I am getting ready to have my car ready to fire up. I swapped the heads out on it and im gonna take it to the muffler shop to bolt the headers back up to the y pipe. But i was wondering if i need to rush to the shop because it will damage the engine? I have heard people say that it can be harmful, but ive also heard of people doing it all the time

 

Does'nt hurt a thing, but we always fire motors with mufflers installed so you can keep an ear open for things that may not sound just right.

 

I wish I had room under the car to install mufflers when I fire up a rebuilt engine. 4" collecters a couple of inches off the floor doesn't leave much room for any type of temporary muffler system. I suppose if the front and rear of the car were sitting on jack stands I could slip on a couple of mufflers. I'd have to get 2 cheap 4" inlet diesel mufflers.

The only damage you might get is to your wallet if the cops stop you for running an open exhaust and being too loud. It all depends on how loud the car is.

 

Well i am gonna get it bolted back up, but i was unsure of how urgent it was

 

Bolt the Y-pipe back up yourself before you drive it, and skip the risk of problems.

It won't hurt the engine itself, but there's more to consider than just that.

Open headers, especially shorties, have been known to melt things and cause underhood fires, from exhaust gas going in places it isn't welcome.

Just do the right thing, and then you won't have to worry about it.

 

Well the reason i want to take it somewhere is because its a pain in the butt for me to get under there, and theres very limited space, plus i need new gaskets, and at the shop they just charge me for the gaskets and install them for free.