texas speed header fitment and install
texas speed header fitment and install I got some Texas speed headers but haven't put them on my car yet. If anyone has them installed how's the fitment let's say compared to kooks? And ground clearance? Any problems installing or do they slide right in?
The passenger side will go in so easy your going to think something is wrong! But... the driver side will pay you back as you have to disconnect the engine mount to get that header in. I pulled my steering knuckle to have extra room and as extra safety to not nick the nice finish. The install is slightly harder because of the engine mount but if your going to put in polys at the time then its the same install as all other headers.
Staging Lane
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: El Paso, TX
What he said, removing the driver side motor mount is a must. That's about the hardest thing you have to do. once they are in they seem to fit nicely. Not touching anything that could cause problems. I went from stock to these and havent had an issue with ground clearance from the headers. The y-pipe on the other hand will scrape on speedbumps and driveways. However, I think it's actually just my flanges and clamps that are scraping not the actual y-pipe. So far I'm very happy with the headers though, no issues. Just gotta tweak the y-pipe setup for better clearance.
As far as a SLP install after the engine mount (Driver side) its going to be the same they just slide right in from the bottem. I highly recommend at least replacing the motor mounts while your doing TSP headers just because your already in the area. No need to go Poly or Solid, simply replacing with OEM will be better than leaving 10-14 year old rubber mounts in place. Clearance is way better than old style SLPs by far.
The TSP true duals are going to go on pretty easy. You may have to drill mounting holes behind your rear seat pans for the muffler brackets. If you don't want to break out a drill just do a search there are some pretty creative ways of mounting the rear mufflers.
The TSP true duals are going to go on pretty easy. You may have to drill mounting holes behind your rear seat pans for the muffler brackets. If you don't want to break out a drill just do a search there are some pretty creative ways of mounting the rear mufflers.
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I didn't have to loosen anything to install the driver side tsp header. I just had to remove the oil filter and oil drain plug. You do have to have the car a least 2 feet or so off the ground though.
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I'm gonna have the car on a lift so it should be a pretty easy install by the sound of it. I always heard slps pretty much had the worst ground clearance so I'm happy to hear that's gonna be a lot better bc I had to be extremely careful everywhere I went with slps. I'll have a lot of help so I'm sure the true duals will hopefully give us no problems either.
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With the car up high enough on jackstands, some of our customers are able to slide the driver side header in by just pulling the filter, removing the steering link, and also taking out the oil drain plug. We even hear of a few removing the oil bypass block (sits directly above the filter on the pan with two 10mm bolts)to give a little extra room.
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Only thing I wasnt aware of was that some metal removal is needed for a th350 install but thats nothing with tsp's design and im sure most others are the same. There really isnt a ton of space in there to begin with especially for 1 7/8 tubes. Once the ear of the trans that sticks out passed the block on the passenger side was cut off it went right in, I still havent installed the drivers side but I can see ill need to trim the trans and remove the oil filter.
Drive side sucks you need to jack it out of the motor mount to get it in.... There is no way your taking the oil filter or housing end off and going in....I rather spend the money next time and go with a set of KOOKS
Staging Lane
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From: El Paso, TX
Disagree. Your talking a $500 difference for an hour of work, if that. Either way, changing mounts while doing headers was a good thing for me. I got prothanes and you can feel the difference, bigtime. To reiterate, for TSP 1 7/8 headers what I think must be done is: remove oil filter, remove starter, remove driver side motor mount. Should you do those things and have the car jacked up enough, you won't have do do anything else. I have even heard of people doing less then that to get them in, mostly people with lifts. But hey, to each their own, some people like to save money and do some work, some people like to spend money.
I'll keep that extra $400-500 in my pocket EVERY TIME, and spend the extra few minutes to remove the mount.
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Disagree. Your talking a $500 difference for an hour of work, if that. Either way, changing mounts while doing headers was a good thing for me. I got prothanes and you can feel the difference, bigtime. To reiterate, for TSP 1 7/8 headers what I think must be done is: remove oil filter, remove starter, remove driver side motor mount. Should you do those things and have the car jacked up enough, you won't have do do anything else. I have even heard of people doing less then that to get them in, mostly people with lifts. But hey, to each their own, some people like to save money and do some work, some people like to spend money.
I'm debating whether to switch mine out.
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If I could get lucky enough to remove and re-install that mount once an hour, 8 times a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year I'd be making $447K a year before taxes without breaking a sweat. Sign me up
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Alright, assuming you find someone who will violate Kooks' MAP pricing and sell them to you for $750, and we charge $35 for the shipping. I'll still keep the extra $215 in my pocket for less than an hour of work to remove and re-install that mount.
If I could get lucky enough to remove and re-install that mount once an hour, 8 times a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year I'd be making $447K a year before taxes without breaking a sweat. Sign me up
If I could get lucky enough to remove and re-install that mount once an hour, 8 times a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year I'd be making $447K a year before taxes without breaking a sweat. Sign me up
Staging Lane
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: El Paso, TX
@transws6am - yeah i just looked on kooks website and saw they were about $1k. I'm sure you can find deals, just like I'm sure you might end up seeing TSP Used Stainless Headers in the future on sale for like $300. IMO consider labor at $60-90 an hour, save $200-500 for an hours worth of work and your technically making money. And even then, it's not like kooks always go in without undoing the motormount. Just like some people can get the TSP header in without any real work, some people can't get the kooks in without removing the mount. Also most widebands will say to install at least 6 inches after the collector, so having the wideband in the collector is a no no.
@guitar - WAY better. I got the prothanes for a steal at summit. $80 for motor and trans mounts. My car did alot of sitting though. It only has 36k miles on it and it's a 98. Before I got it it sat in a bankrupt tire companies lot for many years. Then when I got it, I got deployed and all together spent over 2 years in iraq. So all that sitting without the rubber moving around made it rot. I had HUGE wiggle under power. Like the shifter would move easily 3 inches left and right when under power. After the prothane mounts... omigod huge difference. the shifter doesn't wiggle at all anymore, the tires squeal a little more because none of my power is being lost to the mounts. The only drawback is you can feel the motor's vibration, but it's only noticeable right after you put them in because you won't be use to it. I don't even notice anymore after about a week of driving with the new mounts.
@guitar - WAY better. I got the prothanes for a steal at summit. $80 for motor and trans mounts. My car did alot of sitting though. It only has 36k miles on it and it's a 98. Before I got it it sat in a bankrupt tire companies lot for many years. Then when I got it, I got deployed and all together spent over 2 years in iraq. So all that sitting without the rubber moving around made it rot. I had HUGE wiggle under power. Like the shifter would move easily 3 inches left and right when under power. After the prothane mounts... omigod huge difference. the shifter doesn't wiggle at all anymore, the tires squeal a little more because none of my power is being lost to the mounts. The only drawback is you can feel the motor's vibration, but it's only noticeable right after you put them in because you won't be use to it. I don't even notice anymore after about a week of driving with the new mounts.
Last edited by Grim Crow; Oct 4, 2011 at 04:49 PM.
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Staging Lane
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From: El Paso, TX
I know, i was putting a monetary value on your time and labor. Basically just to answer the question: Is it worth paying for more expensive headers versus doing a little extra work yourself? If you actually count time as money, then you can see that it is worth doing the extra work. For someone who doesn't have some extra time, or their time is worth alot more due to other commitments then it might be worth it to pay for the more expensive product rather then spending some DIY time.
On a side note:
TSP 1 7/8 headers w/ TSP y-pipe, locking bolts, gaskets, shipped= $655 (from TSP)
Kooks 1 7/8 headers w/ Kooks y-pipe, bolts, gaskets, shipped= $1171 (from maryland speed)
$515 difference.
$180 y-pipe difference, so without y-pipes your looking at $336 difference
On a side note:
TSP 1 7/8 headers w/ TSP y-pipe, locking bolts, gaskets, shipped= $655 (from TSP)
Kooks 1 7/8 headers w/ Kooks y-pipe, bolts, gaskets, shipped= $1171 (from maryland speed)
$515 difference.
$180 y-pipe difference, so without y-pipes your looking at $336 difference
Last edited by Grim Crow; Oct 4, 2011 at 06:48 PM.