I've gone thru as much Google posts as I can and most are almost a decade old. I've read mac fit up closer to the body n give a little more ground clearance. Just looking for up to date info on which people prefer the most.
I run MAC's aswell. With the auto it was a tight fit! But its a 5 speed now, so there's a ton of clearance on either side of the trans. And the longtubes aren't an issue ground clearance wise. Do yourself a favor and wrap the starter with heat wrap, eventually the heat from the LT's will cook it. $30 for the wrap on latemodel, peace of mind. Side shot, can't really see the longtubes. I'm lowered just around 1.2" up front. No issues with clearance anywhere.
Oh and another quick one...where'd you buy your macs. I find bbk all over. I've barely seen anyone list the ceramic coated macs. I see them on the mac site. Just wondering if anyone had better pricing.
my clutch cable / clutch fork cover and starter fit no problem with my Mac and i have the larger 1 3/4" runners. I found mine on craigslist and paired with a VRS x pipe. The mac H pipe is a piece of shit, pro chamber didn't fit much better.
I have Mac LT's and a prochamber. The passenger o2 sensor touched the top of the trans pan on an AODE, wasn't real excited about that, with the T5 there is all kinds of room. The prochamber outlets are prob the lowest point, I scrape on parking lot entrances, have to avoid speed bumps. With FR B springs.
BBK's fit pretty good on mine. Its a little tight around the massive Mcleod bellhousing, but that is to be expected. As far as dragging them. it only happens when im forced to drop the tires off the passenger side of the road due to retarded drivers. No matter which brand you choose, wrap the starter or it will prolly heat soak and drag when up to operating temperature.
Thanks for the info guys. Especially about wrapping the starter. Now I just need to figure out where to buy them from. Plan is while I have motor out to smooth n paint engine bay to put these on. Never attempted but can you set the engine in with long tubes already on the motor? I would think it'd make getting the bolts in easier. But if its more of a pain setting it I can bolt them up when its in.
Yes plenty of clearance. I plan on grabbing MM's cable heatshield eventually just for added peace of mind
Yea the motor can go in with the headers on . I've done it both ways on my car I find long tubes easier to install the equal length shorties .
Well went ahead n ordered the macs from tre. 4-6 weeks out but for me its ok because I won't need them until December. Hopefully they fit nicely. Thanks for the help guys
BBK's fit great, without a doubt the easiest long tubes I've ever installed on a vehicle. EDIT: I just saw you posted that you bought the MAC long tubes so nevermind, hope they work out well for you.
Hopefully around Christmas I'll be putting motor back in. Its all in now but coming out to smooth n paint the engine bay. Whiplash your bay is one that serves as motivation for me. So far I've got Scott rod Fab panels welded in n some of the filler n sanding has been done. Finishing will be this winter.
Well finally got the engine bay painted and motor dropped back in with the mac longtubes. I set it in with just the driver side bolted on to try n make it a little easier. Wasn't terrible going in. I did set the engine back in with trans still in car so that caused more problems than anything. I bought a short x pipe from vrs that said it was mac longtubes specific. Well it doesn't fit at all. Gonna try cutting up the old off road x from the shorty headers to make it work. But as for fit the headers seem to fit really nice. Haven't had it on the ground ywt go see ground clearance. But they tuck to the car almost as close as possible.
My MAC LT's fit really well. Tight when it was auto, really nice fit when I went 5 speed last year. Do yourself a favor! Wrap your starter with heat wrap, or else your starter will get cooked eventually.
All you guys with these long tubes and the pain that they can be just makes me that much happier that my headers face forward now!!! Lol But on a more serious note when I helped my buddy put his bbk's on they were tight on his aod but no major issues. This message courtesy of crapatalk!