Well, I’m already down the path of performance upgrades— hotter cam, roller rockers, aluminum manifold, aluminum heads, EFI, electronics, hotter cam, etc, and I figure that headers are an essential part of the performance package. The Sanderson shorty headers are well-made and have a lot of satisfied customers. If they end up leaking, that’d hopefully be within the warranty on the work. There’s also reduced weight, 30-40 lbs. I’m taking every opportunity with upgrades to lose weight, which will add up to make a difference.
I don’t think the Sanderson headers will make it that much louder that cannot be obviated by the controversial cats and careful muffler selection. I’ve been asking for muffler recommendations on this thread, but no one’s piped in with a suggestion.
I’ll confirm exhaust note and tone changes with efi install. quieter even. This is mostly Caused from for much better the engine is running over the carburetor. Results may vary of course depending are your particular setup and carb tuning.
I’m using the Sanderson shorty headers on my car. I had them ceramic coated and did the original install with ARP stainless bolts and RTV on the sealing surfaces per Sanderson instructions. After twice annual re-torquing of the bolts and blown out silicone from the loose fasteners, I pulled them, cleaned the surfaces and installed copper gaskets and Nord Lock washers on the bolts. No more loose fasteners nor leaks.
I’m using Borla mufflers and love the sound.
I don’t know exactly how the Sandersons will be installed, but this shop has installed a bunch of them, and probably knows all the tricks to prevent loosening and leaking.
I’ve been inclined to Borlas. It seems if you want the sound level of “touring” the resonators are needed. What model of Borla muffler do you have?
Nothing in the current Borla line-up matches what I have. Probably closest is the Universal series. I bought a complete Mustang exhaust system from them and had it modified to fit my car.
The shop will start work on the exhaust tomorrow. The mufflers are determined to be Walker Quiet-Flows. Sounds like the neighbors aren’t gonna know my Cougar’s comings and goings.
The Cougar is still at the shop, but I’ve got a report with pics.
—Steering column took a bit more fiddling as the new bearing / collar made it much longer. (At the advice of the forum, I ordered a steering column bearing to replace the plastic sleeve on the non-tilt steering).
—Steering box is in, Needed to get some adapter fittings for hoses, and the hoses with the kit are not long enough, so we will make hoses.
—Exhaust turned out great (pics attached)
—EFI is in, fuel pump in tank and plumbed. A little wiring to do there. Throttle cable and trans kickdown linkage need to be changed to a Lokar cable set-up as the kickdown rod won’t work with the throttle body. We’re getting there.
Seen are the exhaust with the cats. (The driver side cat has a torn shipping label). The cats seem to me to be clear of anything that’d be affected by their heat. It’s Sanderson Shorty headers, Magna-Flow exhaust and Walker Exhaust Quiet-Flow 3 Mufflers. Will be interesting to hear the sound and get an exhaust check, I guess a BAR-97 pre-test with numbers, not a certificate, and compare this to what would be expected for a 1970 carbureted car. If it’s significantly cleaner than stock, I’ll be satisfied that it’s an improvement.
Agree it is low. Here is a picture showing how the factory exhaust tucks up under the floor stiffener plate. Convertibles need that plate in place for floor strength without a rigid roof.
Well this is interesting. Here’s a pic of from February 2025, as the Cougar was nearing end of its four year stay at the shop. Is it missing its floor stiffener plate?
I don’t ever recall seeing a floor stiffener plate while it was at the shop. Did they remove the plate in 2021 and forget about it? There were a lot of parts lying around that shop.
Ugh, that sure might explain it. There are two plates that are welded to the floor pan right under the front seats (with holes that access the seat attaching nuts) and then a bolt-in segment that spans the transmission tunnel between these. The bolt-in segment is missing on yours, but I can’t tell if it was there in your pics.
Definitely missing on the current pic with new exhaust, but can’t tell if it was there in the pics at the old shop? You can tell it hasn’t been off for very long by the exposed metal at the mounting locations.
Been over lots of pics from the four years my poor Cougar languished at that shop, but no real good ones of that section. This one I think shows it best.
I think that the plate was there, was removed to install the exhaust, and pics were taken without the plate to better show off the exhaust work before the plate was reinstalled.
Looks to me like your new exhaust is going to have to hang below the plate. If so, that’s going to cause ground clearance problems. My plates barely clear our driveway crown at the street with 2 people in the car.
