Rather B.Blown

Yours probably wasn't as bad as it could have been because of the low mileage. Getting those manifold bolts out of a car with a lot of miles is a freakin' nightmare. Very easy to break one off in the head. And I can only imagine trying to thread long tubes in around all the stuff in a modern engine bay.

The main problem I've always had with cars in the past (back in the day) that had headers was gaskets burning out and leaking at the head a lot sooner than stock manifolds and gaskets. Then having to try and get them loose to get a new gasket in there and tightened back up correctly.

And also starter problems from the heat where the headers wrapped around it before the collector.

Blown CS

Great pic.

Blue Notch

Thanks Sean. I'm on the Steeda Sports right now.
Thanks Tony!
Getting closer!

mkj5013

So much envy on the new parts. Really want to swap my headers out for some new shorty's and a catted h-pipe but I think I'm leaning toward a CAI/tune first or some stripes. Not sure what to do yet....not enough money to do them all at the same time....

No as nice as it would be to do it all at once, I like the constant flow of working on my car and doing it bit by bit...gives me something to do.

Your car is looking hot! Did you have to fill any holes on your bumper? I want to get a hide away license plate holder but mine's currently mounted with holes to the front bumper (stupid Ohio). Anyone have some good ideas for filling those bumper holes? And please don't troll with 'get a new bumper '

dmichaels

Road course. Lime Rock park in CT. Instructed for Audi Club. 3 days of track time

SGwick

badass!

Blue Notch

No, I lucked out and my bumper was never drilled. Just a couple of tiny little dimples. Most people just use some sort of plug and paint them to match. Not perfect, but better than holes.

TripleBlack14

I got my bumper plugs from here:

http://www.bumperplugs.com/index.php...&product_id=78

Admittedly expensive, and there's probably something cheaper out there but I got caught up in the moment.

Here's the license plate before and after. The plugs match perfectly with my non-OEM stripes. It's an acceptable compromise.

DarrenGT

looking good Tom, but i don't get the side mounted idea. doesn't look right to me. I'm not a fan of the plate off to one side. it draws my eye right to it too much. I understand the possibility of cutting airflow for an intercooler, but even then it wouldn't be enough to matter.

just my 2 cents.

Coyote5-0

It looks uglier dead center.

TripleBlack14

That was out of necessity Darren. When I loosened the lower engine cover, the retaining clip/screw came out. There's no way to get it back without removing the whole thing, and I don't have a jack. I didn't want to chance taking off the entire cover for just one clip out of fear that I might lose others, so I just moved the female mounting plate over to the right.

mkj5013

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll look into them and try to visualize how it will look if I plug them. I feel like it would be harder to notice if I have stripes but just a plain car with plugs might be obvious or weird looking.

Also, looking for suggestions on what to do for my grille. My stock V6 grille is boring and right now, I used a dark chrome kit to try to darken it down from the bright chrome but without proper finishing, it's starting to chip off and not look very good. I have a SGM car and I'm looking for the more 'sinister' look. Should I go with some sort of billet grille with a grille emblem on it or pull the stock grille and paint the chrome trim a matte black? I've also toyed with a fog light grille but with fog light deletes and just halo LEDs in them but I don't like the aura of 'impersonating' a GT that I don't have. I just think the stock V6 grille is lack luster. Thanks in advance for advice or suggestions!

Horspla

Agree.


Do not agree. Look at Gabe's when he has his plate on. Symmetry rules.


John

Coyote5-0

By the way, you can make your own plugs by getting plastic push fasteners from an auto parts store and painting them with Ford touch up paint. That's what I did.

Coyote5-0

I just think that with it dead center, it ruins the look of the front bumper. With it low and off to the side, you retain the fluidity of the front bumper. No protruding plastic piece.

DarrenGT

Gotcha!

Don't get me wrong i don't think side mounted is ugly, just not my flava

I have actually been running mine with no front plate for a while. i keep it in the back seat in case. The polices actually parked all around my car other day while i was getting groceries. they said nothing to me when i loaded up and left.

Iceknyght

^^ Same here. I have run no front plate on my Mustang(s) for about 12 years as well as our Mini(s) for the past 5-6 years or so between two states that are both front plate states. I have been pulled over once in all that time (at the airport of all places) and was let go with a warning...

*knocks on wood, just in case*

LEXiiON

I have it dead center. Looks better IMHO.

LEXiiON

kcoTiger

One of the reasons I went with American Racing headers is because of the fitment--specifically, they didn't go through gaskets every six months on a car that was raced/tracked. Kooks and BBK didn't fit quite as well (when I was in the market for LTH's) at the time and more than a few people who used them, both on 5.0's and the new Trinity plant in the '13 500, were having exhaust leaks and power loss issues due to them not fitting as well as the AR's. This was three years ago, so that's likely been dealt with at this point I would think, but I've had mine on there now and they've given me no problems through three years and running upwards of 800hp through the block.

Stage_3

Beautiful car Darren.

Same here.