Hey guys,
I have a set of BBK Equal length shorties and I have a set of stock manifolds.. Does it really matter which ones I use? What I mean is, am I going to see any improvement at all with equal lengths? The reason why I'm hesitent is because the flange is a one-piece, and I'd have to cut it in order to get access to my spark plug holes.. Also I could recoup some costs by selling these things.
My setup is a stock longblock and it's going to remain that way for a little while. Maybe I aught to sell the BBK's and get some other shorties that already have individual flanges? Anyway, what's the verdict?

 

Stock.
Equal length will only piss you off come spark plug wire or any time you have to work on the car (unless you plan on extending the primaries out an inch or 2 towards the shock towers)

 

What size turbo? The smaller diameter of the stock pipes will give you a little better response but it will ultimately be a restriction as the boost/power level increases
issuez

 

Flip the equal lengths and point them downward. You will not have to cut anything. The worst thing you'll have to do is get the oil filter adaptor and space the sway bar down about 1".
Don't use the stock headers unless you are wanting to be forever limited to <400 hp. They will quickly become a restriction.

I had a smallish 57MM TO4B on my stock motor a few years back. It was a blast to drive on the street and had superb driveability. I ran it with a stock header and a log style header on the drivers side. I later changed to a 1 5/8" shorty and it lost a ton of midrange power because of the increased primar diameter. This car was less than 400 hp.. it was about 370/490.

 

There will be no advantage to the equal length headers, they won't do anything but loose more heat to the engine bay before the exhaust gets to the turbo.

I'd be shocked if you could document a loss in power beteen 1-1/2 primaries and 1-5/8 or 1-3/4 at below 1000hp or so.

 

what about the stock longblock.....is that not a problem when you add some boost??? .....i mean, will it last and be reliable?

 

Hmm, sounds like there's some difference in opinion. I have 2 .63/.60 Turbocoupe T3's. I agree with the spark plug thing, I just don't want to limit my power output.. I'd like to see around 450 WHP.. Maybe I should just sell my equal-lengths and get some different shorties? Or start out with stock..
As for the stock longblock, as long as it's tuned right it will be fine. I'm tuning with a Megasquirt and a wideband 02 to keep an eye on things.

 

i would do some searching on the subject. i've read that some have problems keeping the stock headers straight . saw some welded up with some supports between the tubes at the flanges too tho.