The jeepfan.com 1978 CJ-5 was our regular trail Jeep for 10 years but it’s hard trail days are over. While there still could be a “fun drive through the woods type day” this Jeep will not see difficult stuff again, at least while we have it. Anyone with a V8 equipped Jeep knows that listening to the engine all day on the trail is “exhausting” (sorry). This Jeep ran stock manifolds through a Flowmaster Y pipe to a 3″ Flowmaster muffler and out the back. The Jeep did sound good but was far from loud, take a listen below.
Now, knowing the primary use for the Jeep is the street we decided to go retro and pull the reasonable exhaust in favor of some Hedman Hedders and Purple Hornie glasspack mufflers. These will definitely make the Jeep stand out.
The Parts: Hedman Headers and Flowtech Purple Hornie Mufflers
Hedman Hedders – part number 99198 – Hedman Elite Heavy-Duty Fenderwell Headers with silver ceramic coating.
Flowtech – part number 50232FLT – Flowtech Purple Hornie Collector Muffler set. Note: These come separate or as a set..the set has a small angle bracket on top for mounting, the singles have a larger metal piece on the side for mounting. For a Jeep the angle bracket set will be much easier.
Header Installation
The CJ had custom fabricated rocker protection that was welded right to the frame, unfortunately they needed to go since the headers would exit through the fenderwells. Not a big deal since the trail use will be minimal. The front fenders were removed and after a few minutes with the sawzall they were off.
With the guards off the exhaust manifolds were unbolted and removed. The new headers were bolted on with two bolts each for some test fitting. Some headers can vary and we didn’t want ones that weren’t real close to parallel with the body floor. Note, the steering shaft needed to be removed from the end of the steering column as well as the dipstick retaining bracket.
We were really happy with the fitment of the new Hedman headers and decided to fully commit to the installation.
Modifications to the Mufflers
If you notice the Hedman headers feature a ball and socket style collector instead of the old style rigid flange. This is a superior connection method that requires no gasket, won’t leak and allows a bit of adjustment. BUT, the Purple Hornies use the standard old flange that will not seal well to the ball end of the header. We decided to cut off the flange and weld in the socket collectors that came with the headers for a perfect fit. Luckily the size was the same and it was a matter of cutting off the flange and trimming the weld to remove the pipe end from within the muffler. The new reducer fit right in. After some test fitting the new reducers were welded in. We aren’t sure if we will leave the mufflers purple..they will likely be painted all black. Update..we did paint them completely black.
The headers were bolted in place after cleaning up the exhaust ports using new gaskets and ARP header bolts. Note: the Hedman headers come with gaskets and bolts. We neglected to notice that there were the proper bolts in the box so we used the ARP we purchased separately, not a bad thing really. We also needed to do some fender trimming and some wiring cleanup.
After the headers were fully tight the plug wires were reinstalled along with the dipstick bracket. The steering shaft was bolted up and the rest of the old exhaust was removed.
This seemed like a good time to fire up the CJ to see how it sounds with open headers. Watch below!
Fitting the Mufflers
The ball and socket design of the Hedman collectors makes a superior connection over the traditional header flange. No gasket is required and some adjustment is possible. The next step is installing the fenders and the mufflers followed by seeing how loud this thing will be.
After the headers were tightened up and the mufflers were modified it was time to get the mufflers mounted using the small support bracket on the top of the muffler. The set of Purple Hornies come with some stainless bolts and muffler straps, which we used. There isn’t much space between the muffler and the bottom of the Jeep’s fiberglass body, we considered using a bracket fabricated from the frame but we decided on using the steel body mount attached to the fiberglass body since we didn’t want to drill through the Jeep’s floor. The bracket that was fabricated from some 1/8″ flat steel was a U shape and very simple.
With both sides mounted and lined up the mufflers were snugged up to the headers and the Jeep was ready for it’s first run with the new Hedman headers and Purple Hornies. It was clear right away that the Jeep was going to sound great and quite a bit louder than it was before. Watch below.
The New Exhaust Sound
After checking everything out the Jeep was pulled back in and the fenders were reinstalled. A small amount of trimming was required to get the proper fit with the headers. Remember these fenders are fiberglass.
We took the Jeep for a ride and it’s loud but not unbearable. It’s fun and amazing how some gentle throttle work will allow the Jeep to stay quiet.
It’s hard to not love the classic look of headers on a CJ. The purple color of the mufflers isn’t terrible but the next step will be to paint them black for a little less “stand out”. We can’t wait for spring and the return of nice weather to fully enjoy the Jeep. Check back for some driving video.
In review we used Hedman Hedders Elite Series, part # 99198 and Flowtech Purple Hornies part #50232 (these come as a set).
