[D-Brow]

Hey guys I just had my car taken to a shop th other day because when i started my car last time it was loud as all hell. Turns out i have a cracked manifold and where the pipe connects to the manifold it broke off. The shop quoted me for $350 for a new manifold, $100 (some sort of connecting rod if they couldn't get the original off without breaking it), and $300 for labor. I think it sounds absolutely rediculous, but they've never overcharged me for anything, they always give damn good prices so i'm not sure what to think...

[joshridge]

cant you get headers for cheaper than that?

[D-Brow]

Originally Posted by joshridge cant you get headers for cheaper than that?

Well it's not the pipe that needs replaced, it's the manifold itsef. I mean i could put on some shorty headers i believe but there's really no point. From whati've heard anyway they don't really make a difference on our cars.

[stangcharger]

Why not buy mac or pacesetter long tubes. They will be neAr that price then alittle extra for mocking the mid pipe to fit. You won't benifit awhile lot now but for future it will help flow.

Might as well.

[joshridge]

Originally Posted by stangcharger Why not buy mac or pacesetter long tubes. They will be neAr that price then alittle extra for mocking the mid pipe to fit. You won't benifit awhile lot now but for future it will help flow. Might as well.

+1 i mean youre paying the same amount or maybe a little more for aftermarket than you will for an oem part.

[mcqueen]

Originally Posted by D-Brow I think it sounds absolutely rediculous, but they've never overcharged me for anything, they always give damn good prices so i'm not sure what to think...

Sometimes shops change but I unfortunately think their price is somewhat reasonable. I was quoted something like $300 for a new header and $250 for labor. And apparently you have that rod that will need to be replaced so that adds in for labor. About shops changing, my parents used the same shop for nearly 10 years because they always got good prices on things. Around the time I started using them (for 2 of my old cars) they started overcharging like crazy.

[D-Brow]

Originally Posted by stangcharger Why not buy mac or pacesetter long tubes. They will be neAr that price then alittle extra for mocking the mid pipe to fit. You won't benifit awhile lot now but for future it will help flow. Might as well.

I thought long tubes had clearance issues with our cars, like coming too close to the ground...and would that meant that i wouldn't need a new manifold? cause the manifold basically takes the place of headers, correct? I don't know too much about under the hood stuff, so bear with me. Also, i thought long tubes were better for turbo'd cars and shorties were prefered for s/c'ing

[joshridge]

umm all im gonna say is yes, headers take place of the manifold, as for all the other things idk

[mcqueen]

Exhaust manifold is a fancy name for headers.

[D-Brow]

Originally Posted by mcqueen Exhaust manifold is a fancy name for headers.

haha ok i thought i remembered reading that somewhere. So basically, just say screw buying a new manifold and just have them slap on a pair of longtubes and fit them to my current exhaust and then done deal?

[mcqueen]

You'll probably have to get the LTs yourself and take them to the shop. I highly doubt there are many shops that keep LTs in stock. And your midpipe is going to need some modification to fit the LTs (the midpipe will be too long at the moment) but since you're having a shop do it, it'll be pretty simple for them.

[goren813]

DO NOT PAY FOR THAT. DO NOT BUY NEW EXHAUST!

Take your exhaust off the car and take it to a machine/weld shop. $20-$40 to weld that up and you're golden. This is the known issue with this model Mustang as the a/c water drips onto the exhaust manifold on the passenger side. There is NO NEED TO GET A NEW EXHAUST SYSTEM. A simple re-weld will fix the issue.

[mcqueen]

Doesn't that keep happening though? If so, why keep paying to fix the shitty stock manifolds when you can upgrade to LTs? At least then they'd be worth fixing.

[goren813]

It has happened twice to me in the life of the car. 130k miles. I don't think $30 is expensive to have it fixed. Not to mention I doubt OP would be asking if money wasn't an issue, since he thinks its too pricey to have the shop fix it. So you think he is cool with shelling $4-500 for a whole new set-up? It irritates me that everyone always thinks modding is the end all be all way to fix something on a car, like you might as well spend this ridic. amount of money now rather than this petty amount to fix what broke. mcq I'm not attacking you I've just seen this trend taking over recently. Sometimes the cheap fix is the right fix.

[D-Brow]

Originally Posted by goren813 It has happened twice to me in the life of the car. 130k miles. I don't think $30 is expensive to have it fixed. Not to mention I doubt OP would be asking if money wasn't an issue, since he thinks its too pricey to have the shop fix it. So you think he is cool with shelling $4-500 for a whole new set-up? It irritates me that everyone always thinks modding is the end all be all way to fix something on a car, like you might as well spend this ridic. amount of money now rather than this petty amount to fix what broke. mcq I'm not attacking you I've just seen this trend taking over recently. Sometimes the cheap fix is the right fix.

I'm gonna have to agree with you, I need to go cheap right now. I was only inquiring about the modification because if i was going to HAVE to spend that much money to fix the problem I might as well add another hundred and get it over with. But yes I'm very strapped for cash, and you nailed the issue on the head, i never knew it was a common issue with our cars, and it's exactly where you said it was, the passenger side, go figure, and i have just over 130,000 miles haha...thanks goren, much appreciated. So just remove it and then take it in and have him weld the crack, and then weld the pipe back on, problem solved?

[mattf0509]

+1 with goren id spend the 40-50 to get it welded back up and spend the 4-5 0n other mods.. + stock headers on our cars actually have pretty decent flow

[D-Brow]

Originally Posted by mattf0509 +1 with goren id spend the 40-50 to get it welded back up and spend the 4-5 0n other mods.. + stock headers on our cars actually have pretty decent flow

While we've got the subject going though, would it be worth putting LT's on my car if i plan on simply supercharging the 3.8?

[goren813]

All they will need to do is weld the pipe back together. To remove it; 2 bolts on pass. side flange to the header, 2 nuts on driver side flange to header, 2 bolts at bottom of "Y" where it leads to muffler. Have something underneath to support the muffler end. Take this (mid pipe) to a machine or weld shop or anyone who can weld (well). Reverse process to re-install.

As said the stock headers do flow pretty well, meaning replacing them at all would be with LT's, NOT shorties. Planning to turbo, DO NOT upgrade headers. S/c I'm pretty sure you can run LT's.

Agreed that at the price you were offered, if that were your only option, I would have gotten true duals. Since this can be fixed for <$50, I would just get it off yourself and have it welded.

Please remember jack stands!!

[mcqueen]

Originally Posted by goren813 It has happened twice to me in the life of the car. 130k miles. I don't think $30 is expensive to have it fixed. Not to mention I doubt OP would be asking if money wasn't an issue, since he thinks its too pricey to have the shop fix it. So you think he is cool with shelling $4-500 for a whole new set-up? It irritates me that everyone always thinks modding is the end all be all way to fix something on a car, like you might as well spend this ridic. amount of money now rather than this petty amount to fix what broke. mcq I'm not attacking you I've just seen this trend taking over recently. Sometimes the cheap fix is the right fix.

You make a good point, a cheap fix is sometimes a good solution. I guess I mostly recommended LTs to him because if there was any chance he was going to pay that much to get a stock header replaced, he might as well upgrade and pay around the same price for 2 new LT headers than 1 new OEM header. This being a modding community kind of pushes the idea of upgrading rather than simply fixing as well.

[goren813]

^I get exactly what you were suggesting and why, I agree with what you said IF he was going to be forced to pay that much regardless, just wanted to throw in the real issue and why it happened, with a quicker, cheaper solution. Cheers.