BBK vs JBA shorties

There have been alot of cyclone owners who have recently bought these "Speed Daddy" headers. They are direct copies of the BBK headers for half the price. They dont come ceramic coated but they ARE stainless steel. A great deal if you havent already bought the BBKs.

As someone who has installed the BBK shorties - Its a pain in the ass but totally doable. I had to walk away in frustration a couple times but just have some pivoting socket heads handy to make it a bit easier. Soak the midpipe to header bolts in PB blaster before hand to make it come off easier as well.

As far as sound and performance - The exhaust definitely gained some definition - it now has a nice deep burble compared to the stock headers. You can also feel the torque gains even without a tune - even more so with id imagine.

Link for those interested:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHORTY-STAI...D2C-/401258714455?vxp=mtr&hash=item5d6ce21557

USMCtoARMY said:

Oh no don't go careless. By exhaust upgrade I mean full-catback, which entails bigger piping (not to big, some disagree on this) less restrictive mufflers, and either a resonator box delete or a free flowing replacement.

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I put a stock GT exhaust on my V6. That provided better flow with 2 1/2" piping vs. 2 1/4" on the V6. Doing that provided a nice tone, a little more burble, and a deeper sound. It was noticeable.

I installed BBK ceramic shorties about a month ago, along with a BBK Cold Air Intake (the black one). No tune, yet.

The car sounds awesome now! A perfect balance of a deep tone at idle, but a very, very nice growl at throttle. It has a little bellow to it from the CAI, but the overall sound is yummy. It's pretty damn close to a V8 sound, IMO.

As to the installation of the shorties, here are my nuggets:
-Spray PB Blaster liberally. On the header bolts. On the manifold to cat pipe flange bolts. On the starter motor bolts. You will be eternally grateful you did. I recommend doing this a day in advance. It will smoke and stink quite a bit if you run the car at all, but you'll still be grateful the next day.
-I recommend deep-well sockets. 1/2" and 3/8" drive wrenches will suffice. You'll need 1/2", 13mm, 15mm, and 17mm sockets and wrenches. Extensions will also be your friend.
-A pivoting head ratcheting box end wrench (1/2") will work on every header bolt, except the rear most passenger side nut. You will need a stubby 1/2" open end wrench (and a ton of patience) there.
-You can actually reach every bolt from the top side when removing the stock manifolds. You will have to get the manifold to cat pipe flange bolts (15mm) from underneath the car. This is primarily where I used my extensions.
-Remove the starter. There are 2 - 13mm bolts here. Getting the starter out of the way allows much easier placement of the passenger side shortie header.
-Don't tighten the header bolts all the way down until you have the cats properly seated on the shorties.
-The new header to cat pipe bolts have to be threaded into the flange. Use pliers here to seat them as much as possible. The nuts here are 17mm. Again, extensions come in handy here.
-I re-used my stock header gaskets with no issues.
-I used Rhino Ramps and had enough room to move around underneath. My car has the stock suspension, but I have Ecoboost PP wheels installed.
-The Sirius Pop2K channel had a good mix of songs to help my patience stay intact. Music helps me, but YMMV.
-Total install time by myself was about 4 1/2 hours, including some trial/error time. I also laid a header nut on the strut tower, accidentally hit it, and knocked it into a space near the fender. It fell into the area between the fender's inner and outer skins. I had to remove the passenger wheel, the wheel well liner, and then fish out the nut. Don't do that.

I'm extremely pleased with the sound of my V6 now. A couple car guys at work have noticed it and said, "It doesn't sound like a V6".

Now, if I could just find my old '93 LX 5.0L Notchback with the full Bassani system (headers, hi-flow cat x-pipe, and cat-back), I'd be a very happy boy!!

After some minor datalogging looks like I'm close to where I need to be (if I'm not there already). Same disclaimer as above (this is a Virtual Dyno, there are different variables, yadda yadda lol). HP numbers are about to same as log manifold tune but driveability has been further polished and shows even more tq gains down low after a few runs.

VERDICT: With shorties peak power/torque is reached sooner which results in a much more pleasurable daily driver. You will net a few HP and major torque down low along with nice midrange. I would imagine longtubes would gain more in both maximum overall HP/TQ in comparison to shorties but the gains would be more linear (with hp/tq being closer together) vs fat torque curves. Here is a graph showing my latest datalogs. Even those these are not exact numbers, this should definitely give an idea on where you will be gaining with these mods.

Red = Latest tune/datalog

Blue = Log manifold tune/datalog


There's good tech shared from many in this thread, new sticky anyone? :cheers:

I've been looking around for headers guys do any of you know someone who has tried a different brand kooks or black heart

mustangv6magn said:

I've been looking around for headers guys do any of you know someone who has tried a different brand kooks or black heart

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Not off the top of my head. Regardless of what header you decide to go with, the key factor is using the stock MLS gaskets to ensure a good seal

I received my headers yesterday from speed daddy they look good now if I just had time to install them

Lbj said:

I received my headers yesterday from speed daddy they look good now if I just had time to install them

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I want to hear this in person, once installed!!

Sure thing ..I also have GT cat back on the car

I haven't forgot to do the sound clips but just have not rushed it. I haven't rushed since the sound change is very subtle and probably wouldn't be picked up well via camera (especially with my stock GT exhaust). It sounds deep but still stock-ish which fits my goals.

No worries. There's a video of BBKs paired with the GT stock exhaust of the main GT exhaust page. I imagine it won't sound any different than his video. But once a video is posted, I'll be sure to add it to the main post of that thread (assuming the creator doesn't mind). I already think the GT exhaust is just right.

LBJ lives near me, so I can't wait to hear it in person. I'm sure it'll make me want it bad. Today's the day my car is reinsured and I will be all smiles finally getting to drive it with the GT TB.

soldier989 said:

No worries. There's a video of BBKs paired with the GT stock exhaust of the main GT exhaust page. I imagine it won't sound any different than his video. But once a video is posted, I'll be sure to add it to the main post of that thread (assuming the creator doesn't mind). I already think the GT exhaust is just right.

LBJ lives near me, so I can't wait to hear it in person. I'm sure it'll make me want it bad. Today's the day my car is reinsured and I will be all smiles finally getting to drive it with the GT TB.

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Cool deal. The GT TB is going to surprise you in the driveability and tip-in areas, enjoy! :cheers:

whatdoyoufeedit? said:

I haven't forgot to do the sound clips but just have not rushed it. I haven't rushed since the sound change is very subtle and probably wouldn't be picked up well via camera (especially with my stock GT exhaust). It sounds deep but still stock-ish which fits my goals.

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You should upload so we can hear it. I want headers on mine I just don't know if I'd have to tune the car right away since it's Procharged. Just don't know wether to go with shorty a or long tubes.

mustangv6magn said:

You should upload so we can hear it. I want headers on mine I just don't know if I'd have to tune the car right away since it's Procharged. Just don't know wether to go with shorty a or long tubes.

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Will do eventually, just have to make time. There's a header/GT exhaust video around here somewhere as well (as mentioned earlier). You should always tune/datalog to make sure everything is safe (especially with boost in the equation). If losing the cats were not an issue, I still would recommend long tubes for more overall gains in hp/tq vs shorties. I think they would pair nicely with the blower. **If going longtubes, be sure to drill new o2 sensor bungs to keep similar to stock o2 locations so you will not have to use extenders or place them too far downstream, that's where many are having the "bog" or tuning issues with longtubes.

mustangv6magn said:

You should upload so we can hear it. I want headers on mine I just don't know if I'd have to tune the car right away since it's Procharged. Just don't know wether to go with shorty a or long tubes.

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www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52127

3rd and 4th video in the 1st post. Then everything whatdoyoufeedit said.

Anyone know where I can buy a new stock gasket? Grr