jangy

After lots of thought and research, I'm going ahead with having a pipe shop fab me a set of long tube headers. A fellow member is recommending a shop in the area and so I want to go speak to the owner and see if that is the way to go. If not, I will find someone who can do it so this is a go no matter.

The help I need is the specifications that I should get. My goal is to keep the price at around $2k installed, but i expect top notch work and materials. I just do not see a reason to pay closer to $10K or even $5k for an exhaust.

Please post up thoughts, like materials, diameters, coatings, etc. Also, what can I do to help others? Will pictures help? Or measurements, etc. I will be paying the shop for the job, so it is not a product development, per say...

allied107

Are you looking to build a complete exhaust headers, cats, and h or x pipe and mufflers? Or are you doing headers only?

jangy

I have an X-pipe and want to keep the E55 mufflers. all else goes. the intention was to have it bolt up to the rear portion, so that I could go back to stock without welding but welding isn't really an issue.

I want the car to sound as stock as possible, but want those extra 10 - 20hp from shorties....

allied107

Okay I see now I have the Evosport headers on my car now and I wanna open it up a little but not to much so I am looking at options I was gonna get a set of Eisenmann race mufflers and take out he resenators and do a x-pipe but its so freaking expensive for just mufflers. Us benz people are getting screwed from these companys for mufflers, headers and parts. Anyway I will look out in this thread cause I do plan on doing something to my exhaust just have not decieded yet I am sure if someone where to come up with a complete package with quality and performance and options they can really capital on some good money.

MHP

Jangy you're going to spend more than $2k on a custom set of stainless longtubes, forget about including install fees. Our C63 full exhaust (304T stainless, longtubes, 3" back with X pipe, resonators, mufflers, tips) will sell for $5995 shipped.
You could do mild steel for $2k but you still have to pay for setup costs for the initial set.

jangy

Yeah, i have the VRP shorties, the secondary cats cut out and the resonator replaced with an X-pipe. It fine to start with but I want that extra and no way am I paying for mufflers when I like mine. If I wanted sound, I would have them gutted but dunno if there are real gains there. I want the long tubes for the extra HP and breathing so I can get the intake openned up more...

allied107

I wonder if PersianGodFather would know if he had any gains when he gutted his mufflers. I understand now why you need the long tube heads but good luck cause its not gonna be cheap I think Super Sprint makes a set but haha its like almost the price of a partially used 55. Like I said if someone where to produce some at a resonable price I think alot of people would buy them. Also when you gut the mufflers it seems alot louder.

jangy

$2K MAX for long tube headers. I don't care what SS charges any more than I cared what VRP charged for their 80mmTB just a year ago....

Yeah, I do not want gutted mufflers because of the sound. The gains would have to be REAL.

Benz-O-Rama

I call DIBS on the shorties when they come out.

jangy

They are for sale, but I dunno if they fit your car. Apparently all V8s are similar but with differing drop angles. Check with Vadim and see if they will fit. If so, I'll hook you up.

Benz-O-Rama

I'm like 90% sure they're the same. PM me bro! I'll find out for sure.

MJ50

why not VRP long tube headers??

MHP

You're obviously the expert, why even bother asking anyone if you already know the answers?

Best of luck with your project.

edit: You do know that you can't even get a set of quality custom stainless longtubes made for a Mustang for under $2500. .Also that if you're looking for huge gains from an exhaust in a PD blower app, well, you're looking in the wrong place.

Benz-O-Rama

Hey Andy,

Am I right about E55k shorty headers directly bolting on my E500?

MHP

They will bolt up. Fitment of what's aft of the collectors may be off a touch. I wouldn't waste your time with shortys though, gains aren't worth the effort of install--yes I know they're not hard to put on.
If you're going to take the time to do headers go LTs unless you live in CA or a state/region with similarly retarded emissions laws.

E55Pilot

You are out of your mind, that ain't gonna happen. Done right you're going to have WELL north of $2K in materials and fab time.

I wouldn't even build a set of headers until I flowed a cylinder head

E55Pilot

My fab guy won't touch that job for anything less than $3500.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Let him spin his wheels on this one for a while...

URnext

Good Luck with the LT project Jangy I am no expert in this, but I will say that 2k for this project sounds really low.

Thericker

+1 I had Kook's Longtubes on my C6 Vette, if memory serves they were $2200-$2400 w/OUT INSTALL, install will run an extra $500-$700 EZ...

Seriously who quoted you this ridic pricing 1 off custom Longtubes inc install @ $2k

bobgodd

I had my headers built by the same shop in stainless steel for slightly north of $2k... and yes that includes design/fab/install. I did not however, get long tubes built as I wanted to stay relatively "legal" emissions wise; my collectors mate right up to the primary cats. Jangy should be able to get long tubes built in mild steel for north of $2k but not well below what other tuners and super sprint is charging for their products.



On a side note: E55Pilot you are correct, flowing the heads would be the best way to build the "perfect" header for our application, but the labor involved is probably not worth it on a street car. Oh and if your fab guy won't do a job for less than $3.5k, you may need to find a new fab guy lol.

E55Pilot

If your going to try to go on your own and build something better that is out there Flowing the heads is the place to start. Not guessing what works. You can't figure out ANY of the variables without knowing what the head flows.

As for my fab guy not touching the job for less than $3.5K? Well it's just not worth his time trying to reinvent the wheel. That was my point

chiromikey

i agree, for optimum performance you need to remove all the variables. however, we're not running a race team and for our applications a good fabricator can take a lot of the guesswork out based on his experience and still build a MUCH better set of headers than supersprint (who for a while built the only l/t's to fit our cars) for a LOT less.

bobgodd

That was the point I was trying to get at: I agree that there is more science to building headers than just enlarging primary diameter and length, yet it may not be worth it on a car that for all intents and purposes has a performance ceiling. If we were building race engines however, yes, flowing the heads is exactly what you would wanna do. I thought I said that, my bad.

chiromikey

you did say it...i'm just +1'ing your point. i also agree with you that building a set of l/t's in mild steel can be done for a price not too much over the $2k mark...i should know cause i've had it done.

bobgodd

Oops, that part was more in reply to E55Pilot.