Long tubes installed!

[Slick6]

Hello all! Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile; life gets in the way sometimes. Anyway, I just installed a pair of Billy Boat long tubes on my '05 over the weekend. The headers are 1st quality and were fairly easy to install. I already had a B&B resonated x-pipe, so it made my job simpler by just having to swap the manifolds out. These headers, even though they are pooh-poohed because of a short collector, actually have a merge spike like the more popular headers. I was surprised by this because none of the pictures that I saw of them showed a spike. So, my exhaust now consists of the B&B headers, x-pipe and the Corsa Sport axle-backs. NO DRONE!!! The car is authoritative on start up, quiet while cruising and downright nasty when gettin' on the gas. I also installed an Air Raid CAI a couple of weeks ago. That's about all of the mods I intend to do, except for having her tuned in a couple of weeks. The young man who tuned my blown '08 Mustang GT for me will be doing the honors. I'll let you all know how that turns out. I'm not looking at numbers, but just to have a safe A/F ratio and some tweaks to take advantage of the mods. If anyone has questions about the install process, please speak up and I'll be happy to share my experiences with this mod. Don't ask about gains or anything yet; not until I get her tuned. I haven't romped yet in case I'm running lean at WOT. Overall, I'm very pleased with these headers.

 

[6 Shooter]

Kool

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[Slick6]

Okay, for those of you who must look instead of read, here are a few pics of the headers on the car. I didn't take any underneath...yet. Next time I'm under the car I'll get a couple of shots from that angle.

 

[Slick6]

While I'm posting pictures, I thought I'd put up a couple of my Paxton-supercharged 2008 Mustang GT. She was a beast; 502 HP and 448 ft. lbs. at the wheels on the dyno. Stock bottom end and internals except for a set of cams. I miss her sometimes...a lot.

 

[6 Shooter]

Thx

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[Slick6]

I recently had the car tuned by the fellow who tuned my Mustang, and I am extremely pleased with the power gained from some minor bolt-ons. At a 40 MPH roll, when I kick her hard the Traction Assist system comes on almost immediately. Never did that with the factory tune. I'm sure that the rear end would break loose if I turn off everything with the console button. My point is that the power increase is substantial. I only had Eric tweak the ECU; I left the TCU alone so that torque management would be available, and I also don't like an automatic that bangs through the gears. Anyway, if anyone is looking to mod their car and needs a tuner who knows his stuff, then please check out Eric Brooks (Brooksspeed dot com). This young man is a wizard at what he does, and I trust him implicitly with my vehicles. He extracts power safely. Sorry for the shameful plug, but there are a lot of "tunesmiths" out there of dubious reputation. Eric is not one of them.

 

[Slick6]

I thought that I would explain how I had my car tuned. When I did my Mustang, I had Eric do the install work, and he then tuned the car on his dyno. Two pulls later I was right at 600 HP at the crank, and a documented 502 at the wheels. He put the tune on my SCT handheld after tuning the car via laptop. For my 'Vette, I bought another SCT XCal 3 for GM products. I used it to copy my factory tune, and then emailed him that copy. He applied his magic and sent it back to me. I loaded it into my car with the SCT. BIG GRIN!! So, while some may pooh-pooh hand helds, I find them extremely useful for the tools that they provide. Would I use a canned tune that comes with them? Maybe, depending on what mods I've done and who's tunes are on them. For remote tuning, or even dyno tuning, having a copy of the performance tune, as well as the factory tune, is absolutely necessary should you need to take your ride to the dealer. Flash it back to stock so that they don't screw it up by installing upgrades from the factory. You can flash it back to the modded tune after. Anyway, I like having the ability to scan and clear codes, tweak the speedo and odo if I ever change tire sizes, gears, etc. If you track your car, your tuner can do a street and a track tune for you, and with the handheld you can switch back and forth as needed. FYI, not all of the handhelds have canned tunes installed on them. SCT does not provide tunes on their handhelds, but they do sell two versions; one is for speedshops to offer their canned tunes on, and one comes with no tunes at all. That's what I buy, and then I copy Eric's work to it. I agree wholeheartedly that extensive mods need a dyno tune, but for common bolt-ons a handheld is fine as long as you have a tuner that you trust.