I can't get the damn driver side header by the steering shaft, I unbolted it at the top & bottom, I marked the teeth at the bottom and yanked that side out first....

I can't get the top to budge...any advice?

 

You should have only had to undo 1 bolt, split the shaft apart and move them out of the way enough to get the header down in there. I did that and bent the brake lines out of the way some then slid the header in place.

 

my edelbrocks JUST got here today, ...havent tried to install them yet though, ANY suggestions before i start on making it easier, ..how hhell do i get the passenger side factory headers off?! i cant ge to that bolt in the back....92 rs 305 tbi

 

One of the tubes is hitting the shaft where it pivots...I need to move THAT part of the shaft to get the header in...unless I'm not dropping it in right?

 

feel lucky you got that far, wait til you try to undo the bolts holding the y pipe to the exhaust manifold...OWWW.....need i say more, ...looks like im taking the easy way out and paying someone to do it for 200 bucks. pain in the wallet but better than me trying for a week THEN getting someone to do it....ig ive up , ...good luck man

 

I actually broke the bolts on the manifolds...I'm about to give up too, but I already have the passenger side on, and it's really pissing me off that I'm going to have to take that off too...

 

serves me right for going "ah it cant be THAT hard" . looks like im paying 200 bucks to get em put on, ....ALMOST as much as the damn things costed...im gonna call around, ...let me know how it goes, ...if you get em on, or if you get them put on, how much they charge ya.

 

Ah, I'm already stressed out about the whole damn deal, I already cut my f*cking y-pipe so I could fit the driver side header in (bought them from my engine builder) . I cut off about 6 inches of the y-pipe, with the intentions of being sneaky and having someone weld a small pipe back in place.

I wish I never started the damn project, now I'm going to have to take the passenger side header out & put the manifolds back on. Aaaah all that time and work, wasted.. grrr

 

man i was SO close to cutting the pipe off, but tried to get the bolts off the y pipe first, and figured out i couldnt get em off, ..glad i thought some-what ahead. how long have you been working on it?

 

One night, the whole purpose of doing it myself was to save some $$, I could get the damn header in if I could move the damn steering shaft at the top & not just get it to pivot, I need like a half inch of room to get the friggen header down in there and I would be golden.

 

If you take out the plugs, it makes it so much easier. I was takin off the heads a few weeks back. Couldn't get the damn driver side one out, took the plugs out and slid right out.

 

I took the plugs out too, *** dammit I'm getting so pissed even thinking about this situation I got myself in..grrr

 

lol im glad i tried taking the y pipe off first, ...i could get everything off except that....hate to get that far and be liek SOB!!!! G@D DAMN SOB!!!!!

 

Haha you have no idea how pissed I was. 2am out in my garage I was walking in circles around my car mumbling f*ckf*ckf*ck.

 

have you tried putting the headers in from the bottom of the car?? i heard taking the two front engine mount bolts off and jacking it up 2 inches clears out all problems, ...but to hell with me jacking up an engine. im not a REAL mechanic --laughs--

 

I've heard of that method too, but I'm not fond of doing that at all.

 

I didnt have any trouble with the drivers side with hedman longtubes or hooker shorties...man id never pay someone to install headers IT ISNT THAT HARD

 

I did this install about a month ago on my GTA (edelbrocks). Pull your driverside valvel cover off. Slide the headers straight down. It works, I didn't even take my steering shaft off. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

 

If it works..how much should I pay you?

 

i dont see how it could be that hard. you all must be doing something to make it hard. i installed my flowtech headers about 5 months ago and i did it pretty easily. this was the first time i had ever done headers. i drove the car up on ramps and got most of the hard bolts out from the bottom, then dropped the headers in from top. I dont know if youve already done this, but taking the alternator off will help too. but maybe its just the edelbrock design becuase my flowtechs where easy. dont give up. i would never pay 200 to get them installed. youve probably just overlooked something small. DO NOT PAY SOMEONE TO DO IT. just keep at it.

 

It will work, hardest part for me was getting the valve cover off

 

lol ok , i put a 3 foot pipe on the end of a ratchet and the bolts on the y pipe STILL wont budge....wtf now

 

Well you have too options on the stuck bolts.\
1 Use a torch and heat them up.
2 Soak them in a good penatrent and let them sit for a while.

 

What drive ratchet are you using? I snapped off all of the bolts holding my y pipe on. Granted I am a bigger guy, but with a 1/2 inch breaker bar/ratchet my grandma could snap those exhaust manifold bolts off. If you are using a 3/8 ratchet try to get a hold of a half inch one. Also the valve cover removel on the driver side allowed me to put my Edelbrock header in without touching the steering shaft. Also make sure you install the O2 sensor after you put the header in. Just keep at it and you don't have to pay someone to do it. Good luck

 

I installed the TES on my 88 IROC.
The drivers side was easy, although I remember taking off the valve cover for clerance.
Passenger side was a pain, went from the bottom, I pushed that one in, had some issues with the frame being to close. I did not remove the starter or steering shaft.
The day before the install all hardware on the car was soaked with penetrating oil.
Good Luck

 

Are the edelbrock headers year sensitive? Meaning certain years..yadda yadda.

I have an 88 with a rebuilt 87 305....maybe this is why the passenger side won't fit right?

I took the valve cover off, the steering shaft is just barely in the way..

 

you'll have to snake it around, kind of curl it in. It will go, it will tought the rockers then fall right in.

 

--grabs wd-40-- ok, im gonna soak this bastard, ..then let my car run for about 15 minutes, ...soak again. then soak some more, .....i WILL get the bastards on!!! :rockon:

 

I angle the damn header in there at like 4oclock and curl it in that way, am I angling the damn thing in there wrong?

 

Start with the flange on the intake. curl it around from there, you should be able to get it down in there

 

Flange? Lamens terms!!

 

lol yall are gonna have to tell me how the hell im supposed to get the passenger side manifold off.....how do i get to that bolt in the back

 

I would recommend PB Blaster over WD-40. I sprayed it on all of my manifold bolts a few times the day before I installed my headers this summer and had no problem removing any of the 20 year old manifold bolts.

Other notes: I ended up snapping the bolts on the old y-pipe flanges with an air ratchet. Didnt need them anyways. I also had to remove the drivers side valve cover to get the header to slide in. Took me about +/- 6 hrs with A/C and Smog equiptment removed.

EDIT: I had to remove the back passenger bolt from underneath. Dont forget to bend back the metal tabs that are on the sides of the bolt.

 

I'm going to take pictures of how I'm dropping the header in....

 

the flange is the part the the head breaths into. sorry for the mix up.

 

Well I just fudged around with it some more and I've come to the conclusion there is no way to get this header in without completely removing the steering shaft unless I get underneath and try stuffing it in that way...which I don't have enough room to do...

 

ok i just used damn near 2 cans of wd-40 and soaked my entire exhaust manifolds, and every other bolt from the exhaust manifold to the cat.. that thing is mor eoily than a mixicans hair it had better be easier tomarrow or somthings getting broke !!! broken i tell you!

 

I hate making her sit!!!

 

at least you have a nice tpi to look forward to, i have a tbi ..-gag- oh well, its getting etter slowly but surely

 

well at least it looks good, I'm thinking about getting a vert next.

 

heres my car with my ghetto rims, ...they were old and free...--shrugs--

 

Good grief folks!! This is not supposed to be that hard! Have you tried putting the pry-bar to anything yet (like the steering shaft or just flexing the engine on the mounts)??? You can put some pressure on one or the other and gain a pretty decent amount of clearance if need be..... I mean if there is just a little bit of a clearance problem, you just gotta 'clearance' the stuff in the way.....

Also, the proper way to get the steering shaft out of the way is to take the upper through-bolt and out of the shaft and slide the shaft downward. The outer part of the area that the bolt went through is part of the lower shaft and the middle part is part of the steering column lower shaft. Throw some lubricant on the shaft with the bolt out and let it soak for a while. Then take the hammer to it with a pry-bar as a driver/punch and drive the lower shaft off and downward. The shaft will not be in your way at that point. The key to it is to lube it up if it is stubborn....

Do you have a service manual? There should be some illustrations for doing this in the steering section......

And breaking (or just removing) the old exhaust manifold or Y-pipe bolts shouldn't be an issue..... They either come out, or they break. Simple as that. If you haven't gotten one of those two options to happen yet, you gotta either find a friend that is much stronger than you, hit the gym and try again, or just try it again with more/better tools and the full intention of just wreckin stuff. They will come out one way or another..... And with the new headers and Y-pipe being a full system......... who cares!!! You won't need that crap ever again.

And remember, there is a benefit to doing this. You will pick up some power, make it sound meaner, and lighten the front of the car a bit with this mod. It is worthwhile and you (and your wallet) will thank yourself for sticking with it when it is all said and done.....

 

It really isn't that hard to do now a heater core on a ford taurus, that's hard My headers slipped in with hardly any trouble. Passenger side air tube needed to be bent away from the valve cover and that's about it.

 

[QUOTE]The key to it is to lube it up if it is stubborn....


lol you mean WD or KY

 

I took the upper bolt off the steering shaft and tried removing the entire thing to no avail.

I didn't try pounding it off in fear of breaking it, but if I want to put this header in it looks like I dont have much of a choice now do I? I was trying to avoid that...

 

wish me luck man , in about 30 minutes im going to attempt to START my header project
dear *** PLEASE let this be somewhat easy!!!!!!!!!!

 

It has been a while but I don't remember it being difficult to install the Edelbrock headers at all.

I un did the steering shaft which is a pain but not real bad.

Also, I got 3 of the 4 flange bolts with wd-40. The 4th I couldn't budge. So I tightened till it snapped.

I later switched to SLP 1/3-4 which are physically larger. The headres went it easy but the Y-pipe was a ball buster.

Good luck. IMO the Edelbrocks sounded better than the SLP.

 

If it's easy for you - I hate you.

 

lol so how many hours have you put into it so far man?

 

you got aim or msn or yahoo? if so whats your name there....