My first set of Ultimate Headers had some clearance issues with the steering linkage and the passenger side floorboard. I took detailed pics and measurements of the problem areas and they built me another set which fit perfectly.
What's the difference between stainless powers and stainless works? Stainless works is recommended for my mbrp exhaust and that's what I was looking at. More research to do, but that's what I love about this site and the platform being out for a few years. Tons of info on here and it's all be done before.
It’s my understanding that it’s the same company, same design, but the Stainless Powers are produced over seas and the Stainless Works are made in the US to a higher quality. They should fit the same, with the difference being the quality of material and welds.
yea, so this was spot on. not quite finished, have to get it done later today after work. my friend has zero experience, and this is the first decent sized job for me on an S550. should have had him take it to a shop lol. that passenger side is a pain. took awhile to find and get to the final motor mount bolt, and those header nuts on the studs are very hard to get to. i see what you mean about getting 1 or 2 clicks. to add insult, my friend put two nuts on the header studs that did not belong. easy enough mistake, ive done that kind of thing myself. but one on drivers side, one on passenger. and then with the header snugged up to the head, there was no longer room to get the nut off without removing ALL the other bolts to move the header away from the head a bit. so i was thrilled at that.
Sounds like you guys are about finished with the install. FWIW, I had my battery tray out of the car during my install, but it wasn’t necessary, as I didn’t even try and access any of the studs (during removal) or bolts during installation. I think leaving any of the factory studs in place creates more difficulty. I didn’t retain any of them and used all supplied new bolts during my installation.
i think removing the battery tray would have helped, we could have used a little more space while lifting the engine, but you're correct, it wasnt necessary. he purchased the headers used from facebook marketplace and did not have new hardware, so we reused his. one thing that did work in our favor was that his car is a 2021 with about 5k miles-he bought it in may of this year. everything was very clean. i did exhaust on my SN when it was already 9 or 10 years old and already had 100k on it, and much of the exhaust hardware was corroded, rusted, broken studs, etc. much bigger pain from that aspect.
i got out the compressor and air tools but ended up not using them, i felt like i was spending more time wrestling around with how to get at stuff than i would just doing it by hand. but more power to ya! and i hear you with going back in to return to stock.
oh, i know. this isnt my first rodeo, im sh1t deep in an engine build on another mustang, ha. what i thought was just a head gasket turned into a bent rod, which took out my stock block. now im building a DART block with a vortech ha! im not not as familiar with this platform, but all that takes is time and work.
when you first started the car after installing the headers, did you have any rough start up or rough idling at all for the first minute or two? or was it a fairly normal/drama free start?
gotcha. well i guess we'll find out later today (hopefully!!)