I had a pair of of JBA shorty headers installed on my stock 96 Cobra last week, along with an x-pipe, and just thought I'd share the results and add to the existing database. I know that the general consensus on this forum is that shortys are not worth the money and the effort to install, and, to be honest, I wasn't expecting any miracles. I just figured they HAD to at least be better than the stock manifolds, so what was the harm? I'm happy to report that the results were worth the trouble, and not just in better performance. I noticed right away better throttle response compared to stock, and quicker acceleration, but what really blew me away was that the engine is now running considerably cooler. These cars have a problem with running hot, and Ford had to redesign the radiator, among other tweaks, to fix the problem. I had to get used to not freaking out when my car's temp gauge would hover at 75% or more in hot driving. So far, at least, the temp gauge is now in the 40 - 45% range most of the time, hitting 50% or just slightly above only in the most trying conditions (idling in the garage, with no air flow thru the radiator). These are ceramic coated headers, BTW. Kinda makes you wonder about those stock manifolds! Anyway, just thought I'd run that up the flagpole. Obviously, it's an expensive fix for an overheating problem, and not everyone can afford it, and just for the record, I have NO connection to JBA or any other header manufacturer. I'm just an Average Citizen sharing my individual results with the Public. Cheers!

 

Good to know. I was looking into installing either JBA or Bassani when I get back stateside next year. How was the install, or did you have it done at a shop?

 

i installed bassani on mine dude and it is by far the easiest headers to put it cause you build it piece by piece on the car i have also done longtubes and shortys and still say bassani is the best haha...as far as performance i agree with paddy cause it does mostly affect the throttle and sound...as far as hp i didnt notice much at all but was prolly the change of x pipe combined with the headers that made it noticeable....thats awesome that it lowered the temp thoough!!

 

When I had the headers installed (I didn't do it myself, btw - way too technical for me!) I wasn't able to replace the stock tailpipes until this week, due to time constraints. Believe it or not, it's running even cooler! I don't think I've cracked 50% at all with the new tailpipes, and that's including idling and stop-and-go city driving in hot weather. Amazing. If my car is any indication (96 Cobra, completely stock when bought, 15,900 original miles) I think you can reasonably conclude that there is a relationship between the restrictive stock exhaust and higher than normal engine temps. The stock tailpipes, btw, were pretty crappy - one side was actually 1/4" smaller diameter than the other side (WTF?) with lots of bends and crimps - hardly free-flowing! Moral of the story: the less restrictive your exhaust, the cooler-running and happier your 96 Cobra engine will be!

 

JBA makes a real nice quality header....Good deal!

 

thats interesting to know. I hav a blown 96 Cobra that for the most part runs 50% all the time, temp that is. I wonder if shortys would hav the same affect and make my car run cooler. BTW i just took longtubes off my 97 GT " daily driver " because they were a tad rotted haha and it will be interesting to see if it runs hotter sense i put the stock manifolds back on. It ran the coolest ive ever seen a mustang run. It should be back on the road next week, will see what the temp is