How hard is it to put headers on an 87 305 TPI Iroc right now i've got the stock manifolds on will they leak if i do anything or what also another question I've got a single cat.. so is there anyspecific brand I should get???

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Headers aren't overly difficult to do, it is just a very time consuming job. It took me about a day and a half or a little less when I did them. I have the Edelbrocks and I haven't had any leak problems. You just have to keep an eye on the bolts cause they do work themselves loose sometimes. I just retightened some of mine. You can get locking bolts to prevent them from backing out, but they are fairly expensive.

As far as a Cat goes, I have a Catco that I ordered from Summit. It is a direct fit cat that comes ready to bolt onto your individual car including a clamp and a flange (for mine anyway). It seems to be a fairly decent Cat and for just over $100 it isn't too bad of a price either. www.summitracing.com

Matt

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irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, Edelbrock Headers, Catco Cat, K&N, MAF Sceens Removed, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Bosch Platinum Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, MSD 6AL, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace

 

It took my brother and I 6 hours to put on my headers. The longest part was getting rid of the crap in the way. The AC was already off so that made it a little easier. Some people have said you have to move the steering column but I didn't and others haven't either.

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"Rice burners are like tampons...Every pu$$y has to have one"
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

I didn't have to move the steerng column, altough I thought I would have to. I justtook the valve cover off and the thing slid right down in there. Just give them a little tender loving care and you should be in great shape.

Matt

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irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, Edelbrock Headers, Catco Cat, K&N, MAF Sceens Removed, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Bosch Platinum Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, MSD 6AL, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace

 

Let me give you some advice before you do this. Before you even attempt to put them on put just a little dent in the header tubes by each bolt. Since the room in the engine compartment is very limited it sometimes is hard to get a wrench or socket on the bolts to tighten or retighten them after they are installed. Makes it a whole lot easier to tighten and less frustrating too.

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92' Camaro RS/Black,T-tops/350 TBI Targetmaster Comp.engine/5 spd/march underdrive pulleys/hedman hedders/3" dynomax exaust/hyper tech stage 2 chip/3.42 gears/K&N air filter/MSD blaster GM coil.......currently setting in my garage impatiently waiting for installation....TPI !!!!!

 

i put 1 3/4 slp's on an 89 gta 5 speed, and had to take off the valve cover and the dr. side motor mount bolt to lift the motor a bit. the steering shaft rubbed ever so slightly on turn, so i ground a small amount off of the wider sides. taking crap off was worse than putting the new stuff on.

 

what about putting the crap back on?

 

When i did the install, we were also eliminating the AC and smog pump, which made matters easier. The ac compressor and lines, tank, etc, probably would have been in the way had they not been removed, and i didn't have to put em back on. The smog pump didn't come off. one of the bolts ate my 40 torx and wouldn't give it back. When we pull the motor to put in a 350, it'll cure that. The biggest pain of the job was some of the nuts that held the heat shields to the studs on the passenger side manifold. the sheild would bind when the nut was turning the stud out of the head. big pain in the @$$.

 

I'm not sure but wouldn't putting a dent in the header tubes cause loss of performance, the same way a dent in the exhaust pipe will cause it. And be careful with your plug wires I have burnt 2 up by them being on the headers.

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"Rice burners are like tampons...Every pu$$y has to have one"
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

Yeah, I wouldn't be denting up the headers. I see no reason to and if it is just for the sake of ease, take an extra 15 minutes and don't mess up your headers. Obviously you want as few restrictions as possible in both intake and exhaust flow. On the Edelbrocks, there was only one or two bolts that were not that easy to get to, but a box wrench will work just fine.

Matt

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irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, Edelbrock Headers, Catco Cat, K&N, MAF Sceens Removed, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Bosch Platinum Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, MSD 6AL, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace

 

Just a small dent in your header tubes is not going to do anything. oh no i might loose an 1/16 hp..big deal in the end it's worth the aggrivation.

 

hummm sounds a little bit time consuming.... So you said about 6 hours I'm only one person working on this....well any how are the stock manifolds hard to take off....And do you have to drain any oil out.....Also is it easiest to come from above inside the compartment or try to work below the car???which side header is hardest to get on driver side or passenger

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You won't have to drain any oil. I believe all the work can be done easiest above the motor. However, you might have to put the last 2 bolts on the passenger side on underneath the car, at least that's what you'll have to do with spark plugs.

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"Rice burners are like tampons...Every pu$$y has to have one"
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat, just switched to 180* b/c of winter coming and going to college in the mts.
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

You will probably spend time on both. I would get the car up on a good set of jack stands and leave it there for the duration of the project for a few reasons. One, that way you are not jacking it up every time you decide to venture underneath the thing and two it will bring everything up higher and prevent you from being bent over the whole time, thus killing your back.

When I did mine, I was able to install the drivers side from the top by removing the valve cover. The passenger side was a bit more difficult because of all the A/C stuff in the way. I put it on from underneath. All I had to do was remove the starter and slide it in and then bolt the starter back in. It really wasn't that difficult. It might not be a bad idea to take the starter off to begin with to make it easy to get to everything from underneath.

The old manifolds should not be too difficult in removing. Make sure you spray some penetrating oil on the bolts you will be removing for a few days prior to the job. That will help loosen everything up and make your life easier. The old manifolds will come out easier than the headers will go in, but the headers should give you too much grief if you are patient and think things through before doing something stupid. I had never done it before and by myself it took maybe 12 hours max to do the whole job and that included spending at least 2-3 hours trying to get part of my intermediate pipe apart since I went from 2.5" to 3" all the way. Plan on having two days to do everything.

Matt

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irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, Edelbrock Headers, Catco Cat, K&N, MAF Sceens Removed, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Bosch Platinum Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, MSD 6AL, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace

 

Wouldn't it be safer to get those solid rubber jack ramps that you drive up? I wana get those.

 

Yeah, I got the metal kind you drive up. They were only like $18 at wal-mart.

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"Rice burners are like tampons...Every pu$$y has to have one"
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat, just switched to 180* b/c of winter coming and going to college in the mts.
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

You could get the ramp style if you wanted to. I just know that my car does not like them very well because everything is so low. Also, with jack stands you can get the car alot higher than the ramps and when you are working on the exhaust, the higher the better cause you will need some leverage at times and it is hard to find when you can't even turn on your side. I guess either will work, but I would use the jack stands.

Matt

------------------
irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, Edelbrock Headers, Catco Cat, K&N, MAF Sceens Removed, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Bosch Platinum Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, MSD 6AL, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace

 

uh, I know I am completely retarded, but is there like instructions on what needs to be done to install headers on a third gen? (ya knwo, cuz of all the emmissions control ****...)

 

I know the Edelbrock TES come with the air tube hook ups to remain emissions legal. And I believe SLP does too.

------------------
"Rice burners are like tampons...Every pu$$y has to have one"
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat, just switched to 180* b/c of winter coming and going to college in the mts.
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

I dont need to be emmissions legal, fer now, I just dont want to have ta screw with my ECM/PROM, thats all...

 

I assume you are planning on it being emissions legal at some point, so I would just get headers that are made and certified emissions legal. I have the Edelbrock TES system and there is nothing special you have to do to hook them up. They plug into everything the same way that the stock manifolds do.

Matt

------------------
irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, Edelbrock Headers, Catco Cat, K&N, MAF Sceens Removed, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Bosch Platinum Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, MSD 6AL, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace

 

driver side = remove valve cover/pull motor mount bolt/jack motor up an inch drop header in from top.

passenger side = pull motor mount bolt take it up 1-2 inches, pull converter dust sheild(auto cars) slide them up from underneath. I don't know how the hell you can get a finger in there to tighten the last pass side bolts up from the bottom!!! I got them all from the top. Do yourself a favor and get some quality gaskets too!

I had to do this on my 91 RS V-8. Start as early as possible and give yourself ALL day

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Alex A. (aka chevyboy)
1992 Z-28 L98/1LE. Heritage Edition. SLP runners, gutted cats, SLP 3" cat-back & muffler. 3" flo-tech cut-out, SLP TB foil, K&N filter @ TB, 3.23 posi rear.

 

I did my headers in about an hour.

I put the heads and the rest of the exhaust on at the same time, though.