought them from another forum member at a fair price, so I did not have a chance to examine them) What really ticked me was those welds in the ports. THIS IS A PERFORMANCE PART GUYS! If I wanted resrictor plates, I would have left stock manifolds on! If you are going to go through the trouble to install headers, check them out first. Anyone else install either FRPP or JBA headers? If so please provide input on their quality , if you don't mind.
Thanks,
John

SOHCtimes2

Cool write-up, I think I'm gunna look into a panhard bar down the road.

Tim37

btw you don't have to trim the flanges on the bbk's it just make life a lot easier. i didn't trim mine when i did my install i got that trick out of 5.0 mustang mag i will agree that they are a pita to install a wooble wratchet wrench makes things a lot easier.

70 MACH I

Tim,
Are you running an X-pipe with or without cats? My next purchase will be an X-pipe with hi-flow cats, my POS stock pipe gets converter rattle, ford's fix, a handful of hose clamps to put around them. DOH! To me the SLP setup looks about the best for the money, The MAC/Pypes is decent for the money, The SLP looks very high quality, little more money, The Bassani, BEAUTIFUL, but mega$$$$$$$$!
John

Tim37

i have a off road x pipe form upr and a set of super 40 flows right now they are dumped out of the muffler but i am gonna get some trun downs friday if every thing works out right.