Installing A Performance Exhaust For A Ford Mustang - Exhausting The Possibilities

Clearances are a little tighter on the left side of the car, but it's still an easy installation once you get past the power-steering pump.

At the cut-off wheel, all of the needed cuts are made in short order, and the pipe ends are prepared to complete the connections.

On the right side of the car, it's the same routine. Measurement and cutting are nearly complete as Dan Henderson from Fantasy Muffler Service prepares to weld the system together.

With everything held in the correct position with a floor stand, the whole system is welded together using a MIG welder. There's no fussing with clamps or leaks.

We're back on the rollers at Superior, and the time has come to see what improvements are realized when K-manifolds are used in front of a stock exhaust system.

Back at Fantasy muffler, Dan pulls the right-side K-code manifold off the engine. All new pipes will be needed back to the balance tube for the next test with the headers.

Here the K-manifold comes off the left side of the engine. You can see they weren't run long enough to even discolor the inside. We're a little worried that we won't see any power gains with the headers either, given the pedestrian nature of the stock exhaust system.

On Mustangs with power steering, the ram anchor bracket must be replaced with the Hedman bracket shown earlier. It lowers the power ram cylinder enough to clear the header. Here, the stock ram anchor bracket is being removed from the car. If other power-steering problems arise, such as pressure lines too close to a header tube, then '68 Mustang power-steering hoses might be required. This change routes the pressure lines underneath the motor mount to keep them clear of entanglements.

Work begins on the header installation. We have to go in from the bottom on both sides, and this right side header is an easy fit. Once in the correct position the headers will be secured using one header bolt, and the rest of the fasteners will be installed from above.