Don 79 TA

you have helped me tremendously
thanks
i can't say what difference they will make
as we changed to E heads since i had broken bolts in the heads

i dont have the plugs in now, and looked like i needed like 2-3" of room to get that sucker in there

did you just drop it in?
if so, any special way?

i tried from underneath, but there is no room

i am trying not to mess the coating up
also trying to see what brake lines needed to be moved,

i just ordered a **** load of arp bolts from summit, hopefully i can get the perfect size i am looking for

i did buy this exhaust manifold stud kit in the Help section, used those to help hold and guide the headers on

LT1FUN

My drivers side went in from the top. The passenger side from the bottom. There's really no universal "best" way to do it as different people prefer differt methods.

My motor never had to be jacked up, but some people prefer that method as it does create a lot more clearance. It just takes a little more time. . Installation wasn't the easiest thing to do, but like with any header install, patience is a virtue. It's just frustrating and time consuming that's all.

You might want to wrap your headers with a few layers of some cellophane or similar cerane wrap (the stuff you wrap your sandwitch's with) to keep the headers from getting scratched as easily. Maybe even some bubble wrap if you have any. Basically, anything thin enough to not get in the way, but thick enough to provide some protection againt nicks and scratches when you rub them up against, say, the fuel lines or kmember.


Just take your time and manuver them back and forth, side to side etc. etc.....they'll eventually get in ther e. If not, you might have to jack up that side of the motor to get some clearance.



What were those heads again? "E" heads ?

Don 79 TA

excellent idea on the wraping
wow
never thought of that
i have the edelbrock heads
the tpi replacement heads

i have to say i am pleased with the way they look, and thought for a grand they are nice heads since i am not going crazy with the motor

in the pontiac world, we call edlebrock heads, E heads

i did that and roller rockers

main reason was because the exhaust manifolds broke, and since the heads had to come off, might as well replace them

I thought you SBC guys had it made with all the cheap parts and stuff.....
but man that is some confusing crap......
like a trillion different combos or possibilities

LT1FUN

Ohhhhhhhh, Edelbrocks....

I had a feeling that's what they were.

So, you're talking about the Performer Centerbolt heads right? The 165cc heads with 60cc chambers?

Those are the heads I plan on getting myself. They aren't too popular on this site, as everyone say to go with AFR but they currently have a 6-8 week waiting period for all of the sbc cylinder heads. Screw that!

I've seen a few TPI's running the Edelbrock's and the torque output was VERY impressive. A good bit higher than I've seen with guy's running TrickFlows....

Let me know how you like those heads. Where did you order them from if you don't mind me asking. Have any pic's?

Thanks in advance...

roughskinjrz

also running edelbrock heads, the performer rpm but for a chevy not the pontiac ones

Don 79 TA

yeah those are the heads
i got them from summit and used the mrgasket head gaskets .028 thick
i hope they add a little pep to the car. like i said i wasn't into swapping a cam and computer tunning and since i took the old heads off, i'd kick myself for not replacing them

for a stock replacement or for a little extra i think they are hard to beat
especially since i was getting prices to rebuild the old heads of around 5-600, so a few $$'s more get brand new aluminum heads

and like i said the ones i have looked really nice. gaskets lined up almost perfectly, ports seem nice, and bigger valves.

i just got my arp bolts in, so hopefully like you said, a little time and the headers get fitted and installed.

however if you are thinking of doing an intake and all, look at the E tec heads then
or even the vortec heads, supposedly they flow great for a mild street application and are cheap (cast iron though)
the e-tecs get some decent reviews too

if you are going for max power and rpms, i would think there are better heads

like i said a million choices for the SBC
and nothing will compensate for not having a proper tune.

Don 79 TA

ok i got the headers in and on
had to jack the motor up
and bammmmm
slipped right in
what i did was cut off the buldge part where two bolts are on the drivers side header
i was trying to get some bolts to work, but on the middle tube they were hitting
so i took the dremel out and cut them off
i'm up to the Y pipe install now. that's a little bit of pain to make sure it's aligned right

hopefully it's not going to take that much more time tomorrow and i can get the rest of the motor back together

i am using the ARP 5/16" 12 point header bolts
really easy to get at
all the other bolts i can now send back.

spark plugs are in, and i put heat wrapping tubes on all of the wires, and will put the reaming sheething on the brake line

i did not notice any steering column interferance at all
actually had alot of clearance, just need to move the brake lines a little

hopefully soon i can get it fired up
need to double check everything first
i didnt have the camera to take photos, i'll try to

Don 79 TA

I'm done with the project
yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

i think there is a little ticking from the exhaust underneath, i'll have her take it to the shop so we can hear it on the lift

all in all
not to bad
it lights the tires up so easily now
probably should have done the cam while i was at it, but didn't have the extra time or funds to do that

the heads are nice and the exhaust is nice too

only drove it around the garage area, and it laid an easy 70' stretch
i wasn't even all the way on it

still needs some tweaking and double checking
plus playing with some timing

no leaks
and no more smoking on start up either

LT1FUN

Congradulations on the header install. Just be sure to go back and re-tighten the header bolts after about a week or two of driving. They tend to loosen up a bit sometimes. Once you re-tighten them, you're good to go.

Try and post some pic's if you get the chance. I'd love to see those Edelbrocks...

Don 79 TA

i'd take some photos, but since i didn't tidy everything up, i didn't want to show it, it's a mess
i did that so i can recheck everything later

the leaks are coming from the test pipe and cat adaptor
some reason the super trap clamps aren't making a good seal

i have the exhaust shop weld it all up nicely

other than that
took it out
WOW
nice

it definitely has more pep no doubt
it can really use a cam
the bottom hit is unreal
just ran up to 70mph, tranny feels flakey now, kindda thought it was a little weak, so i'll see about replacing that

other than that, is seems real nice
i think the SLPs are the BOMB
worth getting

like i said, if i had the pass side off, i'd take off those little extensions they put on

i also tried putting the sleeving on the spark plug boots, couldnt get them on, i have the pre-made MSD ones

on the #6 cyl i used some of the heat sleething from DEI
i'll see how that is holding up

still needs some tweaking, but you can feel it breathing better, and is snappier with the little extra compression
it still wants to just go....

only thing i am worried about is it being a 9bolt rear

TPI-Formula350-

[
only thing i am worried about is it being a 9bolt rear[/QUOTE]

don't worry about the 9 bolt rear it's stronger then the 10 bolt. I have to check ur car out at the kohls cars show in Deer Park one day.

Don 79 TA

well she brought it down to the muffler guy and he said he can't touch the y pipe because it's to close to the floor boards.

he was wondering why i changed the y pipe

this is the one that came with the headers

did anyone else have this happen?
do i need to take it off and re-align or should i have a pipe made up?

i tried doing this on the car ramps, so there isn't much room with a fat guy like me underneath, plus i sorta rushed it a little

it's leaking at the cat adaptor, test pipe and i think the driver side to the y pipe, again maybe it's not in right?

he said it needs to drop about 1/4 to 1/2 clearance

LT1FUN

I don't know exactly how your converter is hooked up, but on my IROC, the end of the converter that connects to the intermediate pipe (cat-back) has 3 bolt flange which (obviously) is connected to the flange on the exhaust. But the other end of the converter which connects to the ypipe, had to be welded in place.

If your set-up is like mine, what I suggest you do is, connect the y to the cat and make sure everything's aligned properly. Once it's in position, tack weld a few area's to hold the two pieces together. Then remove the entire ypipe (the cat shound now be attached via the welds you made, set it on a table, and weld around the entire area to make sure it's completely sealed.

Then just bolt it back up into place. Check for leaks and you're set.

Trying to weld the cat/ypipe together once it's already installed, is really difficult since you can't reach the area around the top closest to the floor pans because there's no clearance.

Just take it off and weld all around it. A bit of a pain, but it's the best way for a 100% leak proof seal.

Hope that helps.

Don 79 TA

do you know if your y pipe is right against the floor board or how much clearance you have?
he said mines right against it
but i dont hear any hitting or anything at all


i'm suspecting i need to take everything apart, with a helper, get it setup and do what you said.

it's a pain to do all of that by yourself

if i do it at the shop i have the lifts to work with, alot easier

LT1FUN

I've got just over 1 3/4" of clearance between the floor boards and ypipe.

If your y was making contact with the floor boards/pans, you wouldn't really "hear" anything, but there would be a very noticble vibration throughout the car.

It would be very obvious.

Do you have a welder at home? If so, just you could always save yourself the money and do it yourself. The most time consuming part of the job, is getting the car jacked up high enough to slide underneith. Atleast, that's what what annoys me the most about working on my car.

Once it's up, it really only takes 15-20 minutes to tack weld the y to the cat, remove the two bolts on either header/ypipe flange, and drop out the ypipe/cat out from under the car. Another 20 minutes to weld around the entire joint, and another 20 to bolt it all back in.

Around an hours work total. Not too bad.

Of coarse, you can always just take it to an exhaust shop and pay them to do it. 1 hours work shouldn't cost that much.

Don 79 TA

i dont have a welder here, but there is one at my friends shop which i will go to friday.

the exhaust shop really didn't want to touch it
so i'll do it

i'm pretty sure i need to just reposition the pipe, which i can do on the lift and with an extra set of hands around

i'll keep you posted

Don 79 TA

ok it's done
no leaks
running good, or as good as it will be right now

finagled with the pipes, used some standard clamps, and it's all better

it was close, but not that close

car has a nice throaty roar when you get on it
power overall is improved, but like i said for heads that just swap on and go, they are REALLY nice
there are other heads out there that will definately give more power.
i'd also recommend a cam while you are at, again if you are looking for more power.

we'll see how it goes as she gets time on the car. it's a really nice ride
has 80k on it now

the tranny feels like it can use an overhaul (i like a real crips auto, but prefer manuals) that will be on the next to do list if we keep it.

roughskinjrz

the thing that sucks mooseballs is that the collector is 2.5" is the y-pipe 2.5" as well ?

LT1FUN

The collector has a 3" diameter, just so you know.

roughskinjrz

mm are you sure? i never actually looked specs on sites, but anyone who ever responded to me on this site said it was only 2.5"

3" is nice, so the y-pipe is 3" to.. i need to upgrade my headers and still stuck on the price of 720$ lol

91Camaro

I just purchased a set, How much ground clearance do you guys have?
My car is lowered 2 inches so do you think i would have a problem?

LT1FUN

I don't have any clearance loss and my car's kinda low

91Camaro

Cool, Mine looks the same height. Thought i was gonna have to get new springs. Thanks for the info

roughskinjrz

LT1FUN you sure they arent different for LT1 and 82-92 firebirds?

you guys have SLPs are they 2.5" or 3" collector

91Camaro

Heres some pics of my slp headers Installed

86FireBird305

im thinking of getting these for my 86...just a few questions...how does it sound cuz i have flowmaster exhaust as well......how difficult where they to install?...and how offten do u have to re tighten the bolts cuz i hear that can be an issue

LT1FUN

About a week after the headers were installed, I went back and re-tightened all the bolts one final time. That is pretty much common practice with all header installations regardless of brand. After that, I've never had to do it again. I've have no problems with exhaust leaks either. These are great headers.

As to how they sound, I can't really help you with that one 'cause I don't have the same Flowmaster exhaust you do.

I only run Borla on my car's

For what it's worth though, here's what SLP's sound like on a TPI (with a Borla exhaust) ...

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/a...df014a5d01.htm

joecautela

iTrader: (1)

LT1 Fun nice job, thanks for the photos. I have the same car and am going w/ the Hooker 2055's as soon as the weather breaks. Maybe I should do a comparison photo/install shoot? might be interesting to compare. I got a question for ya, when you said some of the original manifold bolts were seized, how'd ya go about getting them out? Did the heads snap/round off? or did a little bit of a torch do the trick.? . btw, I'm in the northeast and have decided to keep the a.i.r. for now to appease the local inspection gods. You don't need it by you or you have a friend? Did you delete the air pump as well?

LT1FUN

I soaked all the header bolts with a penetrating oil for 24 hours. The next day, some were still seized so I sprayed them again and waited another 24 hours. Sure enough, they all eventually came loose.

People need to remember that any seized nut/bolt thats been sprayed with oil (and it doesn't matter what brand it is "Liquid Wrench, WD-40 etc.) should be allowed to sit there for at least a full day. You can't just spray a bolt, wait 5 minutes and try removing it. That's not nearly enough time for these oils to penetrate and work their magic

If you have a rusted/seized bolt, just keep spraying it. Eventually, it WILL loosen. It just needs time and the owner definitely needs to have dome patience. Either that or he can risk snapping a bolt and I can assure you that's not very fun (or easy) to repair....

As far as emissions, yes, the smog pump has been removed. I've seen plenty of people pass emissions test's with no smog pump. It does very little to curb emissions to begin with. A good cat, and a properly working EGR system on the other hand, are absolutely necessary if you want to pass emissions.

My car? Yes we have emissions testing here. Yes, my car has passed. No, I can't give you any more details other than that

Finally, I think it would be pretty cool if you snapped off a couple photo's of your headers and install. There's a lot of debate on this forum as to which headers are best and there's always someone asking which of these two brans to go with.
It would be nice if we had some A/B comparison photo's of the 2055's and the SLP's so everyone could look and judge for themselves which hears worked best for their application.

Let us know.

91Camaro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjY7QtxYYAo

86FireBird305

that yotube clip sounded pretty nice even tho sound clips can never do ya justice

joecautela

iTrader: (1)

LT1, thanks for the reply. I'll be sure to document start to finish and post up the details. There's no heat in the garage but the weather seems to be turning for the better. Maybe later this week I can get it in and get started.

iroczcamaro87

iTrader: (1)

What kind of gaskets and bolts did you use. I am having troubles with tightening my slp's. Currently I have been using hex head bolts with percy's seal 4 good gaskets. They are aluminum and are supposed to compress. I just can't get a good turn on the bolts to compress the gasket. Any information would be helpful.

TPI-Formula350-

get some 12 point 3/8" bolts

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Remove those gaskets and buy some felpro 1404 or 1405s, 1" long header bolts/w small heads and use those. Put a dab of anti-sieze on the bolts. Never anymore problems.