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Hate to steal this thread, but to you Nullbound have any idea what kind of horse power difference you get from switching from block huggers to long tube headers? I was thinking of doing the same thing, but if the difference is only 10 to 15 horse's then I can live with that. But if it's more then I would consider the expensense. What do you think Nullbound?

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I cant speak to specific numbers just for the headers, especially since I also upgraded cam, intake, carb, and exhaust at the same time as the header swap. I went one step up on the cam and went to an open intake, as well as switching to duals. The old exhaust went from the shorty headers to 2.5" pipes to a y-pipe to single 3" exhaust with a flowmaster muffler. The newer exhaust is the long tubes with dual 3" pipes and borla mufflers. It definitely feels more healthy at higher rpms than before. My seat-of-pants dyno guesstimates around a 25 hp increase for all changes.

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  • 1 month later...

FWIW:

 

Unless you are going for every last bit if horsepower, save yourself the headache and avoid the long tubes. I've regretted the long tubes since day one.

 

First off, you loose a lot ground clearance. Second off, the collector dumps straight into the floor board. This needs to be modified (i.e. HAMMER TIME!) for any type of exhaust to fit. Finally the headers cannot be removed with the engine in place. However, the engine cannot be removed with the headers bolted to the engine (unless you want to unbolt the steering rod). Yes, I have to pull the engine half way out before I can install / remove the header. It really is a major pain in the butt. The block huggers always slid in and out no problem with the engine in place.

 

If you are still interested, I've got a set of moderately rusty long tubes that I will give away. Seriously, if anybody want them, they are free for the taking (yes, I hate them that much). Pay for shipping or pick them up yourself.

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Whoa, Andy, back from the dead! You still have your Z? I thought you might have sold it since you have been hanging with the rich and famous in boatland. Nice to see you posting!!

 

I'll back up what Andy said about the long tubes--it has been discussed before and he's right as per the previous threads on the subject. If you are going for real drag race car and don't care too much about ground clearance, the long tubes are the way to go, otherwise the block huggers are sooo much easier to manage. Yeah, I know I know, they aren't real headers, but they do the job and are (here it is again) easy to manage.

 

Davy

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Rich and Famous…? I think you meant to say: broke and busted! I’ve spent the last two summers chasing down all sorts of gremlins with the new 502’s I dropped into that thing. Been a very long and painful road. Hopefully, everything is set to run this summer, dropping the second motor back in tomorrow morning.

 

I also went out and bought a 2004 Subaru WRX (not officially an STi, but might as well be). I’ve been having fun playing with that thing as well. However, the WRX is alarmingly getting as fast as the Z (both mid 12 second cars) so figured it was time to update the Z and make it a little friendlier to drive. I’ve abandoned the idea of an all out race car and replaced that idea with something I can actually enjoy driving to work.

 

Hence the reason I ditched the long tubes. Also, the side pipes I have planned won‘t work with the long tubes.

 

I also just bolted in the new valve body for the (700R4) automatic transmission last night. I’m going with a FULL manual reverse pattern valve body. Yeah, yeah, I now that totally contradicts what I just said about a daily driver and all, but I still want something at least a little bit original and different. This should be interesting. I also finally broke down and bought a new 10” torque converter. Would like to get a new radiator and (electric) water pump, but I need to finish the exhaust first.

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I have a set of Dynomax block hugger headers with the JTR conversion setup. I want to switch to a long tube header. Any suggestions on what type to use?

 

I have the hooker long tube Z conversion headers. They fit great and do not hang low. Don't see many recent conversions using these. I wonder if they are still available? I don't know how all that relates to motor mounts as mine are not the JTR type.

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