Hey Guys
Last December I had one of the prototype sets of BBK shorty headers installed on my car. These headers have 1 3/4 in. primaries compared to the other shorties’ 1 5/8 in. and seem to be a better solution for anyone looking to get the most power while staying emissions legal. These headers should overpower the other shorties when more mods are added such as a cam or stage 1 headers. The fit and finish looks great on these as well as the ceramic coating. The headers added a deeper rumble to the exhaust note and made the exhaust noticeably louder under WOT. And for those who say shorties add little to no gains, they are wrong.

I have dynoed before and after the headers, and have just finished testing them out at the track after installation. My only other mod is a Direct Flow lid. On the dyno, the car picked up 10rwhp and 10rwtq everywhere. It vertically shifted my old power curves up 10 and added had the strongest gains from about 4000-5000 rpm. The car is running rich and I feel there is more horsepower to be gained from tuning. Also, the car feels a little stronger now so it may have learned a bit after finally getting over 500 miles on them. I would expect though with more mods, more power will be gained from these.

The track is where these headers really shined for me. I picked up almost 2 tenths in the ¼ mile as well as 1 mph with near matching 60fts. The track results were at the same track and with similar conditions.

I plan to get a new y-pipe for the car and see if I can get close to equaling the gains of long tubes with shorties. I think it can be done on a bolt on only car and will have dyno and track results to either support it or refute it. I do understand that long tubes will be superior with H/C, but with just boltons it will be close.

Overall, I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking to stay emissions legal or keep the exhaust volume down. My car is a 1998 T/A so the gains on a ‘01+ car may not be as good as they seem to have higher flowing manifolds from the factory. I spoke with the head of R&D at BBK and he said these should be available within the next few months. Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to spread the word of my success with these new BBK shorties.

 

Sounds like a nice set of headers. Had they been on the market last year, I may have considered them over my mids. Not too many places in the country require CARB numbers to pass emissions though, so relocating the cats is really only an issue for you cali guys. I think that's another reason the shorties never really caught on. Just about anywhere else in the counrty you can pass with any headers as long as you've got cats somewhere.

But, for cali, this offers a nice soloution. I always wondered why nobody was releasing any 1.75" shorites for these cars. Nice to see that they are now.

Will BBK be making headers for all the years. Like a '98/'99 set, '00 set, and '01/'02 set? Or will you have to buy the conversion hardware for other years past '98/'99?

Got any pics of the headers? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

 

Yeah I understand why most people have no need for them but I am unlucky, I have to worry about emissions. However, Californians are lucky in that we can race year round hear and its usually warm all the time.

My understanding was that they were making 3 differnet versions as the first test car was an 01 and mine was used to test the emissions hook ups for 98-99s. I can get some pictures on the car but you wont be able to see too much over any other hearders. The tubes look a lot bigger than the JBAs. For a close approx. pic imagine these with round openings and they are identical. Seen here.

<small>[ March 13, 2003, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Trojan T/A ]</small>

 

click here to view applications http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...46&prmenbr=361
I had been looking into these headers untill I started hearing that there was lil or now power gains off shorty headers so I started looking into hooker's longtube's my car is a bolt on so I guess I will keep looking at wut other fellows have to say before I make my decision between L.T. or shorties...
Spokane Wa
13.15 @ 108.6 60ft 1.91
Edingburg Tx
after transgo reprogramming kit
13.20 @ 108.0 60ft 1.85

 

The pics on the link from BlueSS are mislabled and are the C5 headers. The Fbody ones look very similar to the F-150 shorties.

 

Can I ask the price?

 

$399.99 nickel chrome $499.99 ceramic coated... <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" />

 

So they look more like these ? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

<small>[ March 13, 2003, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: BeeMo ]</small>

 

Do these really have a CARB EO #? I didn't
see any mention of it; I know JBAs do but
just because it's a shorty, doesn't make
it legal in the merry old land of Oz.

They do look nice though. Still wondering
how just porting the stock '02 exhaust
manifolds would stack up to those 10HP gains,
given the lousy port matching but relatively
nice plumbing otherwise, there.

 

The headers will have a CARB E.O. number when they are released.

 

Trojan I was told by Jegs in January that they would be out by the end of the month. I have not contacted them since cuz I have been undecided about what kind of headers i'm going to buy... What do you know about this??? Are they or or aren't they out yet???

<small>[ March 13, 2003, 10:53 PM: Message edited by: BlueSS ]</small>

 

I spoke with Ken Murphy, the K in BBK and he said that the settings for the machines for final production will be finished in within the next 6 weeks and then they have to get them CARB certified. So he said probably in about 2 months they should be available.

 

just enough time to decide... thanx... <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" />

 

Hi....Thanks for the information on the BBK headers! I wondered why my order from Jegs was backordered for the last 2 months. I'd like to see some dyno runs from somebody to prove they will make gains. I have a '99 car, and I don't want the hassle of long or mid-tube headers...Keep us updated!

<small>[ March 14, 2003, 04:09 AM: Message edited by: 99Andrew ]</small>

 

TTT <img border="0" alt="[driving]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_driving3.gif" />