351 swap headers+ exhaust questions

[packman]

aaagghhhhh!!! I gotta get batteries for my camera so I can get pics of things.

johnunit: The place where your cats rest against the crossmember is where my father clamped the H-pipe. He took new exhaust clamps and welded tabs (cut-up u-bolts of old exhaust clamps) to them. It really stiffened the exhaust. I will go with the shortys for a little bit until I have the time to fab longtubes somehow. My H-pipe doesn't lean like you guys, it just points downwards at the cats. The exhaust clamps are the lowest point and have taken quite a bit of punishment over the years. I found that POR15 sticks to exhaust pipes. When I was undercoating the CV, it dripped onto the exhaust. It has lasted longer than the high temp paint.


Packman

[LTDMan83]

this is why custom is worth it. like said, when i installed the headers on the 5.8L in the lincoln this summer, i had custom pipes bent to the glass packs/tail pipes. dont see a thing and is clean. and no pics till it comes out of stoage next year lol

^this x1000

Full Custom Bent 2 1/4in or 2 1/2in exhaust from manifolds to tail pipes can be had here for $300-350 anywhere around here, not including mufflers.

Take a look at the Custom 2 1/4in Dual Exhaust on my '80 LTD, pics are in my RR thread. That is a well done custom 2 1/4in dual exhaust system, that was done by a local shop for only $350 including the Flowmaster 40's.

and, you guys are paying $4-500 for ill-fitting stuff made for fox bodies?

[packman]

Around my way, I'd be paying double what they charge down there. Like usual, I learned after time, that I can probably fab the pieces up myself.



Packman

[1987cp]

Johnunit, do you have heat stove provisions on both sides? Did you just cut up a stock heat stove and clamp it close to the new manifold?

[johnunit]

Yes. I did for the driver's side. The passenger side is a hedman part that was sort of a rip. I get into detail in the captions above the underhood pics above.

[Brown_Muscle]

Awesome pix and writeup John! Thanks! I hadn't even though about that stovepipe, since it's been gone for year. I'm going to be very interested to see how my walker 2.25 h-pipe bolts up.... the other john (86vickyLX) used a mark VII h-pipe and it fit up there well, however rock auto is out of them...

LTDman83, if i could get a custom exhaust done for that price i would! haha, does that price include the performance headers? i can't imagine it does..

Headers are on:

[LTDMan83]

Doesn't include headers for that price.

Although the exhaust guy I know will custom build you a set of longtubes for an extra $300. Tis the route I'm going with my 351 build on the LTD.

[johnunit]

I'm not sure whether I'd go the same route or not. In a perfect world I'd absolutely have custom exhaust all the way back, but I was getting quotes in the 1000 dollar + headers and mufflers range. Though it would have been cheaper without cats, but so would the mustang parts.

[packman]

Awesome pix and writeup John! Thanks! I hadn't even though about that stovepipe, since it's been gone for year. I'm going to be very interested to see how my walker 2.25 h-pipe bolts up.... the other john (86vickyLX) used a mark VII h-pipe and it fit up there well, however rock auto is out of them...

LTDman83, if i could get a custom exhaust done for that price i would! haha, does that price include the performance headers? i can't imagine it does..

Headers are on:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]31079[/ATTACH]

Did you start her up with just the headers? You're gonna enjoy this upgrade..........er repair.





Packman

[pantera77]

^this x1000

Full Custom Bent 2 1/4in or 2 1/2in exhaust from manifolds to tail pipes can be had here for $300-350 anywhere around here, not including mufflers.

Take a look at the Custom 2 1/4in Dual Exhaust on my '80 LTD, pics are in my RR thread. That is a well done custom 2 1/4in dual exhaust system, that was done by a local shop for only $350 including the Flowmaster 40's.

and, you guys are paying $4-500 for ill-fitting stuff made for fox bodies?

You'd be paying closer to $1000 around here for a custom 2.5" exhaust from the manifolds back. And that's if you could find a shop that would look the other way about missing cats.


And I paid around $200 for the exhasut on my winter wagon (including headers)

[Brown_Muscle]

hehe...not yet. Although it is tempting my neighbors are a bit...high strung lol.

[Brown_Muscle]

oh and about the AC line you cut....i just automatically unbolted my compressor and put it aside, had no problems getting the header down that way, just for a reference to those future do-it-yourselfers

[P72Ford]

You'd be paying closer to $1000 around here for a custom 2.5" exhaust from the manifolds back. And that's if you could find a shop that would look the other way about missing cats.

This sounds about right for my area as well. The cat back on my red car was $450; the front pipes were $400.

I have the "Mustang" system on my white coupe, and find the fit to be acceptable. Of course, my buddy and I wrangled it for quite some time, until it fit to my linking.

But, the main reason I prefer the Mustang parts, is because they are truly mandrel bent. That means the bends are constant diamater. Very few (and I mean very few) local exhaust shops have a mandrel bender (they are 10 times as costly as a conventional bender). They have machines that bend pipe without the "crinkle" look, but the bend itself has a reduced diameter. That is not the case with any aftermarket bolt on upgrades; at least with pipes made by a reputable manufacturer.

And yes, constant diameter bends are a big deal.

[johnunit]

oh and about the AC line you cut....i just automatically unbolted my compressor and put it aside, had no problems getting the header down that way, just for a reference to those future do-it-yourselfers

yeah... that's probably smarter lol. I was angry at the car and figured it'd be ages before I get AC working anyway.


RE open headers: didn't someone have an issue with something melting when they did that? I think that was on a 351W engine.

[P72Ford]

I drove my car 15 miles to an exhaust shop on a Saturday morning with the cat back wired up under the car, and no exhaust aft of the headers, or forward of the transmission crossmember.

I had no issues.