well got my headers put on and sound a lot nicer has a meaner deeper rumble to it!! for those that are looking at doing this too I have a couple tips. break loose the manifold to cat nuts first get them off, there is a plate that squishes the cats flare onto the manifold that will move once you get the nuts off the manifold.

there are two brackets that have bolts right next to the exaust manifolds with the headers the brackets will have to sit on top of the header flange with the bolts going through it, YOU WILL NEED LONGER BOLTS except for the largest ones.

you can take the manifold out from the top. the egr tube is 27mm get a open end wrench dont try and get it off/on with a adjustable wrench there is not enough room once you get the headers on.

sorry no pics or sound clips!!

 

1' 1/16 inch wrench also fits the egr (my wrenches skipped 25mm and went strait to 30mm). Also, I had to put a slight bend in the dip stick, one of the crank counter lobes was slapping it because of the new angle.

 

did you re-use the existing studs? i just paid $18 for my 27mm. once the airbox & egr tube are removed there looks like plenty of room on the drivers side. good idea about the cat to manifold bolts. with the manifolds attached you can really crank on them. did you loosen the clamp at the Y to slide the rest of the exhaust back?

 

yes i used the studs, its the egr tube that i had problems with clearance once everything was back together with shorty headers the #3 exhaust tube is close the the egr bung and getting on it with a adjustable wrench is a pita. i had a dual exhaust put on before so i could not move the cats so i had to wiggle and push to get the headers on the studs. its a shame that they will turn purple with heat soon, they are a nice burnished gold looking right now and look awsome!

 

Thanks for the tips. I quess I missed it. What brand headers did you install? I installed MAC headers with no problems.

 

i got them off of ebay so i dont know what brand they where but they look just like pypes and bbk

 

results?

 

Thanks for the tips. I will be installing my Pypes headers this weekend.

 

Well,i have a ebay set and there are obvious differences as compared to the jba set i had previous.Now,since i have never had bbk or pypes i can't say there.In this comparison,a few differences i noticed:

>some of the welds are not matching the pipe together flush
>some of the pipes dont even match the cut holes on the face plate,off by an 1/8 inch one way or the other
>the quality of steel used for the base is of a lower grade.I flushed them with water and tested for leaks and also dremeled the inside a bit for better flush.Instant or near instant rust on the base area.It should be no biggie to flush them,lol,there were also rough edges,flakes inside at weld points.
>base [late(side that mounts to engine)looks rough and cut with a jig.Not really smooth at all,with nicks and some gouges here and there but ok near mount areas.
>no way the chrome finish is going to hold up for long.Rahter than risk premature rusting i sanded and coated them with vht header paint.

In the end,i think they will be just as functional,but they Surely are not of the same quality.
And,for the record,this is the pic depicted for the set i have now that could be under whatever name(did'nt pay near that tho)>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...ayphotohosting