FRPP Header Questions

[uber-charged]

Hey guys I just bought some FRPP headers off of ebay, and i was wondering what modification i need to do to install them on my 85?

I heard that on the 86-93 they are a perfect fit, but on 85 and below there is some minor modification that needs to be done. Do you know what the modification is? Moving the dipstick? removing the smog? anything? let me know

[fordguy]

i'm sure i'll be corrected if i'm wrong but i believe if you have the factory exhaust on the 85 you have to remove the heat riser

[uber-charged]

heat riser?

[Ltngdrvr]

You will need a H or X pipe for a 86-93 car to make them work.

[83notcho]

You will also need a double-hump crossmember.

[uber-charged]

oh i already have an aftermarket exhaust, what else do i need to make the headers fit?

[ElaborateDream]

I had to cut my fuel lines from the carb to the fuel pump. They came up below the brake master cylinder.

Thankfully, the low-pressure side of a carb fuel system can be done via fuel hose.

On the downside, I cut rust-free original fox body hard lines. :\ (and picked up 10% power gains )

[grtskydog]

If you already have an a/m 86-93 h-pipe and duals, it should bolt right up.

[84GT Ragtop]

heat riser?

IF you're in a smog-nazi state like I am they'll fail you if you're headers don't have the heat risers (also known as the little welded-on metal portions on the headers that the tubing between the risers and bottom of the snorkels on the air cleaner fits between). If I didn't have either the heat risers or the cool silver looking tubing (seen below on the right side under the driver's side snorkel) I'd fail the visual in Clownifornia in a heartbeat. If you're changing over to headers in smog states you might need to find a way to put risers on the headers you're going to use. JBA makes a special header with risers that is CARB exempt and is supposed to improve HP by quite a bit over stock -- that's how I'd go if I had mucho dinero. Unfortunately I'm poor white trash and would have to go with 85 headers (slightly better than my stock 84 manifolds) or a retrofit of some other header and my old risers welded on.

[gt88]

guys, you can find little strap on heat riser pipes, or make some out of some pipe and a couple hose clamps- it doesn't need to be pretty, it's just gotta work long enough for the smog monkey to see it's on the car and functional!

All the older cars at some point or another need to go this same route, so it's far from unheard of- just like the flexible/expanding riser pipe- it's only obvious that the stuff has an expected life span measured in days, but it still qualifies as correct to a smog monkey!

Most of the old ( other than mustang ) cars only had bolt on, sheetmetal risers anyways-

Here's a question- do any of you guys know if the original headers are even available from ford anymore? That's another angle- since you can't find 'factory replacement' heat risers, functional facsimiles suffice.

[uber-charged]

ok sweet, thats nice to know especially because i am moving to california haha. Ill just have to make a heat rise then =)

[grtskydog]

The term "heat riser" has a kind of dual meaning in car-talk. If you type in 'heat riser' on an auto parts site, you'll see the little vacuum-actuated valve that bolts between the header and h-pipe on the carbed cars. When the engine is cold, this valve closes and causes the exhaust to flow back through the intake crossover to the opposite side (that doesn't have the heat-riser). This helps the manifold air-charge warm up faster for a daily driver.

The snorkel heat-tubes serve another purpose. When cold, the little vacuum pots on top of the snorkels pull the diverter doors closed inside the snorkels and direct warm (and more important, dry) air into the carb. This is to prevent icing on the venturis/throttles on cold and moist days unitl the carb warms up. Then when the car warms up, the vacuum switches on the back of the manifold change and shut off the vacuum to the snorkels to allow fresh air into the carb. It also opens the heat-riser to allow exhaust to flow as normal.

Hope that helps.

[AGENT ORANGE]

You will need to bend your dipstick tube out slightly. Some recommend taking the dipstick and tube out before installing the headers. Bend with caution, it breaks real easy.

[ElaborateDream]

On the plus side, you can still get the FRPP dipstick, which works very nicely with header systems, as it doesn't have the bolt up away from the block.

My 83 GT had the dipstick upper mount that attached to one of the studs on the thick side of the exhaust manifold.

[uber-charged]

ok ill be careful =)