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BBK vs JBA shorties

ChiTownStang26

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Heres a better video; warm start up!


That sounds really good man, like really good! What's the exact setup on there from your signature it looks custom fabed.
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bizkitlimped

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Pretty much. I basically did a bunch of research before hand and listened to a ton of sound clips. I just didnt like what i heard from the h-pipes. Next it seemed that no matter what axel-back was used, the car sounded like all the air was just deflating out of it when the rpms wound down to idle. So o started doing research on the differences between a muffler and a resonator and quickly learned that a resonator does more of what i want as far as tuning the exhausts sound to my liking. So i went with a generic prefabbed xpipe that you can pick up on ebay for like 30 bucks. Had that welded in. After driving around with that and the stock mufflers i figured out how the car was going to sound once i got rid of the mufflers in favor of the resonators.
The next thing i had to go through was picking out a resonator that didnt really kill the bank account. Because my goal was to make the car sound great for way less than what these companies were charging for their products. So i ended up at summit racing and read the reviews of the vibrant performance resonators and started looking up youtube clips to see how they performed on different makes and models to get an idea of how it would work in comparison to the mustang.

So i snagged two of the 12in resonators from summit for $100 and had them installed just after the xpipe. I wanted the sound to travle a bit before it reached the resonators. I figured thisnway it would cut down on a good majority of the rasp that was heard throughout the rpms.

I still may add one more set of resonators towards the tailpipes just to help clean up the sound a little bit more. I want to give this setup time to break in with the new headers before i gomakong drastic changes. I am also thinking about increasing the exhaust tubing size from 2.25 to 2.5 to see what kind of difference that would make.

But the setup is as follows
Ebay headers
Stock cats
Ebay xpipe
Vibrant performance resonators #1792
Muffler delete
4inch tips.

That's it. And like i said its all on stock 2.25 tubing.
 

ChiTownStang26

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Thanks for responding, I'm definitely going to try out those resonators, with them being a foot long where exactly behind the xpipe did you install them? Got a picture by any chance?
 
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bizkitlimped

bizkitlimped

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I do not have a picture, but leave yourself a about 6inches after the xpipe and install them there before they make the jump over the axles.
 

darksides550

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Yeah everything is in snug. I was looking at it and I think the cat may be vibrating and hitting the free somwhere. I'm a bit puzzled. Also the overall catback is hanging lower now lol so I have to manhandle it to a higher position. Overall first time doing header install I guess it could be worse.
 

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bro

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I got a set of the ebay headers coming in the mail and an install date later this week. I don't plan on using the included crush gaskets, but will I need to pick up a new set of OEM gaskets or is there a chance the existing ones can be re-used? Also, is the painting part required or are there any serious disadvantages to running them as they are? Mostly a DD, but not to say driven lightly-
TIA-
 

whatdoyoufeedit?

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I got a set of the ebay headers coming in the mail and an install date later this week. I don't plan on using the included crush gaskets, but will I need to pick up a new set of OEM gaskets or is there a chance the existing ones can be re-used? Also, is the painting part required or are there any serious disadvantages to running them as they are? Mostly a DD, but not to say driven lightly-
TIA-
It's just a matter of preference. The 304 stainless steel will last a long time (even without painting them) even after it loses its luster. Painting them with high temp paint does help extend their life some. My MLS gaskets were re-used and installed with copper RTV (although probably not necessary) and seal nicely.
 
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Stam616

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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!!
So did you install the entire exhaust including the Cats from the GT? Does it sound like a stock exhaust or is the sound noticeable but not too intrusive inside the cabin.?
 

2015V6Fla

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So did you install the entire exhaust including the Cats from the GT? Does it sound like a stock exhaust or is the sound noticeable but not too intrusive inside the cabin.?
Cat-back...
I'm still running my factory V6 cats.

The change in sound was noticeable - in a nice way. It was a little deeper and sounded a bit smoother. The new sound was not intrusive at all, but was just a deeper sounding stock sound. If you can find a stock GT system cheap (or free, like I did), get it. You'll get the bigger piping and can always change out the mufflers later if you want a different sound.
 

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ctandc72

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Looks like these will be on deck for me to try on my '17. I'll likely wrap them in black headers wrap. Reducing under hood temps is never a bad thing.
 

ctandc72

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Well I installed the knock off headers yesterday - after having a local place ceramic coat them. I'm less than $300 and they are coated well enough that I could grab the headers after a drive and they weren't burning hot.

Did run into a few snags, thought I'd post this here to help anyone out who is thinking of or has bought these headers.

- One of the collector bolt holes on my headers was not threaded. I should have caught this when I first checked them out and before I had them coated, but it wasn't a big deal to break out the 10x1.5 tap and get it done.

- The studs included with my headers were too short to work - and my downpipes are stock. No big deal, they are the same thread pitch as the factory exhaust manifold studs. I simply removed the studs from the factory exhaust manifolds and installed them on the headers

NOTE: The easy way to get the studs out is to but a box end 15mm wrench over the stud (still installed in the factory manifold out of the car) then thread on one of the OEM exhaust nuts upside down (the flat side facing UP) enough so you can thread another nut the normal way). You want the two flat parts of each nut mating up. Then use the box end you slid on before you put the nuts on and a 15mm socket to tighten the two nuts TIGHT to each other. Then use the 15mm wrench and loosen the bottom nut against the top nut. A couple of whacks with a dead blow will normally loosen the stud, then use the wrench to screw the stud out.

Leave the 2 nuts installed on the stud, thread it into the header and use the top nut with a ratchet to install / tighten the stud. Then use two 15mm wrenches to loosen the two nuts from each other and remove them from the stud. Rinse / repeat for all 4 studs. Sounds harder than it sounds.

- The 'dreaded' rear lower bolt on the passenger header. -

I'd constantly read how big of a pain this was, so I started with the passenger header. I got the car on stands, removed all 4 nuts from the collector connection, then dropped the car back down so I could get the majority of the factory manifold nuts from the top of the engine bay.

Tip - remove the 10mm bolt that holds the metal coolant line up against the engine. This will give you enough room to get many of the bolts with a socket / ratchet and allow a 1/2" gear wrench to get the rest.

INSTALLING the passenger header:

It didn't take 5 minutes underneath the car to realize that it would be easiest to drop the starter. Disconnected battery, removed the 2 13mm bolts holding the starter in and let it hang (the car wasn't high enough to keep the starter off the ground so no wires were stretched or pulled).

After this header installed from bottom super easy. Went back to top, hung it on the studs, loosely installed all the nuts up top, climbed back under and installed the bottom 3 nuts. With the pipes dropped down, ALL 3 bottom nuts are easy to get with a stubby 1/2" gear wrench and / or a full size 1/2" gear wrench.

INSTALLING the driver's header:

After tapping the unthreaded collector hole, I was shocked how easy the driver's header went in - from the top. I did run into a snag. Since you have to tighten the PASSENGER header rear / lower nut with the exhaust still hanging, I'm guessing tightening that side up put the exhaust in a bit of bind.

I could not get the driver's exhaust to line up on the header. Ended up removing the clamp on the pipe where it connects to my MBRP catback and removing the pipe out of the h-pipe. Then I loosely installed all the header nuts, LOOSELY installed the exhaust pipe onto the header collector, then slid the pipe back into the clamp to the h-pipe, then tightened everything up.

If I had to do it again, I'm betting I could have 'em done in a couple of hours tops.

They did seem to deepen the sound of my V6, even with the MBRP catback already installed. Tip in / initial acceleration seems a bit peppier too.

All in all, worth the time / money etc.

Just my 2 cents.
 

Rocketboy

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Has anyone replaced the Bolts for the Headers to the downpipe? I bought a set of BBK Ceramic coated. And it does not looks like they are on the materials list. Also has anyone tried the Felpro Exhaust manifold gaskets? Or Should I just stick with Ford OEM?

Would like to order the parts before the headers arrive.
Thanks
 

ctandc72

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Has anyone replaced the Bolts for the Headers to the downpipe? I bought a set of BBK Ceramic coated. And it does not looks like they are on the materials list. Also has anyone tried the Felpro Exhaust manifold gaskets? Or Should I just stick with Ford OEM?

Would like to order the parts before the headers arrive.
Thanks
That's the studs / nuts I was referring to. I'm assuming the BBK headers come with studs / nuts for the connection. If not you'll need to either remove the OEM studs or buy new ones - 10mmx1.5 not sure on length - I'd say 60mm maybe?
 

Rocketboy

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Debating on purchasing some heat wrap for the headers. I got the ceramic coated BBK on order. But, will be doing some autocross this upcoming year and want to keep the temps low. Anyone else do this? If so how much did you use.
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