If you really want to add some go to your hotrod you need to do your exhaust and let your car breath. To do this there is only one way to go. LONG TUBE HEADERS! This is a project that you will feel!
Keeping in the 'budget' theme of this Mustang I was on the hunt for some headers but I didn't want to spend to much on them. It seems that you can spend a small amount of money or a lot on exhaust and I think that it could be argued that you don't need to spend big bucks to get big results. Anyway a friend of mine had some headman headers that were ceramic coated but used. They were taking up space in his garage so for $50 and they were mine.
I painted them and ended up buying the Summit 2.25" exhaust kit for my car. Another $135 at the time. I splurged a little and bought two of the band clamps so I could drop the exhaust when I wanted to as well for another $30. So I am sitting at $215 for my exhaust.
There is some discussion about the size of exhaust that is needed. I went with the 2.25" kit to save a few bucks but I also don't think that a build like mine will really need much more. I might get a 2.5" kit a little later in life but any bigger would not be worth the money.
I jacked up the back end of the car as high as I safely could and removed the old 2" exhaust with rattle can glass packs. It was time for the old exhaust to go. Once I had the old exhaust off the car I was able to carefully slide each header up from under the car and put them into place. I found that using a towel up against the engine bay helped to reduce scratching but it didn't stop all of them. This is a job that you could use a extra pair of hands to help out.
Once the headers were in place I tried to install the exhaust kit and it turned out that the kit was for headers that came straight back off the motor. My headers turned in a little. I was really not sure how I should get around this bump in my project. I did just buy a new welder but I had not really done any welding before. So I figured this was as good a time as any and fired up the welder. I use a coat hanger to get the shape I wanted and started cutting and welding the exhaust kit together.
In a few hours I had the exhaust cut, welded, and in place. I was pretty happy. Then I fired her up and enjoyed the nice rumble. Not the sound I want to have but for now it will do just fine. The summit mufflers are quieter than I wanted. All in all a great project for the money.
The First Drive
There is a road that is near my home that is pretty isolated. Once I had my exhaust on the car and I was sure that it cleared everything and there were no problems I took my car for a short drive. Pulled on to the road and came to a stop. Looked around for traffic to be sure I was clear for launch. Punched the gas to the floor and WOW is all I can say. You had to be there but I was all smiles! The car can smoke the tires at will and is a LOT faster.
I can say I am not happy with the sound and I would really like to get a crossover pipe and maybe even some cut outs. Both can be done realitively cheap so they might come along in the future.