Has anyone here ever put LT headers on their V6, and have you had clearance issues with the steering rack either v6/v8?
Umm, where the heck are you gonna find LT's for the 3.8? Lemme know when you do, especially a set that will fit a Fox Cat or Bird.
They're all over e-bay stores brand new... just as common as shorties... I've been looking up headers for the last week....
-Edited for stupidity-. I have heard a rumor though about two of the tubes on LT'shiznitting the steering column.
P.S. Old Paint - Congratulations on your purchase of the red T-Bird, it looks great, and I am jealous. :D
Thanks for the flowers, jrad. Needs a bath right now, though.
Now, the next question is, do the shorties have bungs in them for the O2 sensors? I know the shorties I put on my F-150 did, but they were Ford Racing shorties.
Say the shorties work good under there? Hmmm, I may have just found my next project, assuming I can get the bolts outta the head without breaking them. I can see headers and a TBI for a 5.0 in the future of this old bird, just to get a couple more ponies out of it. I know it isn't going to be big neck breaking HP increase, but it'll probably make the car run a little more efficiently too by letting it breathe. Might do that X2, including the Blue Bird too.
i believe some clarification is needed here,
your the guy who swaped a newer mustang motor into your tbird, right? so would the headers your asking about be for that motor or an 83-87 stock 3.8 cfi motor? unless im missing something here im under the impression there is a difference between them.
I did swap a newer motor into my car, but as far as physical dimensions it is the same, and all the research I did before the swap when I was thinking about tuning up the old motor indicate that the mustang headers all work on all the 3.8l, clearances may be different as far as steering columns go. -Deleted for stupidity-
Well, I was trying to verify that there was a difference in the design for the LT's for the late model v6 Mustang and T-bird.
Apparently there is. The late model factory ones though, are fine.
My 83 bird was factory carbureted, BTW. :D
depending on which car you get the factory manifolds off of, you might want to cut the s off the head pipes coming from the CAT as well as there is some kind of goofy spacer bolt in the that can't be bought anywhere, at least, that is what I ran into on my 03 motor. If you don't get the factory s it will leak like a SOB.
I hope that isn't too confusing...
oh, i was under the impression you meant shortie headers for 83-87 cfi(or carb) v6 fox of which i was aware only moranna or so made them which they say it dont fit fox tbirds/cougars. i never heard the exact reason why but my guess would be the colum linkage for colum shift transmission cars. never thought the steering would interfear with them.
arent late model v6 mustang headers just old supercoupe headers by design?
Ok, so to clear up some misconceptions, I went and looked at some pictures(Novel concept, I know) and decided that the only thing available for T-Bird v6's header wise, is to go purchase late model mustang manifolds. The aftermarket shorties do a stupid bend back towards the front of the car on the #6 cylinder, effectively insuring that the manifold will interfere with column shifts, but the longtubes look like they are just angled out too far, and some selective notching and rewelding should yield nice LT's.
I was unable to find any pictures of SC manifolds that resemble what are on my motor.
Included is a picture of my Driver's side manifold. Don't those look better than the factory cast iron?
i am using mac longtube headers for a 94-98 mustang. here is a picture of my stock compared to my new headers.(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii52/blackcougar84/exterior%20pics/PIC-0159.jpg)
And no clearing issues?
I was gonna say... Definitely let us know how that works out.
Oh yeah, now I remember this thread. The manifolds you have are the ones I was talking about are the ones I was considering using for the TC turbo idea. They're nice, but I've read that these flow better, even as well as aftermarket JBA's and Pacesetters. These here are also the ones I have on my 96 that came standard on 96/97 MN12 3.8's.
The ones I have are the ones that look like shorty headers. See here:
[thread]30050[/thread]
Here are pix of what mine look like. These are stock factory headers for 99-04. I did have a picture of them before I put them on the car but I can't find it, so here's the best I could do.
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-21221015.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-21220748.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-21220817.jpg)
Here is what I was considering using, which is a stock 94-98 factory header.
(http://i.ebayimg.com/10/%21B0UZ22wBWk%7E$%28KGrHqYOKk%21E%29QcRHsw%29BMZ3FuJt1Q%7E%7E_12.JPG)
These appear to be very different from the late model and may not require recutting to get them to go past the strut tower on the PS.
Oh, ok, those look like the ones Morana had for sale. The ones I have only kick out a little on the Pass. Side, as they are currently bolted up to the exhaust system.
...I hate exhaust work...
Those primaries look pretty beefy though.
I
think this is the image he was trying to post.(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii52/blackcougar84/exterior%20pics/PIC-0159.jpg)
Ok, I guess if you looked at that other thread you know what I'm talking about with them in the strut tower. All I would have to do, I think, is cut the collector and reweld it a little further toward the motor. But, even though they look beefy, they're only 1-5/8" at the mouth of the collector. I think the full diameter is 2" though. There were some made that were 2-1/2" openings, and they are huge. I used to have a DS one, but the ring was busted loose on the collector, it was pretty rusty, and I couldn't find a matching PS so I just tossed it.
If he's using those MAC LT's, which were the ones I was planning on getting, and he didn't mention any fitment issues, which I think he would have if he had any, I think I'm going to try them. I think the trick is to get the ones that are designed for the 94-98 motor, and not the ones for the 99-04. Like I said, I think the factory ones will fit. So if those are designed differently, then there must be a fundamental difference in the A/M LT's too. After all , they do tell you that they only will fit the certain years. If they do this just to make money, I don't know, but I think I'm going to give it a try. If they don't work correctly, I think selling them to a V6 Mustang enthusiast for a few bucks less won't be too hard, and I'll still have my factory shorties. First though, I think I'm going to go out to the yard, cause I can get a pretty cheap and decent set of factory 94-98 shorties from a mustang out there to check for fitment of them first. At least they were out there a while ago... I haven't checked lately to see if they're still there. But I'm thinking they got nabbed cause I glanced at that car and I do think they were gone.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PSM-70-3220/?rtype=10 I almost picked up a set of these. I think the only difference really from 94-04 is whether or not it has air tubes or an egr port included.
I would double check with Blackcougar, as I've never seen a full picture of his motor in a car or out...
Go for the LT's, but be prepared to start hacking them up! I'll probably give in some day.
Yeah I was looking at those, but I like the MAC's better for a number of reasons. Here are some better pics of mine. I went out and took them off the car just so you could see them lol. It only took me 15 minutes to get em off start to finish, with everything but downpipes fully assembled on the car. Thats how many times I've done it lol. And how much useless I've permanantly pulled out of my engine compartment.
You can see here how these are designed on purpose to miss the steering column. I thought this was a modification made by someone cause its and ugly weld, but this is how they all are. The pass side is different though, and there are more pics below of the problem I have with them where they go into the strut tower.
I took a second look at the ones on my bird today, and even though the chassis are completely different between the two cars, the engine and trans are the same, and I was looking at the way they come by each other there, and it appears that the angle is totally different with the mn12 headers, which leads me to believe they are the same ones found on early v6 mustangs, and they will fit. If you look at the pic of my PS header, and the one I posted from above, which is from a 94-98 mustang, they are different. The early mustang looks just like the one on my bird, the most noticable difference being the postion of the #5 primary as it enters the collector. On the early it comes in on top, on the late model it comes in on bottom. But the important difference is that the collector is already angled up like it needs to be, so it will miss that hole it fits into on the other pair.
As for LT's, I think its just a game of chance. Like I said, I think I'm gonna go for it. BlackCougar hasn't been on in a few months, don't know if he's paying attention or what... so I can't really ask him about it. Like I said before though, worst case scenario, I'll sell them to the guy down the street or someone else who's a v6 mustang guy. I'm sure they'd love to buy a cheap set of LT's.
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-22171354.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-22171410.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-22171451.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-22170025.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-02-22182226.jpg)
IDK, entirely up to you. Those manifolds(Your current ones) look weird! I would rather have your problem with mine, it would be super easy to pie cut the ones I have. Of course, I didn't NEED to, although maybe I should, just a bit.
http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/itemdy01.asp?T1=TF3895+01&catkey=74-01&srccode=MULMVWEB
http://www.ampperformance.com/ford/xcart/product.php?productid=1502
http://www.stangmods.com/MAC-Long-Tube-Headers-for-94-97-01-04-V6-Mustang-p/00636.htm
just because.