The OBX headers are now AVAILABLE again!

[oddball101]

Ya, so I feel a bit stupid. I went into it this weekend. Got the wheels off, passenger side wheel well liner out, collectors disconnected and started backing out bolts on the passenger side when I remembered I had to undo the EGR pipe as well. When I grabbed the pipe, I found that a hose had popped off..

So instead of going through and redoing everything like I had planned, I simply just buttoned everything back up. On the test drive everything was good to go, no leaks. So basically, I made a ton of work for myself thinking I messed something up when in fact, I did just fine. Turns out the hose is no longer gripping as tightly and needs replaced. I can live with that.

I am pretty sure I said I'd get pics of the heat shielding I picked up from another 5.0 explorer in the JY when I got back into it.

This is the actual fiberglass heat shield that is molded perfectly to the AC box. The two holes circled in red are where the layered aluminum sheet attaches. I picked up two of these shield castings as the one in my hand is actually broken at the bottom, but otherwise serves its purpose for pictures sake.


A side shot to see the type of fiberglass layering used. Unfortunately I do not have a shot of the aluminum sheet by itself. I will say though, that it is a substantial piece and if you could get it off without breaking it, it is worth the install effort.


The red is the molded "cast-like" fiberglass piece that isn't broken and I have added metal tape in areas to reduce fraying of the edges. Still have a little more to do. The blue is the moldable aluminum fiberglass sheet . It reinforces protection of the lower AC box area as well as the pipe.


The blue is the underside where the aluminum fiberglass sheet can be molded under the box. I put it on there for the added protection, but I do think it is only a 16th" off of the header.

 

[2Krngr]

A side shot to see the type of fiberglass layering used. Unfortunately I do not have a shot of the aluminum sheet by itself. I will say though, that it is a substantial piece and if you could get it off without breaking it, it is worth the install effort.

Hey thanks for the great quality pics! What you were describing previously makes perfect sense now.

And it looks as if the cab drop around the motor is defiantly going to cause me some issues with the headers against the blower/heater box.

I am also glad your headers turned out to not have any issues once you fixed the egr leak.

 

[ford_ranger12]

I got my shock mounts on there. The other side looks great but with the one pictured the breaker kept flipping while welding :/ it should hold up fine just doesn't look as good. But now that they are done I should have my motor in Saturday morning (hopefully) and I'll see how close the fox body longtubes fit.


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[ford_ranger12]

I got my motor in but I can't get the driver side header in from top or bottom and on the passenger side I would have to notch the mounting plate and there's 2 other tubes hitting the frame. I'm thinking about trying to find a different set for the 94-95 mustang or a 351w swap set to start with cause these are just too far off.

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[2Krngr]

I got my motor in but I can't get the driver side header in from top or bottom and on the passenger side I would have to notch the mounting plate and there's 2 other tubes hitting the frame. I'm thinking about trying to find a different set for the 94-95 mustang or a 351w swap set to start with cause these are just too far off. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for trying the mustang headers, too bad they aren't going to work out. :( But please do keep us updated on what you ending up making to work, I'm very interested.

 

[ford_ranger12]

I'm thinking the 94-95 pacesetter headers look like the driver side will fit no problems and the passenger side with just notching the mount pad and and denting a tube. But at the shop where I built my motor they're hiring a muffler/header guy next month so I may just wait and see about a custom set. If so, I'll post pictures of them as well.


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[ford_ranger12]

I figured since I only spent $60 on these headers I'll cut the tubes apart and if it's too difficult I'll use them for tubing bends. I just cut the driver side and I actually see now it's an excellent fit. Just have to figure out how to get the last tube connected back. I have to go to work but I'll be cutting the passenger side soon.

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[ford_ranger12]

On the passenger side I got the back two primaries to fit but not the front

had to dent the back one a little to clear the motor mount

but I just tried to weld for the first time in my life and come to realize I'm probably gonna have to get someone to takeover from here. But it's hard to pay someone to finish this up when I could just pay them to make a custom set with 1 3/4 primaries.....I'll have to see what I can come up with. But if anybody's wondering I believe these are the jeg's fox body longtubes.


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[oddball101]

Good info. keep us updated!

 

[ford_ranger12]

I will, just haven't been able to get much more done lately. It's been raining a lot lately and when it does it's like a mud pit underneath the truck for a while. Wish I had concrete floors for it lol


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[ford_ranger12]

Well the guy at the shop that does exhaust said to get everything bolted in place and let them get a few cars moved out and I can drop the ranger off up there and he'll make the headers fit. So that's good news but I have to wait for all my clutch parts to come in and put it all together. Gonna be a few more weeks.


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[ford_ranger12]

I picked up another used set of fox headers I found used for $100. They have a lot of dents but they're 1-3/4" tubes so I figured I'd just try them out.

The driver side fits like it was made for this ranger, aside from the steering shaft but mines relocated anyways.

The passenger side actually looks like it might work but the engine mount plate is hitting one of the tubes not letting it come all the way forward

so I'm going to grab another passenger plate tomorrow from the shop to notch out and hopefully this thing will fit without any modification to it.

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[2Krngr]

Great pics, that's a real nice fit for some long tubes!

 

[ford_ranger12]

Well, I got the passenger side to fit but not happy with it.

i had to not my motor mount and it still hit the lower motor mount so I dented it more and it's still touching

then I notched the rear control arm mount to help with clearance so I didn't have to dent it as bad. It actually clears pretty good and the dent isn't near as bad as some of them (most were already there).

and lastly it has to have one more small dent right at the back where it contacts the frame. I had already took the header on and off so many times I didn't feel like doing it again. I'm going to be taking them off one last time though to weld on v band clamps, o2 sensors, and get some muratic acid to eat the rust off and hit with some paint so I'll hit that last dent then.

now after all this trouble I think putting some full size collectors on some shortys would've been the best route to take.


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[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for taking the time to post your findings.
If you could, double-space between each picture and also single-space between each picture and any description about the picture. It helps the readability and separation between pics.