Who would be willing to buy a HIGH QUALITY set of FSJ headers?

[rang-a-stang]

I have been in contact with a company that makes really high quality headers.

I am (and I know others have been) annoyed that our choices for AMC V8 FSJs are basically:
1) stock manifolds
2) universal shorties
3) Hedman's (which have terrible port design, terrible coatings, and really thin flanges)
4) Thorley Tri-Ys which are expensive considering what you get and not worth the cost, IMHO.

This header company uses .065 wall tubing and high quality 100% USA sourced 304 S/S.

I would expect a set of their headers to be ~$1600 for our rigs but they would be the last set of headers we would ever need and would fit like a glove. You would not have to spend hours and hours trying to get them to match the dog leg ports like we do with the other sets.

If you would be interested in a set, post up here, or let me know. I don't want to waste his time if there would only be one or 2 sets ordered ever, but if there are few of us that would consider a set, it might be worth his time.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

I'd be in for a set if they mimicked the old Hooker design.

[Wagoneer Taylor]

I would absolutly be interested!

But, $1600 is too steep for me.

[Mars]

$1600? Nah I can get a LS and a pile of goodies before I spent that on just headers.

[wiley-moeracing]

Especially when it will not get you anymore horsepower than the cheap summit or headman headers.

[MysticRob]

Unfortunately that's far more than even a good set of fully dressed aluminum heads and an intake cost, and it just wouldn't be worth the cost per HP for me (not that I even have the money for such upgrades at this point)!.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Especially when it will not get you anymore horsepower than the cheap summit or headman headers.

Unfortunately, Summit doesn't make any headers for our FSJ's and the Heddman's aren't full long tube headers, plus they kind of suck quality wise.

Unfortunately that's far more than even a good set of fully dressed aluminum heads and an intake cost, and it just wouldn't be worth the cost per HP for me (not that I even have the money for such upgrades at this point)!.

Unfortunately, one aluminum cylinder head for an AMC V8 costs $1100. Just one. For the set, you'll be spending over 2 grand. Plus, the intake will be around $360. AMC's ain't cheap to build.

I think this is a good idea. A set of stainless headers for my Marauder were $1600, so a custom set made for our rigs for $1600 isn't outrageous.

[wiley-moeracing]

and dont forget custom exhaust, mufflers ect. on top of the $1600, so your over $2000 right there, I would put my money in the heads and intake before I did exhaust, the stock exhaust manifolds were not super restrictive.

[tgreese]

Apparently the pre-80 manifolds are pretty good, and the '80-up log manifold for the driver's side is not. The passenger side does not change. Might be worthwhile to explore how to run the earlier driver's side manifold on a driver's drop Jeep.

[babywag]

Comment/discussion kind of irrelevant for this thread?

Either you are interested or you are not. No real need to post if the later.

OP is simply asking for real world interest nothing else.

[rang-a-stang]

Buy the best, cry once.

[SOLSAKS]

babywag nailed it.

dave in NC

[DarkMonohue]

Here's the short answer:
Neat idea, but I would not be interested.

And the long answer:
This is an interesting topic. In the past I had a pretty good side business going building custom exhaust system components from headers all the way to the tailpipe for another vehicle. It was a very different vehicle from an FSJ, but it was similar in that it was also a vehicle with enthusiastic owners and not a lot of aftermarket support.

With that experience, the issues that would concern me are:

1) Multiple configurations. Assume your guy is only looking at AMC V8 packages, he still needs to accommodate automatic and stick shift transmissions. Most likely he'll also want to offer a setup for early passenger drop and later driver drop setups. Then he may get requests for dual exhaust configurations, single exhaust configurations, different diameter primaries, different diameter tailpipes, etc. Not all of these require a totally different setup, and maybe he can do a more universal kit that requires the owner to have a local shop tie the headers into the main system - just something to think about.

2) Low sales volume. These are not hugely common vehicles. Relative to more popular platforms, there's a relatively small number of people looking for FSJ headers. If he has to sell multiple versions in lower numbers of each, the return on development costs gets tougher.

3) High price relative to the value of the vehicle. This is something I encountered in a big way with my project. It was hard to justify a $1200 system (stainless header, catalytic converter, muffler, and all the hardware and gaskets to bolt together) for a car that typically sold for $3-6K, and often less. FSJ values are climbing, but they're probably not at the point where a lot of owners are willing to invest in boutique "car jewelry" kind of parts.

4) Demographics. This is a real killer. My typical customer worked ten hours a week for minimum wage, expected everything he ordered to land on his doorstep the next day, and couldn't torque a lug nut without a YouTube tutorial. Most of the FSJ crowd is a lot older and a lot more experienced than that, thankfully, but a lot of folks here are still working with a very limited budget. Even if they're beautifully made and last a lifetime, $1600 is a lot of money for an item that is more luxury than necessity.

Sorry to go all Negative Nancy on you. I'm just not certain it would be viable.