hey all, i just bought my first mustang, an 89 lx 5.0 5speed, still learning how to shift the thing (its my first stick, too), but already its fun just getting it around the neighborhood. it does have a couple problems though, one is major, a few just really nitpicky/would be nice (ill get to those later as they start to annoy me). i bought it from a guy in illinois, and as they dont have emissions testing over there, he took of the stock h-pipe in favor of a plain-jane mac off-road h. not that its based in stl, that just simply wont do, the smog nazis around here wont let it register without cats. so question is, what is a good catted h-pipe in terms of best fit? ive been looking on summit, the two that have piqued my intrest are the catco stock replacement (cheapie) and the bbk ones. does anybody have experience with either of these? should i look for something else? hope to order in the next couple days so i can get it on next weekend, so i can actually drive the thing.
I had BBks long tube headers, and they were nice. So I would purchace from BBK again. Or, you could buy the cheap h-pipe, go in for testing, then swap back to the o/r after testing.
hey chuckman welcome to the mustang world, i hope you have a good expierience with your mustang. from what i understand you just need cats to register. if that is the case you should just buy the cheap h pipe, put it on for the registration process and take it off after. even if the cheapie doesnt fit like stock, it is only for temporary use right. good luck with your stang.
If your looking for permant best fit, Bassani is the way to go. BBK catted pipes are pretty good also. But if you're putting it on just to pass emissions, just go to a junkyard and grab one off a wrecked Stang or somethin' and put it on for the test. Then put your O/R back on.
thanks guys, it is going to be permanant as i dont want to be crawling around under the car this time every two years for the same thing, i have a tendancy to forget where i put things too looks like ill go with the bbk's then, thanks for the help.
Another vote for the BBK catted pipe. I've had one one my 89 GT for about a year and I really like it. It's a decent price and a nice fit, quality. I've heard that the Bassani are nice, I just couldn't afford it at the time.
I had a catco on one of my cars when I bought it--wasn't bad. I'm sure the bassani and maybe the BBk would flow better, though.
Cats I would go with the Bassani's or one from MAC or BBK. Hiflow cats will make about 98% of the power of o/r pipes on a stock or moderately modified street car. Just make sure the car is FULLY up to operating temps before you test.
aight, cool, looks like im going bbk then, good price/availbility. another question, how hard is it to replace the bulbs in the dash, behind the tach/speedo? havent had a whole lot of time to look at it, but they were both burned out tonight when i took it out for a quick "training mission" (first stick-shift, remember), last night only the tach light was gone, and it kinda helps to know some kinda speed when youre first learning shift points.
its not all that bad. You will have to remove the gauge cluster though. The speedo cable will be your biggest problem, then the bulbs just have a little twist out, and then replace em. No biggie! Jack
if you like the way it sounds now w/ the offroad (i'm sure you do) H, than your gonna be pissed when you have to put on these cats, it's gonna quiet down alot - get a performance one w/ 2 cats if your gonna keep it on there, cuz than it's still kinda loud, but not nearly as awesome as an offroad H - good luck, and your in for alot of fun, and money blowing- if you don't know why, your about to find out - totally worth it, i will probably have my mustang till the day i die - i'll just keep putting new motors, and bigger motors in it- i'll end up just using it as a strip car - w/o driving on the street - welcome and enjoy
thats one of the best welcomes ive ever gotten anywhere, even including my old favorite the fsp forums (good group of guys over there btw for anyone with an i-6), and waaaay better than anything over at fte had to say (i thought it was the chevy guys who were rude, but i guess theres always a few bad apples) anyway, must stop this :OT: stuff the car has i *think* either flowmaster 50's or deltaflow 40's (the p.o. said they were longer than the flow 40's but didnt know for sure what they were, ill find out when i bolt up the h), either way its pretty quiet already, which im fine with, its still louder than the truck but not so much so that itll wake up the neigbors at night.
