Anybody tried these headers?

PinkieT · Apr 14, 2017

I have a PI head swap planned and figured it would be a perfect time to install headers. With a ragtop, long tubes are out of the question due to the underchassis brace and I'm more interested in torque at lower speeds than HP at higher RPM anyway on my weekend cruiser. I realize shorties aren't as good as long tubes, but they got to be better than stock restrictive iron. I now see stainless steel units for $174 on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHORTY-STAI...ash=item2f01b1d9cb:g:yWkAAOSw4CFY8Vhh&vxp=mtr

Anybody tried these? I'm too cheap to pay double that price for new BBKs that will flake chrome soon after install anyway.

DKblue98GT · Apr 15, 2017

If you have ever seen the BBK headers up close they sure don't look any better than those. I would use the MMR gaskets what ever header you end up with.

96blak54 · Apr 15, 2017

Stupid steering shaft!!!

07GtS197 · Apr 16, 2017

This forum is a lot nicer than others when asking about ebay headers lol!

But really they seem to have a bad rep and their quality control but if you google ebay headers for our cars real customers are few and far between so you might have to be guinea pig. Now the coyote guys have good experiences with the speed daddy headers so I dont forsee you having any real problems. And for that price how could you go wrong.

I will tell you I have noticed a few things that may or may not be to your liking. Ive read that a lot of these are made out of 201 stainless instead of 304. Ive read that they are more rust resistant but brittle. Im not sure what kind of effect thatll have in the real world though. And the other issue, other than quality control possibly, is that if you notice the primaries and outlet are smaller than name brand headers. Whether this is a big issue or not I dont know but I wanted to share this so if you do end up buying them you are informed about them.

If you end up getting them please post up the results!

PinkieT · Apr 16, 2017

Thanks. I see off-brand long tube headers for $160 shipped and that scares me. Shorties look like less material but more labor involved so if one thing is off, I'm out of luck. I Had a 440 Road Runner years back - first set of Hedmans, the welding flash inside the tube/flange connections blocked off half the diameter of the tube. Hedman said no way, I sent pics, they shipped a second set. That set started rusting in a year or two of casual driving even though they were ceramic coated. Third set was Hookers, and the shop that installed them (I was getting a new engine installed, so figured let them do the work since they had to take off the old ones anyway) said they were a PITA to make fit. The cost/benefit ration of something like JBAs or Flowmasters on my car (stock block 4.6 with just a PI swap, CAI, hotter coils, Accufab trottle body and plenum) isn't worth it, and even BBKs to me don't give enough added power for the money.

07GtS197 · Apr 16, 2017

Like I said the quality control might be questionable but it could be worthwhile. Sure its all from china, probably carbon copies of a name brand, but look at Pypes. Theyre copies of I think JBA and are pretty good headers for the money.

ttocs · Apr 16, 2017

I had a set of BBKs and it is probablty the lowest quality I would ran. I had set on my car for a few years and they held up but didn't look perty. I replaced them with JBA and the quality of the welds was easy to see.

lwarrior1016 · Apr 17, 2017

Ive got the speed daddy long tubes on my car. They work just fine and the finish is awesome. Itll blue after driving a little but they still look good. They never leaked or anything. The only complaint I have is fitment. They touch the body in a couple spots and the steering shaft is right in the way so I had to massage the header a little bit. They are also close to the starter. I dont think I would run the long tubes without solid engine mounts but that may be some of the problem because the mounts raised the engine a little bit.

PinkieT · Apr 17, 2017

07GtS197 said:
Like I said the quality control might be questionable but it could be worthwhile. Sure its all from china, probably carbon copies of a name brand, but look at Pypes. Theyre copies of I think JBA and are pretty good headers for the money.

Pypes have shorties for the 5.0 94-95 cars, but only have long tubes for the 96-up 4.6 motors.

DKblue98GT · Apr 18, 2017

I think I am going to try a pair of those speed daddy headers on my 88 Toyota V6 pickup when I finish rebuilding the motor. For the price how bad can they be? I know it's a lot of time but they could work out well.

07GtS197 · Apr 18, 2017

PinkieT said:
Pypes have shorties for the 5.0 94-95 cars, but only have long tubes for the 96-up 4.6 motors.

I mean like any of their stuff. I have their x pipe on my 02 gt and its pretty much a bassani x pipe. The 3v guys love Pypes, me included, longtubes because theyre cheap, stainless and not bad quality. Im willing to bet most of these headers and even some name brands are all made in the same factory in china.

PinkieT · Apr 25, 2017

Found a nice set of used BBKs on Craigslist from a guy who is going to a twin turbo setup and can't use them. Somebody else has to be the guinea pig for the Chinese knockoffs...

98snakehorse · Apr 28, 2017

I'm late to reply on this one but I think I have some pretty good background on most of the headers offered for our cars. I've used the BBK, Mac and Ebay longtubes on my car. The BBKs work pretty well but they pinch the crap out of the primaries in order to fit around the steering shaft. The Mac longtubes fit perfect. The ebay versions are a knockoff of the mac longtube design and half the price. I've had the ebay longtubes on my car for almost two years now with great success, however I did have to move where the passenger O2 bung sits to fit which was easy. I will use the ebay ones in the future. Best gaskets to use is the good ole ford racing MLS manifold gaskets. They are reusable too.

MACS

EBAY

07GtS197 · Apr 28, 2017

Those look pretty good but how are the primary and collector sizes compared to name brand headers?

lwarrior1016 · Apr 28, 2017

Collector size is 2.5". I didnt check primary size.

Ive got the same long tubes as [MENTION=16230]98snakehorse[/MENTION]

98snakehorse · Apr 28, 2017

07GtS197 said:
Those look pretty good but how are the primary and collector sizes compared to name brand headers?

Not a difference between mac or BBK.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

07GtS197 · Apr 28, 2017

Oh wow thats surprising actually. From the pictures it seems as though the collectors and primaries are smaller than name brands. Thats good to know. Like you said they are copies of the real deal so I can see why theyre the same. I will definitely go this route when I have the money. Thanks for the info guys.

HawkX66 · May 11, 2017

Here's the answer to the collectors and primary tube sizes for the ebay headers. These are going on my 02.

lwarrior1016 · May 11, 2017

HawkX66 said:
Here's the answer to the collectors and primary tube sizes for the ebay headers. These are going on my 02.

Make sure to use your own hardware and I would suggest getting different gaskets. I thought the gaskets were good on mine but I found out that I had an exhaust leak.

HawkX66 · May 11, 2017

lwarrior1016 said:
Make sure to use your own hardware and I would suggest getting different gaskets. I thought the gaskets were good on mine but I found out that I had an exhaust leak.

Yessah. I put a set of the shorty version on my truck with their gaskets. Surprise... gasket blow out. Percys for this one. I just pulled all the studs out of the heads last night will go with some a/m stainless studs. I'd go with Stage 8, but enough is enough now lol... edit: Strike that, reverse. $37 for Stage 8. Thanks Amazon!

Love this tool!