Why are BBK long-tube headers (BBK-15330) $500,while the SLP equivalent is $900? Both are polished and ceramic and claim 25-30 engine hp. I have an SLP loudmouth exhaust and would like to match it...but I'm not that rich. Know of any others for the 4V engines? Thanks in advance!!!!!

 

The finish on the BBKs is poor. When I say finish, i don't mean how bright they shine, but the final quality overall. BBKs arebad for having excess welding slag inside the header that can be (alledgedly) sucked into the engine via EGR. As long ad you go over them and remove any excess slag, you should be ok. BBK seems to be lacking in the exhaust department. Their X-Pipes are bad for having an annoying vibration at certain RPMs as well. I would go with a more reputable LT manufacturer if you're going to be spending that kind of money on your Mach.

 

FLowtech, Kooks, MAC, Hooker, Stainless Steel Works... just to name a few.

Most of the time it's the name, however I saw a picture of the welds of Kooks' headers compared to MAC's and though MAC's quality has become pretty darn good... the welds of the Kooks' looked so much smoother and such.

I KNOW MAC and Kooks make headers for 4v's... not sure about the other 2 brands but those are probably the most reputable that I listed.

 

mac's have problems from what i hear, and i would reccommend that your go with kooks.

 

I had their headers for a few minutes (sold them before putting them on) and the quality looked great for the price. MAC's come a long way but I would rather get something like Flowtech/Kooks which doesnt need to be moved around to get anything done with the tranny.

 

My buddy bought the hooker lt's for his cobra and they looked like a pretty good set of lt's! Nice smooth welds, good ceramic finish..

 

700 for Mac ceramic LTs with a SS shorty Prochamber. I had to go for the price. Haven't installed yet but I'll let you know. I read all of those old posts about the slag, I'm just gonna disconnect the EGR while I break them in.

 

I went with SLP myself, but Kooks and Stainless works both have really smooth welds with no slag to speak of. That's just my experience. Mylast car was anold IROC Z28 and it had MAC's that I never had any problems with, though I still think Kook's, Stainless Works and SLP are better. That's just me though.

 

What H pipe did you get to line up right w/ the SLP lts? I have them on my 02 GT, but was told that their X pipe is the only thing that fits right. I'd like to swap it out for an H and see how it sounds..

 

Both my headers and my H-pipe came from SLP, I did that so I wouldn't have to do any fab work to put them on, I already had to re-locate the O2 sensor harness when I went with the long-tube headers. Most shops will tell you that because A.) they either don't have capability to do fabrication work (because contrary to popular opinion depending on the length of the headers an H-pipe will fit most applications, it just takes a little fab work if you go mix and match, like grinding, welding, etc..); or B.) they don't want to do the fabrication because it's extra work on the install, which makes absolutely no sense to me, it's more money for them, but it happens sometimes.

Depends on how much money is anshow-stopper for you, but if you don't mind an extra hundred bucks or so, talk to the guys at Stainless Works, they can fab ANYTHING.. and they've got good smooth welds too so you won't be sucking slag into your block with the EGR on.