i just got my headers!! im very excited to put them on. i was reading the instructions on how to put them on. its says that i have to raise my engine about 2" and cut my A/C bracket and pull my oil dipstick. for those of you that have done this install. do i really have to do what the instructions say. i did a search and its not really giving me a answer!!

 

No. You don't have to follow the instructions.

Personally, I just pulled the entire engine. Made the header install soooooo much easier.

Of course, I had other reasons for pulling the engine.

Those instructions they put in with things - just ignore them. After all, how much can those guys know about your car?

 

OK, I just put some on.
Driver's side:
I had to pull the dipstick tube.
removed water temp sensor from head.
header dropped right in.
Now I had the serpentine bracket (with the alt and ps) off when I did this, so I don't know it that made it easier. I didn't have to move the steering shaft or unbolt the motormount and jack up the engine.

 

I had some problems with the passenger side and ypipe. Let me know how yours fits. Here's the driver's side.

 

The directions are more like guide lines. I have an 87 IROC with the v-belt setup and did not have to jack the engine up. I took the manifold out the bottom and put the headers in from the top. I also had to chop the leg off the AC bracket. If you have the serpentine setup you might not have to do this. I also removed the dipstick tube. I have read that a few people leave it in place but it will be a pain in the *** if you don't take it out. My dipstick tube was really had to remove and I made a puller thing to get it out. I put up a post about it somewhere. You might want to take a look at these two post that I started when I did my hooker header swap. Has some good info.

Hooker 2055 Installation Questions
Headers finally installed
Removing dipstick

 

Just finished REPLACING some 2055's. First set blew on me due to header wrap that I put on them.


https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=270917


Unbolt the passenger side motor mount, pull the A.I.R stuff on that side, and jack the engine up by putting a piece of 2x4 between the jack and harmonic balancer. With a "little" bit of work, the header will slip right in. It will be much easier if you do pull the spark plugs. I've found that pulling the driver's side plug that is third from the front, that side is also easier to go in.

One caveat, putting your plugs in and out is not the easiest thing to do with these headers.....but the improvement is worth the effort.

Kept the old Y pipe ...hoping to find a cheap set of 2055's missing a Y pipe that I can pick up for next to nothing....


EDIT. the guy that did the initial ionstall did have to pull the dipstick tube and cut off its mounting plate.

 

thanks for all the advice i going to use it all. if worse comes to worse then i will jack up the engine. Im going to try do a direct bolt on except with the oil dipstick and my the spark plug wires and spark plugs. ill keep you guys up to date on whats going on.

 

I just finished installing my Hooker 2055's during the Christmas holiday, and I was able to do it without removing the passenger side motor mount and jacking the engine up. I have the serpentine belt setup, so here is what it took:

1. Remove all AIR system plumbing
2. Remove spark plugs
3. Remove A/C compressor (mine is on this side)

You may want to be careful with the cooling fan temp sensor - it is RIGHT beneath the manifold and I sheared it off along with the wiring pigtail when I removed the manifold - not a huge deal, but a hassle. I was able to get the header installed with a LOT of patience and wiggling it into place - the heater-A/C air box is a major problem area but removing the A/C compressor left me just enough room to get it into place. Good luck!

 

Oh yeah, you have to remove the oil dipstick tube too like you already know - also a hassle.

 

Im not sure i want to remove my compressor. im scared that i might find problems with it and have to replace it. it still works and i want to keep it that way. ill try to leave it there when i do the install. thanks for the help guys. im ready to do all i need to do is see if the muffler guy can weld my Y-pipe to my cat.

 

Just a clarification on the compressor - I unbolted it and moved it aside, but did not disconnect it. You have to discharge the system to unhook it or to disassemble the heater box that the A/C lines go through.....this is why I chose to just unbolt the compressor and move it a little to make room.

I know a lot of folks have decided to unbolt the passenger motor mount and jack up the engine a few inches, but it seems to me that you have to do one of these to get enought room to install the passenger header with the AIR system tree on it......moving the A/C compressor a bit worked for me (still was very tough to get the header in without damage - patience!) and I did not want to jack up the engine......

 

Be sure you get this done AFTER you get the Ypipe on the car.....


I had one welded on with the Ypipe off the car and had to take it back to them after I put it all together. The mounting plate for the exhaust pipe was about 2 inches towards the rear of the car from where it needed to be. The plate was turned whomper jawed (that's a Texas term.. ) and scraped the ground.

 

hey guys i have another question about the spark plugs. do i put them on after the header install or do i put them on right before i install the headers?

 

put them in after the headers are installed.

 

Absolutely AFTER the header install.

 

i would put the spark plugs in before you bolt on the headers. get the headers in position, but do not bolt them up yet. put the spark plugs in while you can wiggle the headers around. if you bolt them on first, it is a hassle getting to a few of the plugs.

 

Yea, what rsn932 said. Put a couple of bolts in just enough to hold the header, then install plugs. Then, proceed!

 

im going to have to go with rsn932 because i tried it with the headers on and i cant tighten the last 2 back ones. so i guess i have to unbolt the headers and try it. not if there is a way around this?

 

ok guys, i finally installed my headers. the question that i have is that the pass side headers last bolt hole is way off!!! it doesnt even come close to the last hole in the back. what should i do?

 

ok guys, i finally installed my headers. the question that i have is that the pass side headers last bolt hole is way off!!! it doesnt even come close to the last hole in the back. what should i do?

 

Humm. Strange. How much are the holes off by? Can you see the hole in the heads when the header is on? If it's only off by a little you could probably use a drill to open the hole up some. I didn't have any problems with mine lining up. Is the header flush against the head? Maybe try to loosen all the other bolts up so that the header is just hanging from the bolts and then try to get the last one to started and then tighten them all up evenly. The only other thing I can think of would be to take all the bolts out and then start the last one first and then put the other bolts back in. Let us know how you make out.

 

well the thing is that the header doesnt touch the last hole on the pass side. i can clearly see that the hole is there. all the other bolts line up perfect. do you think that a 305 block is diff from a 350 block as in bolts location?

 

did you tighten the bolts down before you got all the bolts in? if so, loosen them up, put the bolt in the back in first, then put the rest in, then, tighten from the center out.

 

ok im going to try that. i hope Hooker didnt give me a messed up header. Ill be soo mad if i have to take out the pass side out.!!

 

OK GUYS!!!! The headers are on and everything went sweet. i took it out for a spin with only the y-pipe on and WOW!!!!!!!!! my car is going crazy. i love it and i know it wont sound that loud when i get evrything welded but man. i can feel the power. the only prob is that when i floor it i can feel somthing hitting my floor board. is that the y-pipe or did my tranny mounnt mess up to?

 

that sounds like your tranny mount. get a polyurthane tranny mount,the stoctk gm one's are terrible.

 

were can i go to get one of those. its been about a year since i replaced it. must be from all those burnouts lol. does my local auto store carry those?

 

Yea, I want one, too! I replaced mine about 2 or 3 years ago and it looks kind of twisted now. Is it bad to run a poly tranny mount and rubber engine mounts?

 

suprizingly, autozone and pepboys both carry energy suspension poly mounts for around $17. been running one for 6 years+ and it's been on the back of 4 different transmissions and behind 3 different motors!

absolutely no problems with the rubber/poly combo. you just never want to run a solid tranny mount without solid motor mounts. buy you can run solid motor mounts with rubber/poly tranny mount (have the solid motor mounts/poly tranny mount on the car right now, have for nearly 2 years)

 

So does the engine not 'torque' with the solid motor mounts? And why do you run solid motor mounts? And why aren't they called engine mounts? Can you 'feel' the engine a lot with the solid motor mounts? OK, I'm done.

 

what causes the tranny mount to break?? is it because im always on the trottle only 17 bucks for a tranny mount. i got a price for a rubber one for $23.99

 

where can one purchase the hooker 2055's? I can't find them at summit or jegs?

 

I just bought a set from Summit 3 weeks ago.....Think their part number is HOK-2055hkr

http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...-2055&x=15&y=6

But they show not available...may be out from end of year and inventory, etc



call them at 1-800-230-3030

 

motor, engine...ehh you say potato, i say tater.

the engine does "torque", it just takes the whole car with it. there is not movement in the motor mount area as there is with poly/rubber, therefore helping reaction time and the chassis doesn't "soak up" power. in the last two times i went to the track, i have gotten 3 .000 lights. the reason i went with them was cause they are cheaper than poly, and not worn out like used rubber mounts. the car was originally a v6 car and so i needed to change the mounts anyways. i have a bigger cam (not huge) in my motor, and with the solid motor mounts, it shakes the car a bit. if i blip the throttle at a stop light, the car moves around a little

 

after i got my exhaust welded i dont have that problem anymore. it must of been my y-pipe doing that!!! I LOVE MY HOOKERS!!!!!!!

 

HOK-2055 is the old Summit part number, and why it says not available.

If you use the number you said, HOK-2055hkr, it says "Should ship by Today, Price $379.95".

 

If you plan to get the 2055's coated, you can just order them from Jet-Hot directly....that's what I did and they turned out great. They run about $640 coated and delivered to your door (both headers and Y-pipe are coated inside/out).

 

Do they have a dual cat setup???

 

No dual cat setup. If you want to use them with dual cats, you'll have to cut off the "Y" and run a pipe to each cat.

 

I installed 2055s a while back and I have a fitment issue I'd like to address.

On the Y-pipe, on the ball flange where the pipe meets the header on the passenger side, my bolts don't line up to both sides of the flange. If I install one, then the other hole is offset and the remaining bolt is sideways no matter what so it won't thread. I can put bolts in either holes, but no matter which one I put in, the other side is too crooked to thread. I tried it with the first bolt tight, first bolt loose, I tried turning the flange 180 degrees and looked to see if that'd work. Nothing works, and its always too offset for the other bolt to thread. I'm beginning to think that I was sent a warped flange, but it looks fine. This is really bothering me..the other flange bolted up fine but this one doesn't want to. Now I have an exhaust leak and summit doesn't take back parts that have been installed..
Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Had the same problem.....

Finally got them to both go in. the Ypipe was cocking a little bit...and had to be tugged on to get it "straight".

Make sure that the driver's side is still loose and will 'float' enough to get the pass. side to line up. It WILL work...but sometimes you have to REALLY want it.

 

what i did, was just get all the bolts on first and the snug them down and then tight them down like no tomorrow!!

 

DO NOT overly tighten them. You will indent the ball flange. Took mine in to muffler shop to find an exhaust leak and was missing a couple of the bolts. They put new ones on and tightened the crap out of them....Next time I took them off, the ball had an indentation around it....both sides. Get them snug and tighten @ 1/2 turn....

They will seal up OK. If you're worried about it, put some RTV red high temp around the Ypipe side and then fit them up.

 

Yea same thing happened to me. I could get three bolts in but couldn't seem to get the last bolt in. It didn't seem to matter what side I started first. Put in the hardest to reach bolt first, one on each collector. Then put in the third hardest so that the last bolt is easy to reach. Lay on your back with you knees bent and move the y-pipe around with you legs until you can get the last bolt to start. It's tough, you have to have everything lined up just right. Oh and when you put the first 3 bolts in just tighten them just enough so that the bolt doesn't fall back out. This will give you more room to move the y-pipe around so that you can get the last bolt started. If you still can't get it to thread try using a drill to open up the hole on the flange a little.

 

Seems like the passenger side outer side first, passenger side motor side, drivers side motor side then drivers side outer worked the best for me.

Hardest to get to to tighten is the drivers side motor side......kinda under the Y pipe be sure and use a universal adapter on that one.


Oh and one more thing.

I hope to heck you did NOT put header wrap on them....first hand experience...DON'T!!!!!!!

1. Makes it harder to put the header bolts in and
2. It will destroy the header...

 

One of the standard rules of exhaust work is to start all the bolts before tightening any of them. If you apply that to the flange as well as the collector bolts, life will be much easier.

 

Well I'm not saying that it doesn't fit so much as the bolt holes don't seem to line up. I even took the bolts completely out of the driver's side and tried loosely turning one bolt in first on the passenger flange, but the other one still won't go in, as if the plate for the flange is cocked at an angle. I was thinking about torching a bit to soften it up and then trying to bend it a bit, but that doesn't seem like it would work at all.

And no..no header wrap even if that black coating is flaking off. Ah well..I didn't have enough money for the ceramic anyway. Much less bent ceramic that the bolts don't line up through.

 

Take it completely back off and eye ball the flanges...see if they appear straight.


Oh, one thing I do remember...

Push the ball flange against the collector and be SURE that the attaching flange is pushed all the way up to the ball flange......

If it is cocked just a little like this.....







It will not let you put the bolts in......

Notice on this one that the flange is bent on both ends towards the opening....caused by gruntzilla at the muffler shop which also indented my *****...(no pun intended here)