When I got my truck back in late 1994 - Dodge Dealer offered me factory headers and a complete exhaust for the 318ci engine for like $550. (including cats muffler and tail pipe) I can still get a decent set of headers for $450.

He wanted some money from me as I was driving off the lot with a free truck. (free for me at least - I just love consulting work) I still love this truck. Perhaps when I rebuild it I will go all out with a built motor with headers & leather. I figure it will be cheaper then buying a new 4X4

BTW - I sent Erick an email and asked him to respond to the questions on this thread.

 

Brian, thanks for the heads up on this thread, very sorry for the late reply guys, we have been swamped with calls, emails and work...going to do fitment for a new heat exchanger for an E55 in the morning

by the way, the heat exchanger for the SRT is now being produced! we should have some production units ready right after Christmas!

now to the headers, here is the deal, first of all, the ones on the website are for the C32...they will not fit the SRT...my webguy posted the pic up there by mistake, sorry to tease you guys...

BUT, we are interested in making a set of headers for the SRT, there is just one problem that is holding me back right now...to put up the money and time in R&D for these headers is costly, and like Brian mentioned, you have to lift the motor in order to install these...not easy or for the faint of heart...

SO, what i need to know is how many people are serious about a purchasing a set of headers?

THIS does not include people who are interested, waiting to see dyno results, etc...

what i am trying to figure out is if this is worth the expense, trouble, etc...just trying to be upfront and honest with you guys so that you know where i am coming from...you could expect at least 10whp out of our header setup, obviously i can't guarantee more until they are done and we test the first set...

let me know if you have any questions, as i really do appreciate your interest in our products!

and, if we had 5 people commit to buying a set of headers, we could build them without any problems! thanks!

 

First off want to say thanks for clearing up some of our questions and posting here. I completely understand where your comming from on needing 5 people to commit. I have a few more questions though.

Will you be duplicating the design on the C32 headers shown on your website, but to fit the srt-6?

Whats the projected cost?

Is lifting the motor as simple as removing two motormount nuts and placing a jack under the engine?

 

yes, the design will be similar to the C32 headers...

cost should be in line with the C32 headers, they are selling at $950 shipped...

yes, it is as simple as that, and it is not... you will have to jack up the motor, but you will also have to be able to get enough clearance on each side(read: undo the motor mounts, tranny mounts, exhaust, plugs, wires, coil packs, air boxes, etc...) and probably have to pull the motor to one side in order to get the clearance to fit the headers in place...

this is assuming that you don't have access to a lift, as i am sure most of you guys would be DIY...

please let me know if you have any other questions...

 

Do you have a set on an R170 yet?

Any power output ideas?

SQ

 

nope, we have not built a set yet, that is why i am trying to determine how many people would actually be interested in purchasing a set...

until we have some on a car, all i can guarantee is 10whp...i know that is not much, but i am very conservative when i quote hp numbers, i don't want to ever get into a situation where i am inflating numbers...

thanks!

 

the thing is Erick is that you never really know how much of the product is going to sell.. When Needswings (Another tuner) was developing i am sure he did not expect to sell nearly as much sets as he did.. and I am still surprised he sold as many as he did.. and there are still plenty of people that are purchasing it..

I am not a pro with working on the cars myself and I don't know how much the headers will cost to install as I will not be DIY this... nor do I have the tools to do so..

I have already spent over $6,000 in aftermarket parts for the crossfire and still have not touched the engine, but that is where I plan to head on next.. as I would really like to increase the performance of my car and am willing to pay top dollar..

What I can tell you is that there was a recent group buy in which within roughly 2-3 weeks $17,000 was spent by srt-6 owners for just pullies and intake.. this goes to show that us crossfire owners are also willing to pay for performance upgrades..

I posted this thread and was excited to see headers for our srt-6 pop up as option.. as we have never had it as an option for performance upgrades in the past... I don't know if you will get 5 us to commit right now.. but I feel asured that 5 sets will sell if the product is released unless the instalation is like $1298310 heh...

At the price for $3,200 which you are selling your stage 2 package for the c32.. it is something I would very likely purchase within the next year unless something better comes along heh.. like your turbine project

In conclusion I would love to have headers possible to purchase at will and with your reputation and skill I am sure you can great product.. and a great product sells itself?

 

i understand what you are saying, but there is a slight difference between the cost of building a set of headers that are completely custom and ordering a few pieces of tubing/couplers on ebay... and don't take that as a stab at Needswings, i know him from my SRT-4 days and he is a great guy and I am glad that he is bringing some products together for this vehicle, just trying to distinguish the difference between the 2 projects...

here is where i am coming from right now...i have money invested in several projects right now that i know are going to sell...if i build a set of headers for this car and we test them out and it only puts out 10whp, how many people do you think will pay $950 for 10whp along with install costs if you are not going to do it yourself?

it is a catch-22, i want you guys to commit and you want me to show you the HP gains so that you can commit...

these headers will probably be built at some point no matter what, but they may be put on hold if we can't get 5 guys to step right now...i could have my fabricator start on these tomorrow if we had 5 guys willing to fork over the money...

i appreciate the feedback, and i am listening...

 

If the R&D is costly wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a set from Startech, and copy that?

same with the Kleeman parts, all the egineering is done for you, just make a couple subtle changes so it's not a direct knock off.

There has already been a guy on the forum here that has made his own long tube headers and overdrive pulley, maybe you should contact him.

 

I think that after everyone gets their pulleys and intakes installed and someone sets the bar. Whether it's quarter mile times or whatever they are into, then maybe to distinguish themselves from the crowd will headers be an option. So it's not the first mod SRT owners will run out and get, but there probably is 5 people out there that want to be the fastest or unique. The rest might just be content with the power they get from the easier mods to install. If no one hit's the 11's with the current mods out there, then 10rwhp will probably make the difference. Which is very likely someone will be in the 11's with current mods, because no one with a pulley and intake setup has ran with drag radials or slicks. Not to mention the very few with methanol injection. Once anyone runs below 11.5, it's roll cage time if you ever want to go back to the track. At most NHRA sanctioned tracks. At least it's another option to find horsepower when the list dwindles of available mods to install.
Cruzinquick

 

I don't know erik personally, but I think he would agree that would be a little unethical and bad for business. Hopefully he can work something out, but right now I don't have the money or time to install a set, so I can wait patiently.

 

Headers are a mod i am definitely going to do at some point in time. Unfortunately, i cant yet commit as one of the first 5 guys to get this going.

My car arrives in 2 days.

The first things ill be getting are intake, pulley, and tune, in that order. Im thinking the headers will probably come after that.

 

i am no pro.. to do this myself

how much would you guys think the install will run?

 

It would not be cheap you are probably close to the $500 dollar range from a backyard mechanic. Maybe $1000 dealer or nice shop mechanic. I didn't know you had to pull the engine to get them in? If I read correctly can you get to them from the bottom of the car. I do not have a jack available to throw it up in the air but my buddy does. I was hopping to toss it on jack stands and just drop them out with out undoing the engine. This would be the deciding factor for me in both building and buying.

 

you can only pull them from the top side because of the way that they are routed...that is why you have to jack the motor up in order to get enough clearance...

 

by the way, does the regular crossfire use the same manifolds as the SRT?

if so, we can probably go ahead with the project..

 

Id say $500 is reasonable, thats 6.66 hrs at $75 an hr. $1000 is ridiculous IMO. If you have a jack, jackstands and basic hand tools(wrenches, sockets, etc) i dont see how it could be that hard, just more time consuming than taking it to your local shop.

 

well the slk320 uses the same ones as the slk32.. as far as I know.. so I would not be surprised if the same applies to the crossfire... I think Derrick is the best man for this question though..

 

yeah they're the same layout, same body and same engine ecept for the supercharger, the srt6 may have a larger ID in the manifolds but they are the same towards the cats.

 

Hey, I'll fork over $950 for a set of 2.5" ID long tube headers into a three port merge collector and single bung for wideband 02 sensors.