i am about to put on a set of longtube/full length headers on my 1995 5.0 4x4. i was just wondering who here has done this and if you have could you explain the way you found to be the easiest.

(pointers would really help) I was also wondering how long it took you and what the toruqe specs on the manifold/ header bolts are.

Also i am not very familiar with the o2 sensor situation. are they pre cat or after the cat? The headers i have do not have any o2 bungs, so would running no sensors mess with the A/F ratio at all that would make it undrivable? are there any o2 sims available that you guys know of?

any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks guys

 

First, are cats required where you live? Collectors are sold with bungs, or just buy one and weld it on, need the o2 sensor, How are your welding skills? Hopefully I will put longs on my truck, I am going to come off the headers, 2 1\4 pipe, make a transition y where the resonator is, both 2 1\4 in 3" out, single 3" cat, flowtech 3" terminator muffler, I am going to bring the pipe out in front of the rear wheel. I am going to do a custom welded system. I think Summit might have an exhaust for duals with headers, but remember Fords need to hug the pass side when doing a 4x4 exhaust.

 

ya i live in kansas, so no they do not check emissions or anything. inspection consists of checking the vin number to see if it is stolen or not... and nothing else.

we were hoping to tackle the job tomoro. when you say collectors are sold with bungs, do you mean from summit or something? or would someplace local have what we need?

i am pretty decent with welding. i get the job done but it doesnt always look pretty. still not sure if we will have access to the equipment or not. we could always go to a muffler shop and have em do it.

i would like to run open headers for a month or so until i get the rest of the system. i just need to get everything installed safely with the o2 so it doesnt cause damage. where would i be able to buy a bung? only online?

thanks for the response

 

they key to getting the manifolds off is getting the engine hot. take it out for a spirited drive then start it briefly every few bolts. as far as the bung goes, a local exhaust shop should be able to do it or im sure you could take the o2 to a hardware and find a pipe fitting or nut to weld into the collector. i rounded off a bolt on the passenger side so i had to take the fenderwell out to weld a nut to the damaged bolt. i cant help you out on the torque specs, i only use a torque wrench when absolutely necessary (i.e. internal engine work). header bolts are going to loosen. expect to tighten them regularly for a while unless you like leaky headers and replacing gaskets. if youre not planning to reuse any of the factory stuff, save yourself some trouble and cut it off instead of trying to unbolt it. angle grinder, sawsall, torches, whatever. instead of running open headers and getting a ticket, just send me the $100 youre going to pay in fines.