BeachPony

Has anyone actually installed headers on their 4.0L? I have seen some folks speculating on the gains to be had, but does anyone have any hard data? I am thinking about getting the MAC headers - they seem to be a better value than the JBA's. And after the poor fit of the JBA duals system and all of the headaches to get it to fit right, I'm not in a hurry to give them any more of my money. Thanks

Rob

Fazm

Few people here have headers. Only info ive ever seen was from powerhouse411 in an email. They told me in stock form you would see "minimal to no gain" going with headers as the stock ones flow very well. Now if you had duals, headers might help flow some more, or forced induction they will help flow a lot more.

danny_boy

I bit the bullet and bought a set of JBA shorty headers before my car even arrived last March. I drove it for a week before I had time to install them, and after I did, the most noticable thing was that miserable vibration at 1500 RPM was gone. I don't have dyno numbers to say what was gained, but the seat of the pants dyno says i t accelerates quicker.

I'm planning to get some numbers after a C&L/SCT tune from Bamachips just to see how all of this adds up [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img]

hamidlmt

Dig the jba headers! A very noticeable increase in power... and the sound! Really brings out the exhaust note. Here's a page from one the mags... the dyno'd jba headers and a single jba axle-back...

[attachmentid=45545]

1trickpony

Nice increase. The only problem is the gains include a muffler swap. The muffler could account for half or more of those gains. I wish they would have done a pull with just the headers.

scotts05custom

could be why they didn't post the dyno's of just the headers?...

Fazm

Ya, but i dont know how much the jba muffler actually gains. I remember for the GT the jba's actually lost like 1 horsepower over stock. Im definately down to get some headers for 10hp (which sets back the turbo fund even more lol). Maybe i can hit that 220rwhp goal after all [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

1trickpony

Just my opinion, because I have never seen numbers on this, The JBA should get you 6-8 HP and similar torque. I saw that same GT muffler test but I think it takes time for the numbers to show up. My opinion, I think the V-6 will benefit more from a muffler swap than a GT. 210 HP going thru one muffler should be more restrictive than 300 HP going thru two mufflers, all things equal. Any thoughts on this?

rygenstormlocke

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(1trickpony @ February 20, 2006, 9:01 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Just my opinion, because I have never seen numbers on this, The JBA should get you 6-8 HP and similar torque. I saw that same GT muffler test but I think it takes time for the numbers to show up. My opinion, I think the V-6 will benefit more from a muffler swap than a GT. 210 HP going thru one muffler should be more restrictive than 300 HP going thru two mufflers, all things equal. Any thoughts on this?
[/b][/quote]

I had the dual magnaflow kit on my car, was a Y pipe setup so the lowest part of restriction was a single pipe. Did a before and after dyno when I went to an X pipe. End result:

*2HP

Seems the 4.0 is a bit different beast. But, with a power adder, who knows.

1trickpony

The Magnaflow guy made a couple of posts on this subject awhile back. The single and dual sets made the same gains, 10 HP (marketing speak for 6-8 HP). The Magnaflow single and dual setup made the same gains. They both used the factory y-pipe for the best overall gains. Someone mentioned the y-pipe was a choke point. The Magnaflow guy said this setup made the best overall gains, power under the curve. What I took away, the car only needs a good single exhaust. A low restriction single muffler will get you the same gains as a dual setup. Sorry, I didn't want to drag this into a single/dual discussion. I just think a muffler will have more of a impact on the V-6.

WindVeil05DropTop

I think when it all comes down to it, there is a lot better way to spend your money than headers. I think you would probably be better off doing these mods before thinking about headers:
New single muffler or some type of dual exhaust setup
Intake and Tune
T-Lok or equivalent
Gears
After that, headers might be an option... My 2 cents.

yur1279

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(WindVeil05DropTop @ February 21, 2006, 12:40 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
New single muffler or some type of dual exhaust setup
Intake and Tune
T-Lok or equivalent
Gears
After that, headers might be an option... My 2 cents.
[/b][/quote]

esorense

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hamidlmt @ February 20, 2006, 3:34 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Dig the jba headers! A very noticeable increase in power... and the sound! Really brings out the exhaust note. Here's a page from one the mags... the dyno'd jba headers and a single jba axle-back...

[attachmentid=45545]
[/b][/quote]



A friend of mine found this exact same article the same day we did my JBA headers. We followed similar instructions in that we left the stock OEM stud bolts on and did not use the bright chrome bolts supplied by JBA. We were installing titanium headers so bright bolts would have been a waste, and using the OEM stud bolts means less maintenance.

BTW: On a car w/ a custom tune/CAI/exhaust/muffler, the headers make a big difference IMHO. Car sounds awsome and you can really hear the exhaust rumbling away under hard acceleration.

Ricklmesa@cox.net

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(1trickpony @ February 20, 2006, 7:01 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Just my opinion, because I have never seen numbers on this, The JBA should get you 6-8 HP and similar torque. I saw that same GT muffler test but I think it takes time for the numbers to show up. My opinion, I think the V-6 will benefit more from a muffler swap than a GT. 210 HP going thru one muffler should be more restrictive than 300 HP going thru two mufflers, all things equal. Any thoughts on this?
[/b][/quote]
I think the JBA's only gave 4hp to the rear wheel compared to like others that are like 10hp

Fazm

I might be doin some more exhaust work soon..... just depends on my decision to go turbo or not. LT's with a prochamber and dual mrt's sounds intruiging lol

1trickpony

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ricklmesa@***.net @ March 8, 2006, 11:18 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I think the JBA's only gave 4hp to the rear wheel compared to like others that are like 10hp
[/b][/quote]

Are you talking about a magazine article on the V-6 or the V-8? The 5.0 magazine exhaust article for the V-8, all of the exhaust sucked, maybe 3-4 HP. I think JBA was the worst one of the test. On the flipside, the Magnaflow vendor said all of the after market exhausts for the V-8 should make 6-8 HP after the engine "adjusted" to the new exhaust.

hamidlmt

For anyone interested... here's the entire article from 5.0 Magazine (kindly hosted by v6mustangstuff).... yeah... it's on our 4.9L's

http://www.v6mustangstuff.com/50Mustang_306.pdf

The 4.6L V8 of the GT is a very different beast. Guys don't seem to be getting much gain at all from exhaust mods. However, Ford plugged up the exhaust on the V6. As we've seen, even a more freely flowing axle-back will wake things up with a nice 10 hp gain.

Fazm

4.0 i assume you mean lol.

Its a good read. Im debating gettin some jba shorties, an H-pipe- and another MRT muffler for the left side. Or if i should just keep the single, and slap the turbo on and be a real sleeper lol

1trickpony

I read this article. I was hoping for something concerning the 4.0l and just a muffler swap. In this article, they are bundled together (headers and muffler) so you cannot tell what the muffler brings to the fight. If anyone has an article or experience on this I would love to see it. I'm pretty sure even a GT can get 10 HP with shorty headers and mufflers.

hamidlmt

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Fazm @ March 8, 2006, 8:16 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
4.0 i assume you mean lol.
[/b][/quote]

EEK! That darn 9 is really very close to the 0!

note to self: fire my editor!