what are the best headers ???

[blackcobra]

looking to add a set of headers to my 1997 cobra . I found a set banshi headers on ebay used that had seperate tubes per port ad said they were alot easier to install than others . just looking for some advice on whats the best bang for my $$$ . how much hp gain do you get with headers :thumbsup: ? thanks

[97Whitesnake]

HP gains will be minimal(5-10) if your car is close to stock. If you go with long tube you will gain some tourq down low which is something our engines lack in. Long tubes will be more of a hassle to install and have to be removed if you need to get to the clutch. Bassani has some mid length headers that I've heard good things about but they are $$$. I have never heard of the headers you saw on ebay.

[auto-xr]

I'm wondering if some gains can be made by just coating the stock headers. Here's one place that does it.

http://www.jet-hot.com/

One of my friends had this done on this track mustang and he claims increased power and cooler temps.

Anyone try this?

[blk04cobra1]

I'm wondering if some gains can be made by just coating the stock headers. Here's one place that does it.

http://www.jet-hot.com/

One of my friends had this done on this track mustang and he claims increased power and cooler temps.

Anyone try this?
no gains that I know of, but it will keep the heat down some in the engine bay :thumbsup:

Also, LT's will gain some from N/A applications and I would suggest MAC LT's :thumbsup:

[Muddy]

Just my two cents. For short tube I found the Ford Racing (ceramic coated) are the best fitting out there. I installed those and have been extremely pleased. Pulled an additional 6 hp at the rear wheel after. They've held up extremely well also (been on now two years), 1998 Cobra, 432 hp at the rear.

[97Whitesnake]

"LT's will gain some from N/A applications and I would suggest MAC LT's"
:eek: :eek: :eek:
I know 2 people that lost engines because of Mac LT's! I've also read about a lot more stories on the net about people losing engines b/c of Mac LT. If I remember right there was a significant increase in oil comsumpsion.

Maybe they could have done a redesign? I still wouldn't go with them though...

[blk04cobra1]

"LT's will gain some from N/A applications and I would suggest MAC LT's"
:eek: :eek: :eek:
I know 2 people that lost engines because of Mac LT's! I've also read about a lot more stories on the net about people losing engines b/c of Mac LT. If I remember right there was a significant increase in oil comsumpsion.

Maybe they could have done a redesign? I still wouldn't go with them though...
lost engines due to longtubes, how? I have never heard of someone losing an engine strickly b/c they installed longtubes...and yes, MAC has come a long way in their quality recently...they are the best fitting one's we have installed...i mean, the stainless works we installed required trimming on the bellhousing, who wants to do that? especially when they run you $800 or more.

[Dreddstang]

I'd like to find some Bassani Mid's but have not been able to get ahold of them. There is not much of a power difference (from what I hear compared to LT's) and they are MUCH easier to work around once installed.

As far as coating the stockers, I see 2 problems with that.

1. Other than maybe half a horse because the car is running SLIGHTLY cooler, I can't see how you'd gain power from them.

2. By the time you did the work to remove and install them, you may as well install better flowing aftermarket headers. Install is about 70% of the cost of getting headers on your car. May be a slight exageration, but not far off.:thumbsup:

[97Whitesnake]

Here are just a couple tidbits from forums... just do a google search or search the corral and you will find lots of stories.

"He just put a pair of MAC Long-Tubes on his Mach 1, and now his engine smokes like a sunuva*****.

I "think" he has (3) cylinders with low/no compression now....

FWIW, I've seen DOZENS UPON DOZENS of MAC oil-consumption/scored cylinder walls/etc posts on numerous message boards over the last (5) years or so.

Now I know that MAC probably sells thousands upon thousands of these headers each year (and many folks have ZERO problems with them), but the number of damaged engines that can be reliably traced right back to the long-tubes is WAY too high for my comfort level."

"on another note all you have to do is a search on any of the forums for mac long tubes and you will discover a whole world of people that have been screwed by this product and company. yet people still put them on...i don't get it if im looking to put a product on my car and thousands of people are having very serious issues resulting from that particular product....there is no way in hell im taking a chance you get what you pay for and it's not like mac is the only option for a mustang header. "

"If you install the HTS coated ones and don't disconnect the EGR when you install them, you will score your cyl walls from the slag. The ceramic ones are a bit better. Also MAC's have better collection and creates more vacuum which will cause valve seals to fail on motors that have miles on them or beat on. There are a billion tech threads on it over on the corral."

"Mach 1 guy I know recently added MAC long tubes & had the EGR delete on before the install.

Car was losing TONS of oil out of several cylinders after putting the long tubes on with no other changes to the car."


__________________

[blk04cobra1]

Here are just a couple tidbits from forums... just do a google search or search the corral and you will find lots of stories.

"He just put a pair of MAC Long-Tubes on his Mach 1, and now his engine smokes like a sunuva*****.

I "think" he has (3) cylinders with low/no compression now....

FWIW, I've seen DOZENS UPON DOZENS of MAC oil-consumption/scored cylinder walls/etc posts on numerous message boards over the last (5) years or so.

Now I know that MAC probably sells thousands upon thousands of these headers each year (and many folks have ZERO problems with them), but the number of damaged engines that can be reliably traced right back to the long-tubes is WAY too high for my comfort level."

"on another note all you have to do is a search on any of the forums for mac long tubes and you will discover a whole world of people that have been screwed by this product and company. yet people still put them on...i don't get it if im looking to put a product on my car and thousands of people are having very serious issues resulting from that particular product....there is no way in hell im taking a chance you get what you pay for and it's not like mac is the only option for a mustang header. "

"If you install the HTS coated ones and don't disconnect the EGR when you install them, you will score your cyl walls from the slag. The ceramic ones are a bit better. Also MAC's have better collection and creates more vacuum which will cause valve seals to fail on motors that have miles on them or beat on. There are a billion tech threads on it over on the corral."

"Mach 1 guy I know recently added MAC long tubes & had the EGR delete on before the install.

Car was losing TONS of oil out of several cylinders after putting the long tubes on with no other changes to the car."


__________________
wow, that's news to me, we've done quite a few w/out any issues whatsoever...anyways, i dont know what is so different about MAC lt's versus their competitors...i guess we'll keep using them til we have an issue.

[03slidewayzSVT]

Sound like they ran there cars lean with the long tubes and that hurt the engine...Putting longtubes on and a tune for them will not hurt your engine....Hell a CAI can cause the same problem with a A/F just like the longtubes can...I have Mac coated longtube and love them....perfect fit with no modification at all...I personally have installed a bunch of MAC LT. on differant years of mustangs and all fit perfect..can't beat the price either compared the other ones..

[blk04cobra1]

Sound like they ran there cars lean with the long tubes and that hurt the engine...Putting longtubes on and a tune for them will not hurt your engine....Hell a CAI can cause the same problem with a A/F just like the longtubes can...I have Mac coated longtube and love them....perfect fit with no modification at all...I personally have installed a bunch of MAC LT. on differant years of mustangs and all fit perfect..can't beat the price either compared the other ones..
glad we could agree on something :thumbsup: :D

[smashedheadcat]

The old mac stuff can be contributed to the coating and extra welding "slag". This stuff was coming loose and being sucked up through the EGR system and damaging cylinders. I helped a friend install a set and I'll be damned if not 2 miles later, the car was smoking terribly. MAC has come a long way, changed their coating and cleaned up their welds tremendously since those days. This was every bit of 3-4 years ago that this was happening. Many use MAC long tubes now with great success, without the horror stories. With the old headers, people would just delete the EGR at the same time as installing headers, unfortunately, they claimed quite a few motors before someone figured out what was causing the problems.

[Firme]

yup. I remember what Josh is talking about. The old MAC products had the slag being pulled through the EGR. Basically putting little weld shards in the cylinder to tear stuff up. There were a bunch of posts online about it on numerous forums. It seems that MAC newer stuff does not have the same issue though.