curious about headers for 3.0 V6
 

Hello all. Pretty new to this forum.
I am getting some work done to the heads of my 89 3.0 V6 (pu) and for some reason I am intent on putting headers on now, while I have all this wonderful room... I have heard complaints and praises for this mod, and am just curious as to what brands / exhaust set-ups people here have liked or hated. I am prob going with the Downey headers, also considering NWOR. appreciate all comments, advice.

I'm running downey ceramic coated headers leading to a 2.5" exhaust system. The biggest complaint about aftermarket headers in general is the removal of the old manifolds, mainly the crossover pipe. Lots of time, swearing, and scuffed knuckles went into removing the old exhaust manifold, in the end I wound up cutting it off with a sawzall. With the heads off the car this shouldn't be a problem for you and I would go ahead and take advantage of the free space. As for performance, it's hard for me to make a clear judgement as I had performed this mod several years ago, but expect noticeably better low end and midrange power. If you clear up the air intake path as well you should see great gains in power as you uncork the restricted 3VZE.

The only problem I have encountered with the Downey Headers is the heat radiated from the manifolds rendered my starter inoperational after driving short and long distances. Although this problem took several months to develop it became a big headache, in which I cured by bypassing the factory starting system and utilizing a ford remote mount solenoid.

Heat is the big factor. Definitely get the ceramic coat. Make sure no hoses or wires are near the headers.

and dont deal with nwor... also thorley makes headers

Heat is definately a problem, right now I have exhaust jackets on the headers, which are essentially strips of fiberglass header wrap, clamped around each primary. If I ever get the opportunity to remove the headers from the rig I would take the time to properly wrap them.

In regards to header wraps there is a right way to do it and a wrong way, some people will advise against it as the headers can actually become so hot with them on the material can become molten in some regions, creating hotspots and eventually compromising the integrity of the header. There are other cases in which spilled fluids (oil, fuel, power steering, brake/clutch), can get soaked into the material and present a fire hazard.

Bottom Line: Heat is an issue even with ceramic coating, how you wish to deal with that is up to you. I would at very least recommend something to insulate the starter motor. Personally, I would wrap the entire unit all the way back to the catalytic converter.

Go Downey ceramic... But... before you install them, have an exhaust shop weld on some ball-type joints to the collectors. For some dumb reason Downey thinks slip joints are the way to go. :rolleyes:

I'd just get a custom crossover pipe built - that'll save you the cost of headers and you wont have install issues at all either.

im running downy headers and they are great i havent had any negative problems with the heat yet they do heat tup the floorboards a littile bit. i also wraped all the wireing harneses on the passenger side with aluminum tape and have had no problems sofar im defintaly very pleased with the power increase that you recive from the headers i think it is a good call. i also have the downy 2.5 inch high performace exhaust all the way back and if you want a mean sounding and more powerfull ride go for that also downy headers all the way though =)

i also put the hedars on with the heads of and it was a very easy install with it all out of there and the room to work with.

I SECOND THAT!

I just installed Downey headers i bought used off ebay, very nice. They are the chrome units and i got ahold of some Duplicolor high temp. paint with ceramic and coated them with that. I have had no heat issues, not even the floorboard. I did insulate all the wires and hoses with aluminum heat tape and made a heat sheild around the headers tubes where the touch (yes, actually touch) the floorboards and forward running lines. The sheild is made of this thin gauge aluminum sandwiching some insulating material. My neighbor gave it to me off of a junked '05 trailblazer he had, it was an exhaust sheild before and i just cut and bent it to fit. Go to a junkyard and try to find some, great stuff. I had a custom crossover made and 2.25 cat back with a hi-flow cat and flowmaster. Sounds great, low rumble. Excellent low end increase and once on the powerband it screams!

why is eveybody against NWOR?

i recently read a thread on here that someone with a manual and headers had a hose get melted thru that caused him to lose the ability to select a gear... like someone mentioned above, amke sure that all hoses and lines and wires are as far away as you can get them to be on the safe side

customer service just sucks but there products are good

call summit racing and get the thorley headers, ceramic coated, and go to the local hardware store and get some reflective chiminey tape and wrap everything you dont want to get hot w/ it such as plastic parts and the floor board, and starter. i installed mine at the begining of the year and have had no problems yet.

I went with the thorleys, mine are not ceramic though. I wrapped the thick part right where they go down the floorboard in heat wrap, and I spray painted my starter (they touch) with 1300 degree high temp paint for added protection, after 3 months so far so good. The only thing I dont like is having to bend hard lines. I plan on adding a heat shield also. Im satisfied!

those of you with headers, are yall happy with the performance results?

I have the NWOR.

Claims of inprovements in the bottom end are groosly exaggerated. The biggest improvement seems to be on the high end. And yes, it does make a difference, though you'll need cams to take advantage of it.

I found the combo of K&N, Borla and Headers to have no effect at the seat of my pants (seat of the pants can't detect small gains like 5%.) Only when I did the porting & cams did it 'wake up' and at that the bulk of that was above 4200 where the stocker is gasping for air.

There's no question I get more power (verified on the dyno) down low than a stocker has, but these gains are not large. At 3000 it begins to come alive and pulls strong all the way to redline giving a much wider working RPM for the stick shift.

Fact of the matter is that pouring money into a 3.slow is like making a silk purse from a sow's ear. It's NOT money well spent.

Further, the K&N actually HURT power on the 'seat of the pants dyno' when temperatures outside are HOT because it's breathing all that trapped hot air from under the hood. There's a noticeable power loss when it's hot out and the truck's been pushing hard (hot under the hood.) I'm now in the process during THIS rebuild of ducting it so it'll at least breath outside air.

very much so, gas mileage increased as well as performance.

mods for the 3.0
 

I agree with the post that working on the 3.0 is like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear...but it is SO MUCH FUN!!
and...
I have really seen a difference since I have started working on this 1992 runner.
the thorley ceramic headers are beautiful and totally solid. I got a killer deal combining them with the jardine exhaust (call thorley direct and ask about this package), and all this with a K&N, ISR mod soon, magnaflow muffler and free-flow cat, has made the runner SOUND GREAT! a whole lot more power...
in my opinion it is now totally viable, super awesome vehicle, and I really enjoy tweaking and working on the engine. you are in for an adventure- enjoy!!

next in line is boring the throttle and portmatching the upper intake manifold at LCengineering...
I am still debating whether to put in a jacobs ignition...I have it and know it will add power but worried about reliability...sorry just thinking out loud! :welder: