Short or Long headers

I'm shopping for performance headers for my exhaust system. I can't afford the ceramic coated, but I want something that will give me good gains in horsepower. I want your oppinions and suggestions for my particular motor the 4.6L 2V in my 1996 Mustang GT. 5 speed Manual.

I will most likely use the stock cat. converters and a new cat-back exhause system. What do you think? Shorty headers or Long?

Quote:

I'm shopping for performance headers for my exhaust system. I can't afford the ceramic coated, but I want something that will give me good gains in horsepower. I want your oppinions and suggestions for my particular motor the 4.6L 2V in my 1996 Mustang GT. 5 speed Manual. I will most likely use the stock cat. converters and a new cat-back exhause system. What do you think? Shorty headers or Long?

Long-tube headers will render the best performance gain. However, shorties are an easier fit because they typically bolt in in place of the manifolds so no exhaust modifications have to be done. I'm not particularly familiar with the fitting of shorties on a '96 4.6L so it's possible that the exhaust pipes could need to be cut in order for the headers to fit. Obviously, with long-tube headers, you will have to cut the exhaust pipes in order to mate them up to the collectors on the ends of the headers.

I would strongly encourage you to get coated headers. Non-coated headers corrode very easily because they are virtually unprotected. They come painted, but the paint burns off right away. The coated headers are definitely worth the money, and if possible, save up the extra cash to purchase them.

unless you are doing other mods to the motor,skip the headers.go to a two and a half h or xpipe.much better gains,then put your catback of choice on.catbacks will give only slight gains.

96Mustang
sorry i didnt introduce myself,my name is mike,i came to this board because i am interested in excursions.i am in the transmission business,i am a hot rodder,i now own a 99 Mustang Cobra which i love ,325hp,318tq at the wheels.i just wanted you to know that my info comes from a lot of experience and money spent,sometimes spent for nothing.

Thanks gearman. After checking out your advice about leaving the stock headers and going with the H-pipe and cat back. I did notice in my research that performance headers do give some substantial gains if the intake is upgraded. I will take your advice. I am in the process of purchasing the H-Pipe with the cat back exhause.

I'm liking the Pro Chamber from MAC. It's not leagal in PA without Catalytic Converters so I don't think I will chance it. Dyno tests show big 22 - 24 HP gains. Looks like an easy install once you get the stock pipes off.

96Mustang
increasing pipe size from 2 and a quarter to 2 and a half will make a big jump in hp.try and pick one(if there is one )that is smog legal in your state.MAC stuff works very good,but its cheap.their catbacks are very loud,but work very well,and they do perform.i belong to a Cobra board,and have seen many different add ons,headers are iffy as far as hp.i do not have them on my Cobra.

Quote:

I'm shopping for performance headers for my exhaust system. I can't afford the ceramic coated, but I want something that will give me good gains in horsepower. I want your oppinions and suggestions for my particular motor the 4.6L 2V in my 1996 Mustang GT. 5 speed Manual. I will most likely use the stock cat. converters and a new cat-back exhause system. What do you think? Shorty headers or Long?

Long Tube Heads is the way to go.

I have had some tell me how hard it was to install them, this is why they went with the shortie.

Well, I installed 5 sets of them now and still trying to figure out what they was talking about, never removed motor or lifted motor to install them either.

I would spend the money on getting a nice set of coated long tube headers for sure, the most HP & Turq gains.

Then I would go with a X pipe and not the H pipe.

Gearman is right about going with the 2 1/2 instead of the 2 1/4 exhaust. If you have any plans with the motor, intake, mass air, throtle body etc. Then upgrade the whole exhaust now, other wise you'll be doing it later. The X-pipe Is better then the H-pipe In that it promotes better flow by increasing exhaust scavenging (as the exhaust burst from one pipe goes thru the x it passes the other pipe and it creates a vacuum to help pull the next burst thru and the chain continues.) just incase you didn't know. Short vs. long tube headers. If this is the first time doing a header swap the shorties will be easier but the long tubes are not impossible by any means they are just alittle harder to move around when installing because they are a bigger unit. You have to match the cat pipe to the headers i.e. long tube headers= shorter x/h-pipe, Shorty=longer x/h-pipe) shorty headers will bolt to a stock h-pipe if buying pieces one at a time and can't wait to get the rest before installing. By the way my name is mike i have been working on mustangs for 8 years now, It's a passion not a hobby anymore, but I am a mechanic. I am not an expert by anymeans, but i do know some things about them. Well Good luck with it.