Headers and exhaust are next, need some help!!!

[Captain Fluffy Nuggies]

Hey guys, so my stock 97 Cobra is finally gonna get some much needed NOISE!!!!

I will be doing BBK Ceramic Coated Long Tube Headers, with a BBK Off-Road H-Pipe, Flowmaster 40's, and new tips.

(I basically had this same exhaust setup minus LT's in my old GT and absolutely LOVED the sound of it)

My local mechanic has agreed to help me on this, and mentioned to spray down whatever bolts I can get to with PB Blaster. Well, when doing that, I noticed some tubes on the front of the stock manifolds. Pictures down below:

If my mechanical prowess is working correctly, I believe these are either tubes for the smog pump, or the EGR system. Am I correct? Does anyone have any experience with these BBK LT's and what to do in this situation? Does the BBK LT's come with provisions to plug these tubes in? Or just plug them off all together? Also, since i'll be basically 'building my own exhaust system' and not buying a cat-back, i've read that i'll need flow tubes?? I found a set of Pypes ones on American Muscle but have read that they can be a little bit of a fitment PITA. I am trying to skimp a little on install costs and deciding to have my mechanic do it for me for cheaper, the nearest quality exhaust shop to me wants $1,000 more than what he's quoting me. I know stainless is better to go with rather than aluminized steel because it'll last longer, but I gotta know if i'm even going to need the flow tubes at all?? Since i'll be eliminating the cats, I don't personally see a need for the smog pump anymore which I believe is in the passenger side fender well and simply unbolts and unplugs, but will throw a check engine light without a tune. I do plan to tune the car eventually and also do a JLT CAI which from reading American Muscle's reviews...I guess you have to either remove or move the pump anyway.

We don't have to take emissions in MN so don't care about smog pumps, EGR or cats!!!

 

[Adower]

I’d do some quick research. I believe with bbk long tubes if you ever need to remove the tranny the long tubes have to come off. I want to say kooks and maybe arh have enough room to get the tranny out with them in.

 

[Makobra]

I sold my BBK LT's because there's no way you're getting a trans off without pulling one of them.
also, the ground clearance on them sucks. I love the way these JBL headers look and honestly I don't see how they won't do as well as a good set of long tubes.

 

[scottydsntknow]

BBK will have the correct smog provisions if you order the 96-98 ones. Deleting the smog ports on the front of the headers is what most ppl do. BBK=you have to pull a header to do anything with the trans. Longtubes=drop the K member.

 

[Captain Fluffy Nuggies]

So my pictures I took are the smog pipes? I tried to get my borescope in there as best as I could.

As far as removing the trans, i'm not worried about doing that for a long time, she's gonna stay a 5-speed for a while, and since she only has 17k on the factory clutch, that 'should' last a while too.

If I plug off the ports on the LT's, will that throw a code because the smog pump isn't able to shoot a bunch of air into the exhaust to get the cats up to temp? Will I see any kind of bump in power if they're plugged off?

 

[scottydsntknow]

17k on the factory clutch cool but that TOB will squeak if its the original one at that age, I'm assuming you're doing that while its out. No codes, the cats will be fine, lol no power gain from a smog pump delete.

 

[Cobraonr]

Nice setup. I didn't drop the K member and we did the install on jack stands in the garage. Best part was one of the kids had to hold the header gasket with dental floss while the other little hands put the header bolts in. Family memories. I would suggest dropping the K member. I pulled the smog pump and EGR off too. There is a bung on the BBK LT you will need to cap off. I left the stock exhaust from the o/r H pipe back. Here is a quick video after the install. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[dkblue98gt]

If you are not going to delete the secondary air injection make sure you get headers for your year car. 97 and 98 are different...

 

[Captain Fluffy Nuggies]

If you are not going to delete the secondary air injection make sure you get headers for your year car. 97 and 98 are different...

How different? They don't give an option to choose which year I have on American Muscle.

 

[dkblue98gt]

I put a set of 98 headers on my 97, the right side air tube can be bent to fit but the left side is way too short.

 

[Captain Fluffy Nuggies]

I put a set of 98 headers on my 97, the right side air tube can be bent to fit but the left side is way too short.

How do I fix that problem then? Cap it? Extend it? Bend it?

 

[96GT226410]

Those lines are for the SAI (Secondary Air Injection). Yes, you can delete them and yes, you could get a code for that. I used 03/04 Cobra BBK ceramic long tubes on my 98 Cobra because I didn't want the ports on the front of my headers. I paired the headers with an H pipe with gutted cats and an American Thunder Flowmaster catback. My long tubes aren't low and I haven't scraped on anything yet, and I live in North Jersey where the roads suck. Being dropped 2" I think that's pretty good. As you can see in the picture, the convertible X brace sits lower than the collector.

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