How abouts have any of you gone to doing this? I thought I would be smart and remove it from the upper top of the engine assembly, unplug the wiring.. and jsut slip it through with the already unbolted exhaust manifold.. but naturally, as murphy's law allows.. the steering rod is in the way of the tube.. and now Im pretty darn sure I need to remove it.

Since it looks like a plumbing valve.. is it using one of the opposite based screw sets? As in, left tightens it, and right loosens it?

Almost done with the drivers side, then I can drop in teh header on the passsenger side, put the new header on the driver side.. and get it all bolted up back together.

 

just leave the egr in there.

 

lol.. I pretty much 'NEED' to remove it.. ugh, I wonder how it was put on.. I bet teh cheaters at the factory already had it on the header before all the other crap was on =)


So yeah, i got my headlights put on, they look pretty much kickass.. and they also came with blacked out amber corners too.. in case I feel like selling them to anyone

 

Hah well.. I just dont have the proper tools.. standard box wrenches wont get it, I need a set of the angled ones.. soooo I get to go shopping tommorow morning at sears for some good craftsman tools!!! *YAY* More tools for me! lol... anywho yep, I'll get the dang thing off sooner or later.. wish I had more time to spend working on it, and ALL the proper tools.. I've been running back and forth from town picking up all kidns of stuff from the dealership.. sorta a tune-up day off for me =)


Since I want to do 100% of the labor myself, I might as well get the tools I need when I need them.. it always helps to have them around. That, and I want to learn inside and out of my truck, so no better way to do that then take **** apart and put better **** on eh?

 

Yipee.. just got back from Sears! :-)

new toolbox to hodl the rest of my tools in (going to get rid of my older one) got a wrench set of soem stubby american sized up to 1 inch open end box wrenches.. along with some "Crowsfeet" wrnech sets.. again, american up to 1", and also a set of extension bits for 1/2 and 3/8 sockets.. with the angled extensions and such.. Ahh, I love tools :-)

 

Somebodyhave info on this? As I may run across this problem with my headers...

 

The tools you will probably need are some Crowfeet wrenches.. pretty much an open end wrench with just teh head.. and a spot you can insert a 1/2 or 3/8 socket.. gives you an angle you cant get with a normal wrench.. and you will probably also need some Shorty type box wrenches.. up to 1".. as I found finding a Metric based one isnt possible unless ordering online.. and I needed it now


It takes a heck of a funky angle to pull the headers out.. and expect the vehicle to be out of commission for a day or two while you work on it.. its been giving me a general headache so far As what I read from another part of some random post on this forum.. its a real serious puzzle to get the headers exchanged

Actually.. with a bodylift.. it MAY be easier to do perhaps, I would have to inspect it properly to be honest.

 

Only 1" bodylift...not much, but i did notice that 1" when doing my clutch/slave/trans swap. In fact, when dropping the trans, the only way i found to completely pull the starter was to remove the exhaust manifold. That might not be correct, but I just let it kinda dangle in between the block and the manifold lol.

You are talking about those open end wrench socket things right?? I've actually never used those...but i aughtta get a set. These?....

 

Yep, exactly :-) I bought the same set.. and you gotta use them to remove that second bolt.. the closest to the manifold.. pretty much, you need a large wrench to hold the first nut still.. and teh second to actually get the second bolt loose..

Ugh, its going to be a pain :-) and teh sucky part is.. it needs to be put back together when you are done switchign them =)

 

okie dokie.

 

Alright, I found tehquickest way to do it.. you'll need on eof the long neck set of pliers with big gripping teeth, plumber pliers work great.. then you hold a 1 inch open end wrench on the bolt closest to the manifold, take the pliers and grip them extra tight and spin the second brass bolt on the EGR tube counterclockwise.. or left, just as if you are loosening a normal nut.. it shoudl spin off easy if you have been soaking it in PB blaster..


And I also found from soem random instructions.. that you have to remove all of the mounting studs in the engine block for the origional headers.. as the JBA headers wont install correctly.. so yeah, off to finish that part up =) then it shoudl only be a short hour before I get the headers put completely on.. gosh, took so long to do it, but Im pretty sure if I had to do it again, i coudl in just a short few hours

 

hmmmm......maybe I should hire ya for help!

haha. At least this time, I won't have to modify all my clutch linkage to install headers! I HATED that on my chevy....one of the reasons for the auto trans swap! lol.....i had to make probably 4 different linkage set ups.

 

If you haven't figured it out yet, everything on your truck is Metric. If you buy tools for it, buy Metric sets!

As for getting the EGR tube, I remember getting mine off, and I'll remember it for years to come. Mine was on the passenger's side, and the airbox beside it took a nice chunk out of my knuckle when the wrench slipped!

 

Gotta love it......



and yea...i think we all figured out everything on these trucks, or any late model car is metric. The only standard sizes i've found, is the 2" hitch, and the screw on the back of the heater control that holds on the temperature switch cable(1/4"). lol.

 

I got it all installed! *woo!*

Two headers.. and a hell of a ****load of work later.. its finally purring outside with its *** out of the barn doing the initial 10-20 minute warmup before I torque it down again.


I had to literally cut up and fab my EGR pipe leading into the EGR Valve on top.. as you'll find out when you go to put it all back together.. yoru about an inch and a half short from being able to screw it in.. I'll give you all some pictures here in a bit.. camera is outside and im resting my broken sore back -laughs-.


Anyways.. small exhaust leak comign from the passenger side where the header meets the downpipe.. not a problem though, just gotta tighten it up a tad bit more


The sucky part though, try to find anythign about an inch, metric, in craftsman without having to order online when you need it like right then and there..! :-)





Edit:
Some photo's of the work... had to fix the EGR with some piping and compression fittings.. made soem good use of a dremel and a grinder to get it all perfect, i got lucky on the pipe measurement and it was perfect the first time... extended it about 2 inches in total from what it is normally.

You can see the header here, Drivers side.. with the interesting assortment of bolts you have to use... some that came with the header, and some that were on the engine. If youe ver install these, you -have- to remove the stock engine mountings for the origional headers.. best way to do this is to grab an air ratchet for soem low torque power, and a bunch of long extension bits.. I had my air socket setup with about 3 feet worth of extensions ... undid the extensions at the ratchet, put the end on a nut.. bang it in with a hammer to lock ti in, re-attach the socket.. and let it do its thing.. they all come out nice n easy =)

 

sweeeet!! Nice job makin' it work.

 

Alrighty.. well, for an "official" remark on how the headers make the truck feel..

When you open the throttle, you can feel it gettign rid of the exhaust nice and fast.. theres a whole world of difference in the acceleration, my second gear (25-40ish) up to around 4kish RPM's only takes me about 2.5 seconds on the shift to second and maxing till i shift into third... definite improvement on the throttle respone... makes my exhaust out the rear soudn nice and low too.. a nice throaty sound coming from the end.. I'll get a video fo it tomorrow if I dont get called into work early for ya all =)