JBA Headers Installed !!!!!

[Todd Z]

Paul and George were kind enough to come over today and we got to installing the JBA headers on my 03.



First let me say these things are exactly like your typical set of headers. The fit stinks, the instructions suck, all the hard wear supplied is simply junk and not long enough, and the access to the bolts to tighten them is horrible.



The install time was 4 hours according to JBA. It took us about 7 hours with a brake for breakfast and lunch.



The tools required were not a lot, but some crows feet, special swivels and E- Torx sockets were needed.



I did get new head studs from ford and have a large assortment of bolts that made the job easier.



Access to the major stuff was easy on the driveway.



Overall I personally feel the work was not worth the Price of the headers, nor the install cost if you had to pay a shop to install them.



The EGR tube required some serious bending to clear the header pipes and all the brackets that were re located needed tweaking too....



I was mad about that, you will see in 1 pic the DPFE sensor is now a crooked mess rather then the nice straight sensor it was...



The tranny dipstick also hit the header pipe a lot so it had to be clamped out of the way, Again, something that could be an easy fix for JBA.



Some of the access problems could have been easily bent into the pipe either with a dimple or a simple bend change.



Just seems JBA ran these thing off the line with out doing some serious testing first.



The look nice and they did smooth out the exhaust in the truck. There was no major noticeable power increase in the truck at all.



SO IF your on the fence about headers, I would say spend the money on something else...



Here are some pics for you....Todd Z



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[D Potts]

I remember installing Long Tube JBA headers on my 06 mustang. What a PITA!!!!! Lift teh engine, lower the engine....big debate there.....then trying to get them situated was a pain too!



Glad you got them in and look forward to your AFTER review!

 

[Tom Schindler]

Looking at the cast iron design of the OE manifolds, the headers by looks alone do not warrant changing them out.



I am sure with a good port/polish on the OE manifold, you could get more power out of the OE manifold.





Tom

 

[Clay Campbell]

i agree with tom. the ive always thought the point of headers was to replace the restrictive stock headers with a larger or smoother flowing header. but in the comparison picture the OE doesnt look to be that restrictive compared to the JBA. Sucks that Todd had to be a guinea pig for these but now we know not to waste our money. they do look better though todd.

 

[Jon Richmiller]

Obviously the point of a header is to reduce back pressure, but the way it does this is not necessarily and increase in size. Headers reduce the back pressure by taking special attention that each pipe for each cylinder is the same length so that when they collect there is no back pressure. By sharing part of the exhaust manifold, which you can see the stock manifolds do, this creates more back pressure.

 

[Todd Z]

The port size on the manifolds and the headers were all 1.53 inches round...

SO they were the exact same...



The round exit where the manifold met the y-pipe, those openings were a lot larger.



The cast iron had a bottle neck there where the JBA's were open the full size of the pipe to fit in the y-pipe flair...



They did make the truck sound better and smoothed out the exhaust, there is no more of that unbalanced sound while driving or at WOT.....



If I can get to the dyno guy here I will run them since they are the only change I made since the last time, and the weather is almost the same...



Todd Z

 

[FlipTrac_511]

Thanks for sharing Todd. If you say it was hard work, shoot, I'll take your word for it.

 

[Johnny O]

Looking at the cast iron design of the OE manifolds, the headers by looks alone do not warrant changing them out.

I have read on the other Ranger and Explorer boards that by themselves the JBA's do not add anything, not that they're bad just that the stock manifolds flow pretty well. If you have other power adders, expecially a blower, then the JBA's come into play.

 

[keith wallace01ST]

That is unreal at least you got then in place...

 

[Woppy V]

 

[George C]

It was a long project and JBA could definitely have put more thought into their design. At least 4 of the tubes could have been routed slightly differently to make the install much easier. I don't think this is a project that someone would want to attempt on their own either. It wasn't the hardest thing we have done but it was very involved and a detailed process.



I think they look great and even if there is not a big difference at least this is the final piece to a fully new exhaust and they look cool!



George

 

[Matthew W]

Put these on my Trac several years ago and din't notice any real power gains ... they look nice, but don't think they are worth the money or PIA install. Headers did great on my '95 Z-28, but considering the performance possibilities & capabilities for that motor were alot more than the Tracs, those were worthwhile.

Johnny is right from what I was told by one of the Supercharger manufacturers (was considering one back then, but budget said "I don't think so" )

 

[Jon Richmiller]

Putting on these headers on a stock motor may actually drop the low end torque slightly.

 

[Bill Ellis]

Adding higher flow headers will not do much unless the flow characteristics of the heads, intake and camshaft all match. Also, ECU needs to be tuned when such changes are made. Have been doing a lot of reading about Ford 302 engine builds and it seems that it's a common theme. Unless you improve the item that establishes max airflow in the intake, camshaft, heads and exhaust systems; upgrading any of the other items won't have much of an effect. To radically change performance, one often has to do all four things. Ain't cheap either.



For example, the intake and heads on the 1999-2001 5.0L Explorer can support a more agressive camshaft and free flowing exhaust to bring it up to the 320-340 HP range. But, one also has to install higher flow injectors and tune the ECU for the higher fuel flow rates. To get above the 340 HP values, one must go to even more agressive camshaft and higher flow rate heads...but, then piston-to-valve clearance issues crop up so new pistons have to be installed.



I can build up a 340 HP 302 engine for about $3,000 starting with a used engine. Go above that HP rating and price goes up very quickly. ABout a $2,000 jump to go any higher.