I must say, I'm quite satisfied with the end product. Noticable improvement in flow, and it smoothed out the rest of the exhaust. With the factory manifolds, it vibrated a lot; especially between 2500-3000rpm. The headers smoothed it out, and I think it actually made it a bit quieter.

If I had to do it over again, I'd save some money and pay someone to do it. Never in my life have I come across a more tedious, pain-staking task. I have (literally) dropped and replaced an entire transmission with clutch and all in less time than it took me to put those headers in. We had to remove the starter, a leg of the sterring column, both motor mounts, the h-pipe, and we still had to cut some pieces the drivers side header to fit around the oil dip-stick and on the passengers sid header cut a piece out to allow one of the bolts to fit through. 12 hours, 4 trips to the auto parts store, and a few gallons of sweat and blood later, my buddy and I finished with no exhaust leaks or clearance issues.

If you plan on doing this yourself, think twice. I had to take the day off of work today because I feel like a 1000 year old fossil right now. My hands feel like I have severe arthritis, and the rest of my body feels like it was hit by a truck. A lift would make this job MUCH easier.....we have power tools and that helped for very little. There is no clearance to do anything; I had to get my girl to use her tiny hands to get some of the header bolts going before I can tighten them. The ones to the back nearest the firewall are damn near impossble to get to.

I'd rather bellow-flop naked on a poisonous cactus patch full of angry fire ants before doing that again.

 

LOL....thats funny. So which headers? What does the Butt dyno tell you, good gains or not worth it? What did you do/are doing about a Tune?

 

The headers I bought on eBay.....I'm not sure who makes them, but they are ceramic coated shorties. I tried the car out, and I did notice a gain; I'd say between 6-10 hp. The major improvement is in how smooth the exhaust flows out of the car now. Before, I would take my phone out of my pocket thinking it was vibrating, but it was the the car. Now, it just flows and you hear the exhaust, but you don't feel it rumbling inside the car so much. I approve.....I'm a gearhead and all, but good stuff all around.

As far as the tune goes, the car is running fine. I have a Diablo tuner, but it is the special Steeda version that comes with Steeda tunes calibrated for Steeda parts. It has a tune for the CAI, and one forthe CAI and CMCV plates. I don't have the plates, so I only have the CAI tune, but it runs just fine. Idles rough when I start it cold, but once it gets some temp, she's good to go.

As far you or anyone knows, do headers require a tune? I was under the impression they didn't.............

 

According to the "Does It Need a Tune" sticky the shorty headers probably don't require any changes: https://mustangforums.com/m_4578884/tm.htm

 

Now your scaring us!! All that blood sweet and tears.
Dont forget to retorque everything after a few heat cycles. or are you to busy bellyfloppin.....
Hope you enjoy them. Good story.

 

Hahahaha......yea, I'm not looking forward to re-checking the bolts. Although now that they are in place, all I have to do is checkthem with the set of ratchet wrenches I bought (one of the best tool inventions EVER!) and it shouldn't be that bad.

 

I am happy to say that after a few days, the car "learned" to deal with the headers and the idle fluctuation completely is completely gone. The headers made the flow smoother and a feel a slight gain in hp. Car is running great, and I'm quite satisfied. \It was worth it.......

 

I started my install earlier today and I just stopped for the day. Needless to say I didn't get very far, this has to be one the largest pita I've ever attempted.I unbolted the steering shaftbutI can't get it apart to take it out.I can't get to the oxygen sensor on top of the transmission to unplug it nor can I get to the top bolt on the starter to take it out. I took the bolts off the motor mounts that attach it the K member but when I attempted to lift the motor to gin better accessto the bolts attaching them to the motor the entire front of the car raises up. I've read the instructions from BBK and I've printed the article from Mustang Monthly. I'm frustrated to say the least. Any self installers got any pointers that might help me along?

 

pay the shop 300 to do it

I know i could have done mine but i for about 300 and i could have 2 more days of enjoying them on the car than 2-3 spend trying to get them on

 

Ok, first the steering column. There are two bolts that need to come off for the install: You need to remove the leg that goes from the firewall to the rack-and-pinion; this will require the steering wheel to be turned so you can access one bolt from the engine bay using long extensions and the other from under the car. With this out of the way, the driver side header is good to go (I was able to remove the stock header on this side without lifting the engine, but the passenger side did not come out without me removing the entire motor mount bracket off of the car and the engine).

I know what you mean about the front end of the car lifting when you try to lift the engine, but you will not be able to gain any clearance until all bolts are removed from the motor mounts. You have to remove the one large bolt that holds the bracket to the car, and each of the 3 bolts that attach the bracket to the engine. Place a floor jack under the oil pan and leave it exatcly in place to when all bolts are removed, you can jack it up. Leave the engine hanging in the air with the floor jack (I used two pieces of 2x4's under the oil pan when I jacked mine up) and loosen all the factory header bolts. Once the header is completely loose, you will be able to unplug the oxygen senson with the extra clearance.

I HIGHLY recommend you go out and get a ratchet wrench for the header bolts. If you think loosening the header bolts is tough, wait until you try to put the other headers on with the larger runners; you'll have even less space to work with.

As far as the top bolt on the starter, I got to it using a small 1/4" ratchet and a long socket. Feel for it with your hands over the top of the starter and put the socket over it. You will have little clearance to swing the ratchet, so it's going to take a bit to unscrew and screw that one bolt.

I am giving you this info providing your car is a stick like mine. If you have an auto, your transmission may be larger or you have to do something I didn't. It took my friend and I 12 hours, and we have a lot of tools and we are both mechanically inclined. GOOD LUCK!!!!! I would NEVER do it again after what I went through..........