I HAVEA 97 GT ALL STOCK I HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING ADDING EXHAUST AND GEARS 4:10 OR 3:73 HAVE NOT DECIDED YET. ONLY USING FOR STREET. MY QUESTION IS IS IT WORTH THE $ FOR A SET OF LT BBK OR JBA HEADERS FOR STREET/HGHYWY CRUZIN AND WOULD IT DEFEAT THE PURPOSE TO INSTAL X PIPE WITH HIGH PERF CAT BACK WITHOUT THE HEADERS.
if your not going to do the entire exhaust i wouldnt bother just doing one piece because it can very well hurt your performance, keep in mind that its a system and what you do to one piece can and will affect the rest of it.
if you do the catback and not the headers all your doing is letting it breath easier from the "cat-back". youll still have a bottle neck up front.
(the headers) and so on. im pretty sure the heads and intake on the 4.6's flow a little better than the 5.0s so if you dont want to go to deep with the mods, from the headers back should give you a couple of extra ponies and a more agressive sound.
4.10's are great for the track but shitty for the street. 3.73's are the perfect compermise. As far as exhaust goes, I agree with Monkey boy, you won't see a significant gain if any with just "some"exhaust.
Sarah
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"No, this is not my boyfriends car"
Black 2002 GT w/ plenty of go fast goodies
from the headers back youll see some gain, thats about half the system.
throw in a cold air kit if ya want. beyond that the only things missing cost alot of money, heads, intake manifold,mass air,throttle body.
your not going to see a major boost in performance but youll see some.
think it over decide how deep you want to go as far mods and what you want the car to do then decide.
if you want the most bang for your buck do the gears, they wont add any hp but the will use what you have more effeciantly, and you will feel the differance.
3.73's or 4.10's? is a matter of preference, i prefer the 3.73 but others swear by the 4.10's. but if you do alot of highway driving the 3.73's are preferable.
Just go with the shorties and save yourself a ton of headaches if you do a complete exhaust. JBA makes a nice set. I'd go with a head swap myself and then buy the exhaust a non-pi header ain't going to fit on a PI head. Stangparts.com has all the stuff you would need for the headswap. Gears would work well too.
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Kevin
74 Nova SS : 355 : Scat 4340 Crank : Manley Rod : JE Pistons : CompCam HP Nitrous Cam : AFR 195cc : Speed Demon 750 :
Thanks guys and gals for the input really appreciate it. excellent point driftpin that is somthing i did not know. will definitely hold off on the headers until I decide whether to redue my heads or get a set of 99"up (probably replace) Stonecold thanks for the input your car sounds like it rocks! I bought this car from a lady at work she bought it new in 97" it has never been through a car wash always hand washed all original never even tuned up. it sounds great still has factory exhaust. my only concern is it does have 90k miles but runs stong and the motor is quit so i guess not to worry. otherwise well maintained showroom cond white wth blck leather and auto.I like the jba shorties but i read it can be a waste of $ vrs lng tub. in years to come wld not mind adding a s/c (vortech) but just dreaming that stuff is big $
so just that im understanding you 4.6'ers, your saying that the heads on the 97 are so bad that doing exhaust mods is a waste of money unless you change those heads?
any 97's out there that have actually done the mods that have an opinion on this matter? because im really intrested in learning the facts.
Ford wanted the 4.6 to have the same low end grunt the old 5.0's had so they made the engine breath through a straw and sacrificed horsepower for a low peak torque. They realized they goofed and made the necessary changes in 99. I think peak hp comes at like 3,500 rpms and the power just dies out at 5,000 on a car with a 6,000 rpm redline.
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2008 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner SR5 Reg Cab
2.7 4 banger
No mods (yet...)
im assuming that there isnt a huge difference between the 96 and 97, that being said check this thread from someone who has actually done the mods, and see how much hp you can expect by using the mods we discussed above.
Originally posted by SheDevilGT 4.10's are great for the track but shitty for the street. 3.73's are the perfect compermise. As far as exhaust goes, I agree with Monkey boy, you won't see a significant gain if any with just "some"exhaust.
Sarah
Thats subjective. Most 96+ GT owners have noticed a great gain with the 4.10's and even increased their mpg. 3.73's do little for the mod motor I should know I had them in my GT. 4.10's or 4.30's minimum for a n/a 4.6L and 4.10's for a blown applications. You will thank me later.
Adding headers is pointless and not worth it until you swap the heads. That's the choke point on the 96-98 2V's. Once you do that then add headers and an exhaust.
Originally posted by blackfang Thats subjective. Most 96+ GT owners have noticed a great gain with the 4.10's and even increased their mpg. 3.73's do little for the mod motor I should know I had them in my GT. 4.10's or 4.30's minimum for a n/a 4.6L and 4.10's for a blown applications. You will thank me later.
Adding headers is pointless and not worth it until you swap the heads. That's the choke point on the 96-98 2V's. Once you do that then add headers and an exhaust.
Blackfang,
4.10's will be a bit much for my application since I'm taking it up a few levels really soon. I currently run 3.73's and I believe them to be the perfect gear that will be able to handle plenty of mph at the end of the 1/4 mile
What I'm saying is there is no "one size fits all" for blown applications. It all depends on your end goal. 4.10's and my end goal do not match up and I would end up on the rev limiter crossing the traps.
Install Headers On 97 Gt 
