Installing headers
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Senior Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 110
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From: Topeka,KS USA
Installing headers
There is a shop in my area that gave me a quote to install my headers for $250. My question is, If you were mechanically inclined, Would you do it to save $250?
I bought a set of Banks headers off of E-Bay. Paid $255 for them, they had 10k miles on them. Not too worried about warpage due to the 5/8" flanges. I am sending them to Jet hot for the sterling coating.
I bought a set of Banks headers off of E-Bay. Paid $255 for them, they had 10k miles on them. Not too worried about warpage due to the 5/8" flanges. I am sending them to Jet hot for the sterling coating.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Milan, Il USA
Neal, WOW, 3 hours ?!?
It took me all day following the installation instructions...
What's your secret ? Just curious...
I put my truck on jack stands, removed the front tires, took out the fender wells, torched off the cat/manifold bolts with an oxy/MAPP gas torch (those things would have been a B%tch to remove with a wrench), removed the manifold bolts and studs (came out pretty easily), cleaned off the gasket surfaces, moved the sensor from the manifold to the header, fit the new header and gasket to the head, and then spent a couple of hours trying to get the header bolts threaded in. The bottom ones were easy, the top ones were pretty tough since they were back behind the header tubes... I couldn't get the threads started. They should have put a little un-threaded 'pilot' on the end of the bolt. Would have made that a ton easier. I used a crow's foot wrench on the bolt heads and that worked great to torque them down. Got the exhaust back together, started the engine, got it hot, let it cool, re-snugged the header bolts and then put the fender wells and wheels back on.
About 8-1/2 hours total including clean-up...
During the process I was swearing up and down the driveway about the fact that I should have just paid somebody to do it. By the time I was done I was glad I did it myself. Threading in the new header bolts was the worst part for me... Having that oxy/Mapp torch took care of another potential time-waster on the 4 bolts that hold the 2 flanges from the cats onto the exhaust manifold. The bolts were rusted pretty good and it would have been hard to get a wrench on those things. I didn't even try, I just torched the suckers off. Took 10 minutes for all 4 bolts.
Mine are JBAs with silver-ceramic coating.
Moral to the story ? Save the $250 and do it yourself. If you don't have an oxy/Mapp torch you can spend $50 of the $250 you saved and buy one at any big Home Improvement store. Mine is a Bernzomatic...
It took me all day following the installation instructions...
What's your secret ? Just curious...
I put my truck on jack stands, removed the front tires, took out the fender wells, torched off the cat/manifold bolts with an oxy/MAPP gas torch (those things would have been a B%tch to remove with a wrench), removed the manifold bolts and studs (came out pretty easily), cleaned off the gasket surfaces, moved the sensor from the manifold to the header, fit the new header and gasket to the head, and then spent a couple of hours trying to get the header bolts threaded in. The bottom ones were easy, the top ones were pretty tough since they were back behind the header tubes... I couldn't get the threads started. They should have put a little un-threaded 'pilot' on the end of the bolt. Would have made that a ton easier. I used a crow's foot wrench on the bolt heads and that worked great to torque them down. Got the exhaust back together, started the engine, got it hot, let it cool, re-snugged the header bolts and then put the fender wells and wheels back on.
About 8-1/2 hours total including clean-up...
During the process I was swearing up and down the driveway about the fact that I should have just paid somebody to do it. By the time I was done I was glad I did it myself. Threading in the new header bolts was the worst part for me... Having that oxy/Mapp torch took care of another potential time-waster on the 4 bolts that hold the 2 flanges from the cats onto the exhaust manifold. The bolts were rusted pretty good and it would have been hard to get a wrench on those things. I didn't even try, I just torched the suckers off. Took 10 minutes for all 4 bolts.
Mine are JBAs with silver-ceramic coating.
Moral to the story ? Save the $250 and do it yourself. If you don't have an oxy/Mapp torch you can spend $50 of the $250 you saved and buy one at any big Home Improvement store. Mine is a Bernzomatic...
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Milan, Il USA
Neal, WOW, 3 hours ?!?
It took me all day following the installation instructions...
What's your secret ? Just curious...
I put my truck on jack stands, removed the front tires, took out the fender wells, torched off the cat/manifold bolts with an oxy/Mapp gas torch (those things would have been a B%tch to remove with a wrench), removed the manifold bolts and studs (came out pretty easily), cleaned off the gasket surfaces, moved the sensor from the manifold to the header, fit the new header and gasket to the head, and then spent a couple of hours trying to get the header bolts threaded in. The bottom ones were easy, the top ones were pretty tough since they were back behind the header tubes... I couldn't get the threads started. They should have put a little un-threaded 'pilot' on the end of the bolt. Would have made that a ton easier. I used a crow's foot wrench on the bolt heads and that worked great to torque them down. Got the exhaust back together, started the engine, got it hot, let it cool, re-snugged the header bolts and then put the fender wells and wheels back on.
About 8-1/2 hours total including clean-up...
During the process I was swearing up and down the driveway about the fact that I should have just paid somebody to do it. By the time I was done I was glad I did it myself. Threading in the new header bolts was the worst part for me... Having that oxy/Mapp torch took care of another potential time-waster on the 4 bolts that hold the 2 flanges from the cats onto the exhaust manifold. The bolts were rusted pretty good and it would have been hard to get a wrench on those things. I didn't even try, I just torched the suckers off. Took less than 10 minutes for all 4 bolts.
Mine are JBAs with silver-ceramic coating.
Moral to the story ? Save the $250 and do it yourself. If you don't have an oxy/Mapp torch you can spend $50 of the $250 you saved and buy one at any big Home Improvement store. Mine is a Bernzomatic...
It took me all day following the installation instructions...
What's your secret ? Just curious...
I put my truck on jack stands, removed the front tires, took out the fender wells, torched off the cat/manifold bolts with an oxy/Mapp gas torch (those things would have been a B%tch to remove with a wrench), removed the manifold bolts and studs (came out pretty easily), cleaned off the gasket surfaces, moved the sensor from the manifold to the header, fit the new header and gasket to the head, and then spent a couple of hours trying to get the header bolts threaded in. The bottom ones were easy, the top ones were pretty tough since they were back behind the header tubes... I couldn't get the threads started. They should have put a little un-threaded 'pilot' on the end of the bolt. Would have made that a ton easier. I used a crow's foot wrench on the bolt heads and that worked great to torque them down. Got the exhaust back together, started the engine, got it hot, let it cool, re-snugged the header bolts and then put the fender wells and wheels back on.
About 8-1/2 hours total including clean-up...
During the process I was swearing up and down the driveway about the fact that I should have just paid somebody to do it. By the time I was done I was glad I did it myself. Threading in the new header bolts was the worst part for me... Having that oxy/Mapp torch took care of another potential time-waster on the 4 bolts that hold the 2 flanges from the cats onto the exhaust manifold. The bolts were rusted pretty good and it would have been hard to get a wrench on those things. I didn't even try, I just torched the suckers off. Took less than 10 minutes for all 4 bolts.
Mine are JBAs with silver-ceramic coating.
Moral to the story ? Save the $250 and do it yourself. If you don't have an oxy/Mapp torch you can spend $50 of the $250 you saved and buy one at any big Home Improvement store. Mine is a Bernzomatic...
