Will shorty headers make a difference?

GDawg

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Mar 22, 2002
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I've read that if your car is lowered then long tubes would hang too low. So the question is: is there a benefit to changing out the stock headers with some shorties? I'm going to do the PI head swap this summer and figure might as well do headers too if it's worth it. Then I'll probably change out the mid pipe but whatever I get will still have to be catted. And as you can see in my sig I already have a magnapack catback.

Whadda ya think?
 
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According to all the information I have read, shorty heads will make very little difference in horsepower. I do not have them, I am just passing along information I have read here...

Some people have called them the worst mod for the money.

Installing headers is time consuming and difficult as you probably already know.
 
They will make some difference. Check this article out.
BBKShortyDyno%23's.jpg
 

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Shorties are a waste of money IMO.

If you look at that post above at the track you would not notice much. they are nice on the dyno for a bit of peak but your average hp is not up that much.

If you go look at et's before and after shorties there is usually not much there.

Now the bassani mid length headers do produce power throgh the entire band on the dyno I have seen off them. the peak hp is not alot better but the average hp is up nicely.
 
White Stang said:
My long tubes don't hit speed bumps etc. and my car has the ford c springs :nice: . When I have my cats on thats a diffrent story.They will rub larger speed bumps. :(

See... that's the thing... I already scrape on larger speed bumps. I'd love to get long tubes but I think it may be a problem with my H&R SuperSports.

(Plus, I can't go with an o/r pipe. It's not an option for me.)
 
GDawg said:
See... that's the thing... I already scrape on larger speed bumps. I'd love to get long tubes but I think it may be a problem with my H&R SuperSports.

(Plus, I can't go with an o/r pipe. It's not an option for me.)


I would try to find someone that has the bassani mid lenghts and see how those are. I would think they woudl have no worse clearance than shorties. I don't have them to comment though.
 
I have the BBKs sitting on my floor now. 270 bucks. Thats a not so bad for 5rwhp and 11rwtq. Check out modular depots dynos of intake plenums. People spend 300-400 on plenum and TB all the time.

Those dyno numbers make no sense though. How can you make more torque at a certain rpm, and less power. Power is just a function of rpm and torque. :shrug:
 
johnnyvista said:
shorties will give you a little bit of power. the sound they make is worth the $400 if you ask me.

yeah. . how big of an impact on sound will shorty headers make? someone told me once that headers will make my car softer. . . dont know how true that is. . .

and are equal lengths worth any more power? and are they much harder to install?

which companies make the best and cheapest headers?
 
Gunfighter said:
shortys will give you an extra few ponies, but I don't think they are worth the $$, or the PITA to install unless your motor is already out of the car

sorry for asking so many questions. .. but if you arent pulling the motor, how hard is the install? can your average joe do it easily? and what do you have to do to get to them? can you keep the valve covers on?

thanks!