Today I spoke with Jason of Stainless Works. He said he'll need an STR (also fits n/a 4.2) to be available at his shop to mock up headers, along with 15-20 buyers. The cost would be approx. $700 for shorties and $800 for full length. A $150/each deposit is required. Who's interested, and who lives near Cleveland, Ohio? Jason said from his experiences, shorties typically yielded 20 chp, while full length scavenged 40 chp.

A 500 chp STR is possibly concievable with: Mina intake, modded air intake tube, 3 lb pulley, s/c port/polish, headers, hi-flow cats, x-pipe, and an ECU tune. A twin screw conversion, intake, exhaust, and tune may yield over 650 chp.

 

I for one would be interested! I am having a nasty exhaust leak right now anyway and am going to have to do something in the next few weeks otherwise will probably die of carbon monoxide poisoning - LOL!!

I am about 275 miles south of Cleveland and could be a potential test subject, what is the timeframe and any ideas as to how long they would need the car?

I would like to look at the SS shorties dont know if I have need / use of the full length headers...

-Cheers

 

Full length or bust. Would love to do it, but not on the first batch.

 

Chris, betting they'll need your car for a full day or 1.5 days. Unless someone figures a less painful way of installing full lengths, I'm a shorty too. Since you'll be the test mule, perhaps they'll install long tubes on your STR as a means of confirming the efficacy of their fit? Your exhaust leak or odor may be coming from a rusted out EGR tube or leaking exhaust manifold, shortly disappearing due to quick expansion from heat of combustion.

 

We need each other to further product development for our cars. And Stainless Works won't release a product unless it's perfectly square. You'd be listed as one of the founding fathers of S-Type V8 headers. So what do you say?

 

+1

I am in for the headers, lets get some costs and timelines and I will step up to the plate for the team!

Also going to look at that EGR tube, this exhaust smell is getting down right unpleasant!! Do you know by chance the part number for the EGR tube? I have looked high and low and cant seem to find an EGR tube just a replacement EGR...

 

Awesome Chris! It'll take some time to align the interested, but i'm sure we'll have enough people. The reciept for the EGR tube is in the Jag, which is at the body shop. Believe I got it from jagbits or Jaguar. The replacement will be noticeably larger in diameter than original (they made an improvement). I may be able to stop by the body shop to dig up the EGR tube. First determine if its rusted out and/or exhaust manifold gasket failed. With the car lifted, an exhaust tech can take an LED flashlight to the exhaust manifolds and EGR tube, looking for black soot where the manifold mates the gasket to the block. A lean condition will exist if there is an exhaust leak forward of the cats.

 

Im down, it is ~400 miles for me.

 

I'm not in ohio, but have a friend in Lima and have been planning a visit b4 the end of Feburary. Just like the air intake tube threads. I'm with this one also. Add me to the list. Full length of course.

 

Thanks Doc! We now have four or five "in", and likely 15 in a few weeks. $800 for 40 chp is a great value.

 

I have a few questions/concerns. Speculating, obviously, what type of under-hood temp increase would we be likely to see with the long tubes? Also, what would happen to the cats? Would short tubes be able to keep the cats in place? I'm assuming I would have to get different cats and move them as well as lengthen the O2 sensor wiring for at least the long tubes. I wouldn't be too worried about the cats but I must pass a visual inspection for cats every 2 years as well as pass an emissions test. I don't think the short tubes would be worth the gains, but the long tubes would be interesting. I also don't think I could stretch the headers and the LSD so close together (wife's college ain't cheap!) and it looks like the headers will require a good bit of additional parts and cost on top of just the headers themselves.

 

Quartz, 1. Utilize the same cats as you have now. Just weld them to collector 2. Lengthen or shorten the O2 wires 3. Headers aren't illegal in CA. Your cats will be present for visual inspection 4. The headers will be available when you are ready. The CAD drawing is saved. I'll check with SW to assure this.

 

I'm in CO, not CA , but your statement is correct either way. I'm not convinced that the current cats would work in another location since they have an angled inlet and there isn't enough length to cut the angle off to make it straight. I'm still a little wary about how much the under-hood temps would increase with the long tubes considering the heat soak issues the car has already.

 

There's always Jet Hot!

 

I am tentatively interested in a pair of Shorty's, so long as they also fit the X350 XJ. From what i've read here on JF, there is even less space to fit headers on the XJ than the S-Type, could be a problem.

Just to add my own comments on getting this project off the ground;

The stock manifolds are the same for the 4.2L S-Type, 4.2L X350 XJ, 4.2L XF and 4.2L Alloy-body XK. If it were possible to produce a Shorty design that fit all four of these models, then the potential customer base is greatly expanded, and if the price is attractive enough, the highest potential for sales.

I'm not certain, but it could be that a Long-Tube 4-1 header for the 4.2L S-Type could possibly suit the 4.2L XF as well.

I doubt very much that a long-tube for the S-Type / XF would also suit the X350 or the XK alloy-body cars.

If it were possible to produce the following combinations & push it accordingly;

1. Shorty's for X202, X250, X350 & X150 4.2L cars = lowest possible price (100pcs worldwide)
2. Long Tube for X202 & X250 = slightly more expensive option (maybe 25pcs worldwide)
3. Long Tube for X150 = more expensive, lower demand (maybe 10pcs worldwide)
4. Long Tube for X350 = even more expensive, very low demand. (maybe 5pcs worldwide)

Maybe the 100pcs for the Shorty's is too optimistic...

Other car to consider in trying to maximise quantities is the 4.2L X103.
Based on the parts catalog, they have a completely different exhaust manifold to the sedans & later XK. Though a compact Shorty design might also suit the X103 (and earlier XK's retrofitted with 4.2's).

Just wanted to put this out there, would be great to see an affordable header for our cars, i'd like it to happen, but in order to reach economical quantities, you can't rely on S-Type owners alone.

And what about the LS? The Long-Tubes weren't exactly a roaring success, maybe a Shorty would be more attractive from an installation point of view...

And backwards compatibility to the 4.0L cars??? Another big market opportunity...

 

Yes, you'll need to procure the straight, not angled, Magnaflow cats ($80/each). Don't believe heat will be a problem...yet.

 

I also was contemplating shorties...ease of installation, etc. 20 extra chp is nice and a possible TS blower would make it moot.