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how to install headers

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  lluciano77 
#1 ·
i just bought some hooker headers and i just tried installing them and they will not fit by installing them from uptop... says in the manual need to be installed from underneath the car and car has to be 36 inchs(3 feet) off the ground... i dont thing axle stands can even go higher then 2 feet... anyone install headers like this before? any tips or tricks? thanks
 
#2 ·
yeah, do it from under. Make sure you have the back tires blocked and on the ground, dont risk the damned thing falling on you. 36 inches is an estimate, I don't think mine was mucn more than a couple of feet if that when I put mine in. Take your starter out and plug them in, its not hard.

K
 
#3 ·
Its easier if you undo the motor mounts, one at a time and jack up one side of the motor. This gives you more room and you don't have to jack it so high. You may even be able to slip them in from the top this way.
 
#4 ·
i got the headers in, put the front and rear on jack stands high as they will go, chassis was like 1.5-2 feet off the ground... headers went in pretty good. just on the passenger side i had to remove the floor pan thingy.

the 1 bolt in the very back that holds the header is not possible to frigen tighten up! theres just no room for a flat end wrench or socket. any ideas on that? i cant get etheir side.

Thank you for your replys
 
#5 ·
All the suggestions above are accurate and dependable, unlike the weatherman. Everyone sems to have left out the most important steps and necessary tools to install headers. I'll try to list them all.

Tools

1. Beer, lots of it.
2. A big hammer.
3. Large 4' long prybar from Harbor Freight tools. (they're cheap)
4. Your neighbors kid.

Installation tips

1. Start drinking, it'll ease the pain.
2. Fight with headers trying to install from above.
3. Cuss like a drunken sailor.
4. Glance at instructions lying on the ground.
5. Grab another beer.
6. Jack up the car.
7. Shove header in passenger side rather easily.
8. TRY to get flange bolts started.
9. Throw wrench across yard full of tall grass.
10. Cuss some more.
11. Guzzle another brew.
12. Order neighbors kid to fetch the lost wrench.
13. Shove the drivers side header halfway in and it stops.
14. Grab a beer and investigate cause of sudden stop.
15. Get prybar out and wedge header between block and steering box.
16. Cuss some more while you remove the impossibly stuck header.
17. Guzzle more beer.
18. Get bolts in pass. side header started. (Why is it easy NOW?)
19. Retrieve BFH and give the drivers side header a few precision, drunken whacks in the vicinity of the steering box scratches.
20. Get wrench from neighbors kid.
21. Finish it tomorrow cuz it's dark and you're drunk.

Larry
 
#6 ·
You probably need a header bolt with a smaller head and 12 point
ARP-100-1201. I ended up using studs, had to scew them in when the headers were in place,ARP-400-1402.
If there is no room to tighten the rear bolts up, how did you get the originals off?
 
#8 ·
Every car is different.

With my '73 Camaro I only need to jack the car up a foot.

In my '61 Ranchero my headers are basically solid motor mounts. They went in as I dropped the engine in. I had to torque them up to the gasket surface. You can hear my shock towers flex as the engine warms up and cools.
 
#9 ·
malc said:
You probably need a header bolt with a smaller head and 12 point
ARP-100-1201. I ended up using studs, had to scew them in when the headers were in place,ARP-400-1402.
If there is no room to tighten the rear bolts up, how did you get the originals off?
The originals were manifolds and had plenty of room to use a rachet, but with the headers the pipe is in the way. actually i can only use a rachet on the very front bolt and thats it with these headers... all the other bolts i gota use a wrench.



i think i will buy some of thos allen key bolts.. that should do the trick:thumbup:
 
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