Who all here has done headers on thier 2.8? My exhaust has rusted around the manifold so im going to have to replace like the whole thing, which makes me wonder if I should replace them with headers. How much of a B!tch is this? I see nothing but brackets and crap in the way.

 

i did it (on my 3.4, same thing). its not that hard. i dont know many of ou had to, but i had to get rid of my alt. bracket on the back side of the alt. it took my about 2 hrs w/ a hoist. get headers and a dynomax catback. youll be very happy w/ the sound and performance.

 

whoa whoa what was the hoist for? you had to lift the engine?

 

no i meant hoist to lift the car to get under it. but you can easily do it w/o a hoist. just lift the car up in the air. at least the front, the back too if possible. you have to take the exhaust loose at the front end of the cat. pull that and the y-pipe off. then pull the exhaust manifolds off. get the headers in there and bolted up, 1. do not tighten them up and 2. do not use the pacesetter gaskets, theyre junk. then put the new y-pipe in. then tighten it all up.
dale said he had to make his o2 sensor wire longer, i did not have to. dont know if youll have to or not. no big deal if you do, just splice a few inches of wire in.

 

what kind of gaskets should i use then, and where can i get a new y-pipe? mine seems shot

 

did you notice any power gain?

 

they come with y-pipe.

as soon as i can rustle up the dough for them and the dynomax catback, i'm putting them on.

i hear the manifold bolts are a huge bitch to get off, put some penetrating lube on the night before, that should help. be prepared to snap one or two off either way. (might not happen, but quite possible)

 

i have a breaker bar about as long as the door.....should be fine

 

just dont break them, thats what the penetrating lube is for. chances are they are rusted in like no other. good luck!

 

thanks

 

be careful doing it yourself. odds are, you are gonna snap at least one bolt and then hafta find a way of pulling it outta the head. i had them done on mine and it took a shop all day cuz 4 bolts were broken. u wont notice a tremendous amount of power gained, but u will see some. also will sound better. i used felpro manifold gaskets and they work fine. but i believe pacesetter has felpro header gaskets. i had the slip joints welded up afterwards because they leak and wanted something more secure than u-bolts. u will also have to find something to seal up the ball-flange on the driver side, also leaks. good luck

 

Fel Pro makes header gaskets (in their performance catalog, not the regular line)...Summit and others have them. Don't know about the Pacesetter headers, but with PF & E you don't have to mod much of anything, and they come with a y-pipe. Pretty easy bolt on. Also, if you do break off any studs in the head, a 90 degree air drill and some easy outs will do wonders. Its not that hard to fix with the right tools. Still though, soak the bolts/studs with PB Blaster for at least a day and carefully break them loose. Use a breaker bar, and you will break some studs.

 

i got the felpro gaskets for the 2.8 headers and locking header bolts since mine came loose after 3 months.