Just wondering if anyone has put on short tube headers that work with the stock midpipe and if it was worth it, cost and work?
I have a 2000 with the 5.4 and it has a magnaflow catback but the rest is stock. Looks like it would be difficult to perform the installation.

 

Not worth it in my opinion. If you live in a place that gets cold winters you will have to let your truck run for about 5 minutes in the morning because it will barely run until the headers have time to warm up.

 

I had shorties and they don't anything really except make a nice exhaust tone...not worth it IMO. LT's are much better and are dyno proven to add power, with that comes a price though....a good set of ss or ceramic coated headers are going to set you back 600-700 ducks.

 

think i will pass on the short tube headers, just wondering on the mark 8 fan mod, does it provide sufficient cooling and did you end up using a controller? and was it an easy mod and did you use the stock fan shroud? Thanks.

 

Oh yes, this fan will cool down a V8 no problem...they are rated up to 4000 cfm or so for earlier models 93-96 Lincolns. I used my stock shroud and mounted the efan in the opening using some fabbed up aluminum supports. As for controllers I used 2, 80 amp relays and a flexalite t-stat switch to utilize the 2 speeds. Wiring this bad boy requires at least 10 gauge wire due to the high amp start-ups. I went through a couple of fuses blocks before I discovered some maxi-fuses from Walmart did the trick and my melting problem is a thing of the past. I never snapped a fuse, just melted the plastic around it...I figured it was from the cycling of the AC that caused this because of the clutch engaging and disengaging frequently.

Here is some pics I snapped the other day of the conversion.

my fuses;


The relays stacked and mounted on the passenger side of shroud. Note, these control the 2 speeds of the fan, one is wired to the t-stat, and the other to the AC clutch;


Flexalite t-stat controller and a cover I was lucky to find. Mounted on the drivers side of the shroud;


The Mark VIII efan mounted and centered in the shroud opening.



My goal was to emulate the Mad Enterprises fan you see in this link;
http://www.madenterprise.com/fanstuff.htm
Although that is a RF-88 mustang fan, the Mark VIII will equal the cfm output and is the same dimesions (18 inches radius) as the other, so my kit is a knock off of the Mad Fan, and at a fraction of the price ($150 for everything).
I would say this conversion is not that complicated, anyone with basic electrical knowledge could attempt this project with some good planning. One could also use some of the electrical from a salvaged Mark VIII, but I found it much simplier to start from scratch and build something that could withstand just about anything that fan can dish out. Except for a couple of melted fuses it has been a very reliable and my AC has never been colder...and another perk is the add ponies and mileage I have earned from the conversion, couldn't tell you how much but the fan only comes on during stop 'n go traffic so the engine isn't turning a heavy mech fan all the time.

 

thanks for the information, looks like you did a good job with the setup. I have never heard of the RF-88 mustang. I have an 03 cobra as well as the truck. Anyhow think I will be going to the junk yard next weekend so will look for the mark 8 fan, also I have seen some for sale on ebay. Also have noticed the controllers for sale. When you get the controller do they provide a circuit diagram of how to hook everything up? Also it looks like you ran two seperate circuits for each speed, each of these circuits with its own relay. So is one relay turned on by the ac activation and the other by the temperature switch? Being in Las Vegas, NV I think 4000cfm will still be good for the hot summers out here. Also what fuzes and what relays did you use and guessing I can get the 10 guage wire at a parts house.

 

I disagree with much of what has been said here. I have seen shorty headers give noticeable gains, and in my opinion are worth it if they are a good high quality part. Myself, I am partial to JBA.

 

On what engine...the 5.4?? I had them on my 5.4l and nothing was gained for power....only my wallet was effected.

 

This link was posted from another thread and I do believe a member works for these guys.
relays continuous duty 12 volt & 24 volt DC power relays,starter relays

#24059 is very simular to mine. You could also check ebay which I'm sure you could find tons on there. My fuses are from Walmart, they maxi-fuse blocks that come with 40 and 80 amp fuses......I have yet to snap the 40 amp one.

 

I noticed a little bit of gain when I did mine, but Its really not worth it. They are a real pain. I have a 3" body lift and it was hard, I couldnt imaging being stock. The 5.4's are at such a V shape it is really hard to do. Any if you break a bolt, which I did, you are really fu**ed. I actuially broke 2, and tried to drill them out, but even a 90* drill couldnt get to them. They are still in there, with alot of muffler mender around the headers where there are no bolt. Still doesnt leak, its been over a year now. So...I would have to say no.

 

I did them on a 4.6 when one of the OEMs cracked. What a total waste of $ and time. Didn't even make a year before one was shot. No gains what so ever. I do admit I did use a cheaper brand, and paid the price. Replaced them with used OEM ones, all has been good for 45,000 miles with junkyard manifolds (OEM) and $10 bucks for both gaskets from NAPA. Talk about "full circle"......And I live in a cold climate, took longer for the engine to warm up.

 

Sounds like what happened to me.......mine broke a weld at the collector. Manifolds are back in for now, I'm looking at some SS Dynatech LT's to install for the winter.....truck will be sitting all winter so I have the time to do it slow and make sure everything is good.

 

Sorry I forgot to answer another part of your question. Each relay is powered with a 12 volt source, I used the starter relay power to run wire (8 gauge) to each unit. The Mark VIII fan has 3 wires, one is ground and the other two are power for low and high speed cooling, the low and high speed have there own relay where one is controlled by the t-stat, and the other is switched by the AC clutch coil wire.

If you plan on going this route, give me a PM and I'll give you the entire electrical curcuit diagram that I used. Worked flawlessly for over a year now so I think I got it right.

 

thanks it will be a few months before I am able to install the fan. I have a minor issue some vibration in the front end while braking. We did the brakes and had the roters turned but still have some vibration. The truck only has 60k miles but a friend said to check the idler arm, bushings might be bad.

 

'98 F-250 Light Duty w/5.4L - I had 4 manifold studs break (2 on each head) and since I had to take the stock monifolds off to begin with I decided to try my luck at putting a set of shorties in that are stock replacement. I bought a set of off good quality, SS headers that were a direct bolt in, only downside was I could only use studs on about half of the mounting holes, the rest you had to put bolts in since there wasn't clearance to squeeze the headers into the engine bay and onto studs. It's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it sound, but I agree that they aren't worth putting in if you don't have to remove the manifolds to begin with. Given the choice, I would definitely go long tube headers. The shorties opened the 5.4L up, but only above 3000rpm, and not enough to justify spending the time/money to do it. Also, I live in Houghton, MI and I have not had any problems with my truck warming up in the morning.

Oh, and the best way of removing the stock manifolds is with an oxy-acetylene torch. Cut off all of the exhaust stud nuts, whether they're good or not and then put a broken stud remover on them and they screw right out. The heat from cutting them breaks the corrosion bond that has built up with time. The 4 that were broken prior to torching the rest off were drilled out with a high quality carbide drill and screw extractor set from cornwell. Good tools make a huge difference between a time intensive but doable job, and a monster headache.

Just my 2 cents