officespace56

I am really wanting to get some longtube headers, but I am debating between ARH and JBA's. Anyone with experience with these? Has anyone tried them both? How do they compare? And for the JBA's, what is the difference between ceramic coating and a 409 SS Finish?

bpmurr

I saw the ARH at Carlisle this weekend and they are nice. I also checked out them installed on two stangs and was very impressed. I 've never seen the JBA but the online opinions I've seen say ARH are better overall.

SixtySix

I've got JBA's on mine and I'm very happy with them. A plain SS finish is just an uncoated header. It will change colors and won't have the insulative properties of a ceramic coated header. The ceramic coating dissapates heat quickly and keeps underhood temps down some. They'll also remain a consistent color.

I got mine used from the PowerHouse 411 project car. They were just the uncoated SS headers, so I went and had them coated inside and out for $200.

don_w

If you're looking for the highest quality, stick with T-304 stainless. Uncoated, it will turn brown, but is unlikely to rust. It's the most corrosion resistant material for headers. T-409 stainless is the next step down. It also resists corrosion, but a light surface rust will form if uncoated. But it's also cheaper.

These pics show the color variations. My headers are T-304, and I had them Jet-Hot coated, and they are still a nice silver color. The X-pipe is also T-304 SS, but was not coated.

officespace56

Anyone have the mac longtubes with prochamber setup from brenspeed? how do you like it?

jwgroovin

I'm going with the JBAs, since the price, compared to ARH, is for the ceramic coated ones. I'm just waiting until I find a good deal on these and the o/r h pipe...

John

2K05GT

I am looking at this setup because it's under 1000 bucks and they look nice, but thats all you get with them..


I have been looking into this for a while and I am not real happy with the little hp gains lt headers actually give you. 12 hp max thats on a good day, wow and 10 more with a mid pipe. sorry not worth the 1200 -1400 bucks,

WTF why do these motors suck at making power on mods and the LS engines fart hp, it sucks. even a good set of cams do not produce enough HP vs the overall price tag.

Every_Mn

112hp? I think you're missing about 10hp.

The reason they ain't powerful? Small displacement and low compression is a big factor.

jwgroovin

I think this issue is bouncing around in another thread. Very few dyno before and afters published show actual gains beyond 10-12 hp off the longtubes. We've seen 1hp (YEAH, ONE HP gain) to about 20hp in the different magazines, and I think the truth lies in the middle somewhere. I've been trying to get folks to forward their dynos, but so far no one has shown me anything beyond 10hp...

John

2K05GT

Small Displacment?? Chevy's 302 (1967-69 Z-28) responded to over 30 hp with headers and camed, it's a dam monter.

I am not missing 10, the most I have seen sofar on other forums, with a full exhaust was 20 hp on the 281 3v. Supercharged cars respond better to headers that N/A.. on average I have seen 10-15 hp with headers and catted x

Yea it's floating around here hehehe, I have been doing my research for a few weeks now and the results are not good

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=67779

DarkFireGT

Exactly. AND cams. Cams alone in a n/a S197 are good for 15-35.

whs

One reason is that the stock exhaust setups on the S197 cars is far superior to the previous generation of Mustang, (we get 2.5 inch versus 2.25 like the earlier cars). In comparison the GM F-body exhaust was poorly designed. A true dual exhaust does wonders for those cars. The LSX motors have at least 1.1 liter more displacement than the Ford 4.6 liter engines. Simply put they move more air.

From what I have been told shorty style headers are pointless on both engines. Aftercat exhaust on the S197 gains you what, somewhere between 0 and 10 hp while on an LS1 you can expect somewhere between 10 and 15. Longtubes would probably be one of the last mods I do on the Mustang after the blower, heads and cam, (same with my T/A although by the time I need a motor for that I'll probably slap an STS turbo on it and run the better flowing later exhaust manifolds).

officespace56

Also, I am wondering about size, 1 3/4 or 1 5/8. I know it is recommended 1 5/8 for a naturally aspirated engine, but it is too hard to tell if i am going to get a blower in the future. BUT, I do know for sure that I would like to do cams, should I go with 1 3/4 for the cams? or stay with 1 5/8?

Lowe!

If you are going w/ cams, and maybe FI down the road, then get the 1.75s. They are working fine on my n/a motor right now. I really didn't see any downside to the the larger primaries.

officespace56

Thanks Lowe

05fordgt

Mike saw my car and 94Tbird's car up at Carlisle. American Racing is THE BEST for long tube headers IMHO. Their quality is 2nd to none, and fit is perfect. Plus, the sound, OH MY!!!

bpmurr

I saw them and they look really nice and sound great! However, after talking to my tuner I'm not going with long tubes unless I get a super charger. When you price the system with install and tunning time your getting pretty close to the $1800.00+ range. I can't justify spending that much money for such a small gain. I'm not down with the torque loss either.

05fordgt

Torque loss? I have a WAY DIFFERENT seat of the pants feel with the L/T's and tune! Even my friend who I took for a ride, "what a difference" he said, in the power and torque. I have so much more pulling power in the upper RPM range, and in 4th and 5th gear. I really didn't get the headers for the power gains alone (though the ponies are awesome), but for the sound. I know this doesn't make much sense, being it was almost $2,000, but I have a car that sounds really threatening and BAD A$$, and I LOVE IT!!! The sound really draws attention, especially at shows (hit 104 dbs in a loud pipes contest)

Lowe!

Waoh! You got 307rwhp/318tq on nothing but a CAI and 93 octane tune?!? I'd like to take a run on your dyno!

bpmurr

Steeda UDP as well plus the car has 35K miles on it so the engine is well broken it. Plus my tuner can work some magic on these things. I know my numbers are pretty on because a Roush with a Whipple was hitting the typical HP numbers that day.