Today's project was the installation of my used JBA headers I got from Leo. JBA wanted $40 for a bolt/gasket installation kit, so I bought a pair of factory 4.0L exhaust gaskets for $16. I used bolts that I had on hand in my shop.



Ford OEM gasket:





I ground a small bevel on the passenger side collector flange to open up a little clearance to the oil filter adapter. Maybe could have made it work without the bevel but I didn't like the idea of the parts touching and possibly binding:





The front wheels, splash shields and inner fenders were removed. This opened up a lot of area to work. Here's the installed header on the passenger side:





And here's the driver side installation. This side is something of a jigsaw puzzle. The steering shaft was temporarily disconnected and the dipstick tube was recontoured to fit the header flange. It helps to have a variety of universal sockets, wobble extensions, shorty wrenches and ratcheting box wrenches in addition to common sockets and wrenches. Also, a reverse Torx socket is handy for setting the exhaust studs:



Before I reinstalled the inner fenders, I heat cycled the headers twice and retightened the flanges. I don't feel like taking this back apart for any exhaust leaks!



Bottom view of the clearance between the beveled collector flange and the oil filter adapter:

 

wow that is a tight fit

 

Looks damn good.. Good Job..

It is a tight fit. Driver side IS a jigsaw puzzle..

 

Looks awesome. so how does it sound/feel? Is there a big notice or a small one?

 

dayam.. that looks REAL hard to install...

 

There is no difference in sound because I still have the factory muffler. High RPM power feels stronger but would probably be better yet with a freer flowing muffler.

One nice thing about the JBAs is the lack of header "bark" that you get through the tubes of other manufacturers' thin-wall headers. JBA uses very thick tube walls and flanges, so the noise through the headers is comparable to that of the factory cast iron manifolds.

 

It is time consuming. I spent about six hours on it. If you don't have a good selection of tools, it could take much longer.

 

Thanks for the part number D. I filed it for future reference.

 

very cool mod!

 

Nice work!

How are your hands? Mine were very sore after my "mod marathon" I had over a few weeks building the axle, installing it, and putting the spindles in. (Most of you are like, what the heck? It's an old guy question, lol.)

 

A little chapped and kinda scuffed up but still functional.

 

lol! Mine was more in "internal" thing -- just very sore. I should have gotten into this kind of work when I was younger, lol! I wore "mechanic gloves" (the Ringers ones) for all the installs so the surface of my hands were in pretty good shape.

Doesn't stop me though!

 

What fun is it w/o a few bloody nuckles to show for it?

 

any pics of a old and new side by side ? How's the low end torque ?

 

Low end feels about the same but it seems to wake up a bit above 3000 RPM.

 

nice Bob, good job
are you going to put on an aftermarket muffler?
all work on engines requires just a bit of blood to be spilled as sacrifice
- it is the only way to truely complete the job

 

how about a 19 yr old with a bad knee who cant get up after kneeling for a few minutes, lol.

looks good...ill file this for future reference.

 

Someone pointed out to me, you have my full name on GE... please just remove the last name..lol