While walking the many aisles of SEMA, we stopped by our friends at American Racing Headers to find out what’s new in the header and exhaust world. ARH was excited to show off its new full exhaust system for the 1979 to 1993 Ford Mustang, and we were excited to hear about it. We chatted with ARH’s own Nick Filippides to get the rundown.
FM: Tell us about this new Fox-body system.
Filippides: For the Fox-body, 1979-1993, we now offer a full exhaust system. We’ve had headers for quite a while, but we’ve never had a complete exhaust system. We developed something you can get in either 3-inch or 2.5-inch, or 3-inches through the X-pipe (or H-pipe) and 2.5 from there back. So, if you already have a cat-back and want to connect our exhaust system to it, you can. Or, you can order the full system, and it will fit the GT or LX. We have two different style tips for that.
This is the first time there has ever been a stainless steel 3-inch full exhaust for the Fox-body. No one has ever done it before, as far as I know. It comes with our Pure Thunder series mufflers that have a nice bass tone to them. It’s not obnoxiously loud, and they’re really free-flowing. It’s all 304 stainless, it’s all 100-percent American made, and it’s badass.
FM: So, these are for the stock 302?
Filippides: Yes, these are for the Ford 302. But if you’ve got a 347, as long as you’ve got the stock factory-bolt-pattern style, it’s a bolt-on. It tucks up real nice off the ground with no ground clearance issues. We put all the hanger brackets in, so you should be able to use the stock hanger locations. It’ll never rust, never corrode. It’s got merge collectors with scavenger spikes in the collectors. What you see here is what you get. This is not some doctored up showpiece. This is how it comes out of the box.
FM: And, this is sold as a complete system, but is it also sold in parts?
Filippides: You can buy it in parts. For instance, if you already have a cat-back that you want to keep, we can build a system to be a direct-fit to your cat-back, so at the very end of the X- or the H-pipe, this right now [the show example] is set up for 3-inch. Still, it will reduce down to 2.5-inch here with a ball socket, so it will be a direct fit. No issues there. Or, you can order a cat-back from us. We offer it as a cat-back as well.
FM: If someone needed something for their specific application, they could call you directly, and you could set it up?
Filippides: They can call us directly and let us know what they’re doing, and we can set up a system to accommodate what they have. Ultimately, what’s great about this is, if you have a supercharged Fox-body, you now have the opportunity to have a 3-inch exhaust, which you’ve never had before. And it’s stainless, and it’s available now.
