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97 4.6 Longtube Headers installed

43K views 81 replies 25 participants last post by  General Zod 
#1 ·
Well after getting yelled at by alot of people for having crappy JBA shortys on my new motor, I decided to look into an upgrade. Being the cheapskate I am, I wasn't about to pay out for the Kooks headers, and the guy I found that makes longtubes for my car wanted 1300 bucks for a set so that was out the window. Well after much searching here and reading and searching and reading somemore, I kept an eye on the mustang boards and scored a set of MAC longtubes for 100 bucks. A little cutting a little welding and here we go. I'll let the pics speak from here, but believe me when I say this, very very very simple to make these fit (once I figured out where the pipe had to go to that is).

This is what they looked like when I got them


And after I made the neccesary mods for them to fit in the car

Note it was just 1 pipe was in the way and had to be re-routed for the steering shaft...I did not do the steering shaft mod nor did I modify the car in anyway passenger side needed no modification















That welding looks like crap, but you cant see any of it and it is functional. But still I won't leave it that way for the long, I plan to get the car running with these and the blower, work all those kinks out, and next winter, I'll probably pull them back off use a few less pieces of pipe and send them off for a more permanant coating. I have a grand total of $250 in these headers and thats including the cost of the headers, new Percy's dead soft gaskets, Stage 8 locking header bolts, 2 premade universal 1 5/8" u-bends and paying someone to do the welding cause mine looked even worse than that where I didn't manage to blow holes in the pipe, lol. I'll get a couple more of the u-bends and now I know what path I need to take, I can cut them properly and not have to scab together a bunch of stuff I cut and welded and then cut apart. I wasnt really sure what way I needed to move the pipe, so in figuring that out, I think I built and tore them apart 4 times, so when I finally figured it out, the pipe I had was pretty well cut up at that time. But for the time being they will work, they dont leak, and I have longtube headers on my car, hahahahahaha
 
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#3 ·
Yep they only made one 2V set for 96-04 or so I believe anyways. I got a good deal on those because they were all kinked out of shape, apparently a MAC trait. But a few minutes with a pry bar getting them to line up again on my spare head and then a rosebud to seat them and that was all fixed.
 
#4 ·
Unfortunately auto trans fitment will always be a mystery.
 
#5 ·
I dont know about that, there is an awful lot of clearance on either side of my trans. I cant think that the 4r70w is that much bigger. And besides, with these like I said I dont think there is an auto or manual option, at least not I could find in the MAC catalog at least.
 
#7 ·
:thumbsup: +1 Very nice work. Get that baby on the dyno and see what you've picked up! I hope this will reflect how I've been preaching on here the great benefits to be had from long-tubes and you will be closer to your 300rwhp goal.
 
#10 ·
Jim has been impressing me with his work for the past month.... :p lol great work man! I can't wait to see ur car again. Gunna be some major changes in both of our cars on our next meet up! Haha
 
#11 ·
Thanks guys it's been a long process, but it will be worth it in the end. I wont know what I gained with just the longtubes, but they should help me hit my power goal with the blower. I have spent alot, and I mean alot of time on just getting these to fit, but like I said, once I figured out where the tube needed to move to and what path to take, it's nothing, maybe 3-4 hours worth of work. I have clearance all around, but there still is some tight spots. Depending on how much the motor moves when I fire it up, will dictate whether or not they come back out for more clearancing. I'll keep you all updated as I go. I'll probably drop the k member back down this weekend to plumb the new boost and water temp gauges as well as fix some earlier work. Then I should be able to put it back up and lock it down permanant and get the blower on. :D
 
#14 ·
I'll probably pull them back off use a few less pieces of pipe and send them off for a more permanent coating........... But for the time being they will work, they dont leak, and I have longtube headers on my car, hahahahahaha
Is the car running? Wanna see/hear open header clips!

As for coatings, I'm thinking of sending my custom longtubes to Braincoating when I get them done this Spring. Should work for that app, right?
 
#15 ·
Car isnt running yet, still have to install the blower. I'm really almost tempted to reassemble it N/A and fire it up just to see what it sounds like and how it performs, but I want the blower on worse lol. But yeah I figure next year after I can free up some more cash Ill take them off redo them and send them out for Braincoating. For now my $10 header paint will have to suffice. And for those with no access to a welder/welding skills, like I said still possible to do. A cut off wheel, sawzall and a bench grinder and you can get it good enought to be carried sowewhere for welding. This is how I did mine so I could have it welded.



As long as you keep your gaps pretty close and it stays in place they shouldn't have any trouble welding it up
 
#17 ·
Sometimes it felt like a year and a half though, lol. But another point for those wanting to do this... when I said I didn't do the steering shaft mod while that is true, looking into an aftermarket rag joint or something smaller around might not be a bad idea. I did a little"massaging" in the one tube that wraps around the rag joint to gain clearance. And even still it's a bit tight for my comfort. The Flaming River joint would give plenty of room, but my main concern is the rubber getting hot from the heat of the header and coming apart. Something to consider.
 
#18 ·
Another point of interest for anyone looking to do this, Be sure you have a Mustang dip tube handy. I had one from when I did my motor build last year, it comes in the head bolt/head gasket swap kit. I tried to get the T-Bird one to fit, didnt seem to want to go in, but the Mustang one dropped right in. Now this could be due to the fact the engine is still bolted to the K-member and the motor mounts, but I'm thinking it has more to do with tube placement. Either way, perhpas if you assemble it with the dip tube then the mounts then the headers it might work I dont know. All I know is I couldn't get mine to work, but the mustang one dropped right into place. Something to keep in mind.
 
#22 ·
Engine oil dip tube, sorry for the confusion. I didn't even think of the trans dip tube as with the 5-speed in my car, I dont have one anymore, lol. ;) But like I said before, I can't find an auto or manual option for these headers so I'm guessing they only have one set, and with that I don't see the trans tube being an issue, but it might not be a bad idea to have one of those handy as well.
 
#24 ·
I believe GM hasn't finished his first modifed set yet. Unless you plan on buying a set of his and having them "modified".

Note to CableguyJJS3: What would you charge for a second modified set (should go pretty quickly since you've already built one)? Make some jigs!
 
#25 ·
I have thought about doing just that. However my welding skills leave alot to be desired. That said, the guy that did my welding charged me $50. If someone wanted to send me a drivers side header I'd be happy to modify a set and send them over to him and have him weld. Or I can cut the tubes up fit them and send them back tacked for your welding pleasure. I had $30 in the u-bends I bought to have enough pipe so at least that is needed. I'm not going to throw out numbers, I'll just say I'm really really really cheap. If someone is dead serious about doing it, shoot me a message, I'll be happy to talk about it, and I'm more than happy to help out a fellow member.
 
#26 ·
Excellent! I've been waiting for a man like you! :eek: lol

Seriously, ok step 1 ... find a set of Mustang long-tubes. Do you have a model number of the set you started with? Were they for a '98-'04 GT?
 
#29 ·
On a whim I was looking on ebay the other day at mustang headers and your right Pypes look identical to the MAC headers. Now if they fit or not I cant say I didnt have a set of them to work with. When I put my motor in last year I had a set of JBA shortys and a set of the SSA Auto chrome ones, they looked identical as well, but the SSA's didn't fit. I wouldn't feel comfortable trying a set of headers that weren't dimesionally the same as the MAC headers for the simple fact I dont know where the tubes would land in relation to the enigine and the K-member, therefore I wouldn't know how to modify them. I make my offer to modify the headers for anyone serious about having it done, but obviously I can't promise they will fit. I don't have a parts car around for mock up, nor am I inclined to take mine apart everytime, lol. But I am about 99% confident that if I was to do another set that I could do them and they would fit without any major issues. And yes the ones I used were 96-04 GT 2v longtubes. I bought them used so there was no box and they didnt have any markings on them at all, so I have no idea what the model number is. But like I said earlier, when I bought them I searched the net and the MAC catalog and only found the one set for that application, so you should be safe with any set you find. if your interested, let me know, I'm happy to help, this is fun for me, lol.
 
#31 ·
Depending on how close they are maybe not. I noticed tonite my drivers side is actually touching the floor, but just barely. I'm going to try a little leverage persuasion to get it to sit down lower a tad, and if not the yeah, a light hammer on the floor never hurt anyone, and not in the amount that I'll need.
 
#32 ·
Shoot, years ago I had a '70 Chevelle that I had lowered by cutting a loop out of the coils and my headers wound up flat on the bottom (touched the pavement a few times)..... I believe they were Blackjacks.

What do you mean you won't test fit them on your car?!? What kind of service are you offering here? :rofl:
 
#33 ·
Im actually really impressed at how tight these tuck under the car. If you are eye level with the bottom of the car you cant see them at all. I don't see any scraping issues at all in my future.
 
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