Christmas time...what to buy next?

[ReevesRacing]

Hey guys,
Looking to get something for the Charger for Christmas. Question is...what to buy?

I'm looking at JBA Catless mid-pipes, Headers, or a cam, or ??.

Car already has JBA Catback exhaust, Air-Hammer CAI, and a Predator running 93 CAI canned tune.

JBA Catless mid-pipes are the cheaper bet, but how much performance gain? Plus they won't work with long tube headers if I go that route?

Headers are what I would like to get, but it seems Kooks is the best, but kind of pricey. What others are options? I'm looking for max HP/TRQ, not necessarily looks/price. Are Kooks the best only because they are SS, or are they the best HP/TRQ gain?

Cam...what to get for a lumpy idle, good sound, and good HP/TRQ but MUST KEEP MDS ? Also, don't want to change springs if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance!!!!

[Fargo59]

why does everyone insist on going catless? i dont really get the hype. leave them on there, or get high flows, and get your tune right. you wont have any problems.
id go headers and cam if i were you. or headers, then cam.

now as for my wish list, i dont expect much but my winter shopping list is as follows.
DR's and wheels, a wide band 02 sensor/gauge, maybe some dyno time, 215 rear end, new axles, and a 2800 stall converter. i dont expect any of that though.

[ReevesRacing]

why does everyone insist on going catless? i dont really get the hype. leave them on there, or get high flows, and get your tune right. you wont have any problems.
id go headers and cam if i were you. or headers, then cam.

Catless because I want to. No need for cats in my area, plus this thing doesn't get a whole lot of road time, except on pretty days and to/from the track.

So headers first is the better choice? Long tube or shorty's?

[Fargo59]

i went shorties. you keep a bit of backpressure, and keep some torque compared to long tubes. you also save a fair bit of coin. if you go long tubes though, youre set for much bigger things later.

[ReevesRacing]

i went shorties. you keep a bit of backpressure, and keep some torque compared to long tubes. you also save a fair bit of coin. if you go long tubes though, youre set for much bigger things later.

Do you get that header *ting* sound with shorties? I know....that sounds gay, but I really like the header sound!

http://tinyurl.com/5gael9
Are these considered good? The price is definately right (so far) especially with catless mid-pipes.

[Fargo59]

the crackle? not really. mopar mid lengths are another good alternative. they have a long tube sound to them

[dudeiwin86]

the mopar brand heads are equal length. i highly suggest them over shorties for a budget.
they come with cats included in teh price. welding will be required to fit them up without cats.

kooks can be purchased with or without cats,
gains are going to be similar if not equal amonst all true long tube brands. i suggest dynatech as well.

there arent very many lumpey cams that are MDS compatible. you can play with the LSA a little bit to get some overlap, but from what im seeing, MDS doesnt like it at all, and you will get BAD surges.

MDS will remain engaged down to something like 750 rpms.
my cam idles at 800-850.(big cam, no mds)... stock cam idles at 650.
thust you see... MDS disengages before the stock cam comes to idle.
on a big aftermarket cam, you will be coming down to a stop, hit idle rpm's, and MDS will disengage at like 5 mph, and will LURCH you forward forcing you to literally SLAM on the brakes. i hear its a huge pain in the ass.

that said. the sidewinder is a perfect MDS cam with great low end gains, but it sounds close to stock.

my best advice on choosing a cam....
start calling the vendors. talk to FRI, Inertia, PPP(even tho i dont think they make MDS cams actually) and they can set you up good, and help you pick out a cam that fits your needs

a cam is going to cost you 400+350 to 500 for a custom tune+100 for misc parts like rods, fluids, lifters etc.... totallign 1000 if you install yourself... then another 750-1100 for good install... expect to spend around 2000 out the door for a cam only swap unless you have hook ups or can do the work yourself

on the plus side, you can easily do the headers while doing the cam swap if you pull the heads to change the springs.

[dudeiwin86]

look at the picture....
you can see where the mid pipes connect to the header... its a 2.5" pipe (if i had to guess...)
you can see it neck down to 2.25" right after t

MAJOR RESTRICTION




look at the JBA offroad pipes...

(ok the above picture says HHP, i got it from their website, but theyre identical to the JBA's, and the "hhp" catted midpipes also look identical to the JBA's... i assume they are JBA's...
either way...
see how they dont neck down?
your ebay link is very low quality, i would avoid that set

[ReevesRacing]

look at the picture....
you can see where the mid pipes connect to the header... its a 2.5" pipe (if i had to guess...)
you can see it neck down to 2.25" right after t

MAJOR RESTRICTION




look at the JBA offroad pipes...

(ok the above picture says HHP, i got it from their website, but theyre identical to the JBA's, and the "hhp" catted midpipes also look identical to the JBA's... i assume they are JBA's...
either way...
see how they dont neck down?

your ebay link is very low quality, i would avoid that set

I was thinking that the Ebay header had a 3" outlet, and in the midpipe necks down to 2.5".

[MagnumRT05]

Id skip the catless mids by JBA/ebay. Just find a set (or use yours) of stock mids, chop off the cats, weld up straight pipes, then scrap the cats. Then you wont be out the $200. Spend the savings on a Sidewinder, even though I would do heads/cam all at once. Thats my opinion on the situation.

[dudeiwin86]

if you want max power,
do the cam.
youre not gonna keep MDS and have a lumpy cam tho.

[ReevesRacing]

The only reason I say that I have to keep MDS is that's the whole reason my Dad went with the 5.7L vs. the 6.1L. It wasn't my choice.

If it were up to me, I'd go with a nice big lumpy cam and skip the MDS crap.

I'm aiming for either a set of Pacesetter headers, that I will reweld the flanges and port match, then bead blast and send to Jet Hot to get coated, or a set of Mopar headers, and then cut the cats off.

[higshemi-less]

Someone was selling a brand new set of Mopar headers recently for 1000 w/ HF cats I believe. Check the for sale section.

[dudeiwin86]

Someone was selling a brand new set of Mopar headers recently for 1000 w/ HF cats I believe. Check the for sale section.

thats probably more than they payed for them lol

[typicalmarine]

Also keep in mind a lot of the big cams will require you to have a torque converter if you're really going to take full advantage of it.

Cam swap along with a CMR tune (can be done via email) will give you the biggest gains. A lot of 5.7 guys are using 6.1 SRT headers and mids, including myself. It's debatable but they've been compared to JBA and said to be right inline perofrmance wise.

I hate to say this but its true, if youre going to spend the coin to install a cam and plan on upgrading the heads in the future - get the heads on at the same time. Taking the heads off is part of the cam swap so you're saving a nice chunk of change doing it all at the same time.

Now for the good news. There are folks here on the forum that travel to do installs. I dont know all of them but I worked with Elcobra44 from Michigan Hemi Performance (MHP). He had us line up three total installs to make it worth traveling and did the job for a great price. PLUS you have the added benefit of having the work done by someone who knows THESE cars and not some general mechanic winging it.

Soooooooo sounds like you may have to work out a build schedule and budget! You will LOVE the difference in your beast!