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Just curious if headers are terribly noisy compared to stock manifolds.
I have a cracked manifold and it's awfully noisy - I'm sure noisier than headers. But cheap headers are comparably priced to new cast iron manifolds, and I'm wondering if the header ping is worth the few extra lb. ft. they promise.
Of course, I want my exhaust relatively quiet. I'm thinking anyone with headers has loud exhaust and can't comment either way.
I can put up with the header "ping" sound. That is fine. It's the eternal LEAKS that bug me. Might be quiet today...but sooner then later it won't be quiet. The 80's Mustangs that came with factory headers, they had them down to a science and would not leak. Most of the aftermarket crap is not that good.
For me, most of the noise from a fairly tight exhaust with headers comes from the type of mufflers and where they empty out.
My old chevy had headers and a dual exhaust that dumped out right behind the cab. That was loud.
My old ford had headers and exhaust that dumped out behind the rear wheels, and that was pretty quite.
My old mustang had cast manifolds crappy mufflers, and dumped out the back of the car, and it was loud.
If you want ease of repair, a stock replacement manifold is the way to go, they should just bolt in place. Headers usually require some extra work to install. I just fixed an exhaust leak on my 03 f150, and was planning to install cheap headers, but the mounting face of the headers I bought are curved, so would require some work just to get flat against the head, in addition, they are slightly longer, so I would need to adjust the whole exhaust system. Long story short, I reinstalled the cast manifold...
I have BBK coated shorties, I dont hear ping, used db meter to measure sound with cat still installed, stock muffler(77db) at idle, got the new borla pro xs muffler(81db) at idle and no drone cruising, good gaskets and torqued to spec, then ran for a week, then re-torqued the bolts, been 8 months no leaks, if you have stock muffler you barley will tell a sound difference, I dont like loud, never have, I picked the borla for quietness, and came in 4th on hp/tq, in test car craft did
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