The following is for informational use only, author(s)
are not responsible for damage or any other expense caused by the use of
this information. In all cases of jacking up the car, or using tools, BE
CAREFUL and DO IT PROPERLY. Parking brake, wheel chocks, and jack stands
are NOT OPTIONAL, they are NECESSARY. Always disconnect the negative
battery lead where electronics or welding are involved, and make sure the
lead is touching nothing but air. Be safe, and have fun. See the
Safety Tips
page for more info.
Well, my first set of SLP headers apparently had defective coating, after
3 months, the collectors were rusting and peeling. SLP had a new set
here within 2 weeks, very thankful for them standing behind their product.
I took this chance to order race pipes and O2 simms (for off road use of
course, I'll put the cats in whenever I'm on the street). Anyway,
here is the step by step:1. Drive the front tires onto 2x4s or
equally thick items THE NIGHT BEFORE and set the parking brake.
2. Let the car cool overnight or for at least 4-5 hours.
3. Unplug the negative battery lead.
4. Unbolt the AIR tube that connects into each manifold, and put
them on top of the intake manifold.
5. Remove all 8 plug wires. Turn the end on the coil pack side
to side while pulling.... "POP". Then on the ends over the plugs,
twist the rubber part while pulling, the whole piece, rubber and metal,
will pop off. The back ones on the passenger side require patience.
The rearmost took me 10 minutes! All total the plugs and wires took
me 1.5 hours!
6. Remove all 8 spark plugs. You will need a 5/8" spark plug
socket, a 1" U joint socket, a straight ratchet, a flexible head ratchet,
and possibly an adjustable wrench. Basically for each plug, use any
combination of the above that will work best. Each plug requires a
different combo. I was able to do all 8 from above without the
adjustable wrench, but using all the others.
7. Unbolt the one bolt holding the dipstick holder to the engine,
pull the dipstick and tube up until it comes out.
8. Chock the front and back of the rear tires, set the parking
brake.
9. Jack the front of the car by the K-member. Put a set of
jack stands under the subframes at the stands' lowest settings.
10. Remove the 4 bolts from the crossbrace bracket midway to the
back of the car. This is the piece of sheet metal with the Y-pipe
and beginning of the driveshaft above it. Remove the bracket and set
aside.
11. Loosen the cat-back and push backward to remove the Y-pipe and
cats. Remove all 4 oxygen sensors carefully and set them aside.
12. There are 6 header bolts on each manifold, remove all 12, and
remove the manifolds from the bottom of the car.
13. Follow the SLP instructions for the wiring slack and extension
of the passenger side O2 sensor.
14. Remove the two bolts from the steering linkage, one on the top
and one on the bottom (remove the bottom one from under the car).
Tap and push the linkage down toward the bottom of the car so it comes off
the top, then pull up and remove it completely.
15. Take a break and if you have a rotary tool or wire brush, clean
the threads on all 12 header bolts and the two steering linkage bolts to
remove the old loc-tite and rust, etc. I also cleaned all 4 O2
sensors' threads.
16. I jacked the car up onto 2 more stands so it was level.
You may be able to skip this step, but I'm not sure how much more trouble
it would be. To do this, leave the front stands at their lowest
setting, jack up the rear by the differential, and place 2 stands at their
lowest setting under the LCAs. Note, while jacking the back, if you
have a rolling jack that comes up at an angle, make sure the jack is
rolling slightly forward as you jack the car up, and KEEP AN EYE on the
front stands to make sure all 4 legs remain on the ground, or you could
tip them over. If you have a rough area that you're working on, you
can put the jack on a piece of plywood to make smoother rolling.
Mine rolled right along the pavement fine and the front stayed on all 4
feet fine. Next jack the front up as far as the jack will go (20" in
my case) and set the stands to fit this new level. AGAIN keeping an
eye to make sure the jack is rolling slightly and the rear stays planted.
Then jack up the rear to match the new front height and set the stands.
Yes, AGAIN keeping an eye out. This is a slightly dangerous process
so be very careful if you have a rolling style jack.
17. Place the jack under the transmission mount (black crossbrace
held up by 4 bolts, there is the end of a bolt sticking down through a
hole in the middle of the mount) and raise it so it is snug up against the
mount. Remove the 4 mount bolts. Let the jack out until the
transmission stops coming down, then close the valve and re-snug the jack
to the transmission mount.
18. There is a sharp curved piece of metal to the outside of the
hole where you'll be sliding the header up. It is where the front
wheel assembly attaches to the body. Cover this sharp part with 2-3
layers of masking or duct tape. Do this on both sides.
19. Carefully slide the passenger side header as far as it will go,
and have someone hold it there. Raise the transmission back up so
the mount is near the body. The header will slide up a bit more.
Now place a 2' section of 2x4 between the body and rear of the
transmission just in front of the mount, and push it toward the driver
side while the other person pushes up on the header, it will slide up once
the welded joint clears the sharp piece you masked.
20. Place a new header gasket between the header and the head,
making sure "manifold side" points toward the header, and the "down" arrow
points down. Hand thread all 6 bolts a few turns and leave it loose.
21. On the drivers side it should slide right up in with the
transmission still in the raised position. Since I needed an oil
change anyway I removed the filter. You may have to lower and push
the tranny a bit if you keep your filter on.
22. Again with the gasket and hand threading all 6 bolts.
23. Raise and reconnect the transmission very tightly (I torqued
mine to 70 ft-lbs).
24. Slide a clamp over a cat or race pipe, whichever you're using,
and slide the cat/pipe onto the collector of either header. If
you're using cats, make sure the side that says "top" is facing up toward
the car. Tap the end (very gently if its a cat) with a hammer to
make sure its all the way on the collector. I made sure the clamps
were put on so that the nuts were on the inside, toward the middle of the
car, and facing down. Slightly tighten the clamp, just to get it
started, with an adjustable wrench, but leave it loose. Same on the
other side with another cat/pipe and clamp.
25. Slide a clamp over both sides of the Y-pipe. Slide the
curved side over the end of the driver's side cat/pipe, then the straight
side over the passengers side. Wiggle it side to side and up and
down until it slides on all the way. Tap the end of the y with a
hammer to make sure its on. This is why you left the headers loose,
so they will move and allow the y-pipe on. Tighten both clamps a
bit, again, just to get them started, but leave them loose.
26. Reinstall the y-pipe crossbrace and tighten all the way.
27. Bolt the Y-pipe to the hanger under the car with 2 bolts and
nuts, leave loose.
28. Reconnect the muffler, leave loose.
29. Install all 4 oxygen sensors carefully, noting the ones that
were originally pre and post cat, and put them in the same place they
were.
30. If installing race pipes, tie wrap the ends of the post-cat
sensors somewhere out of the way, and attach the O2 simms to the plugs,
and tie wrap them out of the way as well. The front O2 sensors
should be plugged in regardless of cat or pipe.
31. Install a new oil filter and replace the plug if you drained
your oil.
32. Lower the car in the reverse order you raised it. WATCH
the stands and jack!!!!
33. Tighten all 12 header bolts, the rearmost one on the passenger
side is easiest from underneath the car so save that one. Again you may need a combo
of several tools, a 3" extension came in handy here too. A small
amount of medium strength loc-tite may be a good idea on each one of
these. Try to evenly tighten all the bolts, not putting any one in
all the way until the others are close. My passenger side took quite
a bit of playing with the order of installing the bolts to get all 6 in
there. Just be patient. Double check the tightess. Now
raise the car back up (just the front this time is fine) and tighten that
last bolt on the passenger side.
34. Reinstall the steering linkage in the opposite order you removed
it, slide over the bottom then onto the top. Make sure the steering
wheel and tires are both straight (for proper alignment). A little
loc-tite on each bolt again.
35. Reinstall the dipstick, insert into engine then install the
bolt.
36. Reinstall all 8 plugs and wires, hit each plug's threads with
some anti-sieze, hand thread it to make sure it goes in easy. Hand
thread it with the socket and no ratchet until you can go no further.
Then use the ratchet to tighten it 1/4 turn.
37. Reinstall the AIR tubes.
38. Reconnect the negative battery lead.
39. From under the car, use pieces of plywood, 2x4, etc to try to
get the Y pipe in a place where it is 1/2 inch or so from every part where
it could touch the car. Also about 1/2 above the Y pipe hanger that
it passes above. Tighten all clamps and the Y pipe mount bolts, as
well as anything else still loose.
40. Clean up your tools (no playing before you finish the dirty
work!)
41. Double check EVERYTHING.
42. Fire it up and let it run for a while. Listen and look for
anything wrong.
43. Take it for a spin. The point here is to get them good and
heated to run them through a full heat cycle to break them in. A few
more full heat cycles should be in order before you decide to start
ripping on it or racing it.
44. If you have major banging, you need to loosen the clamps and try
to get the Y pipe further away from the body. If it is just rattling
a bit, there is a good chance it will settle out on its own, so give it a
week or two. If not, try making some adjustments. |