Where to start on what it took to get this done!!
THe y-pipe hit a rock an got crushed so I thought good excuse to upgrade to headers. I choose headers for the 305 TPI because of the 3' cat connector. I choose edelbrock over hookers for no real reason..there seems to be as much good and bad said about both.
$338 from local speed shop plus a $35 3'universal catco cat from ebay and I had all I needed.

Took 2 afternoon sessions of about 6 hrs each just to remove the old rusty seized on manifolds,
One can of WD40,
and alot of patience when all I wanted to do was the get fixing stick and show it whose boss.
one of the Passenger side rear bolts wouldn't come free..the oil dipstick was froze to one and thats what held me up..also just one of the bolts on the Y-pipe wouldn't come free....
2 bolts!!!!!
if your thinking of doing this job then go nuts with the WD40 or pb blaster..I let the car sit and every time I was passing it to go out I'd pop the hood and squirt.

removal is simple just unbolt everything and and it all falls apart.
just be carefull when pushing the air tubes out of the way. I unbolted the whole air valve and rested it on the intake.
keep an eye on whats getting caught when things are being removed.

installation:
I searched and searched and it seems some people get stuck in different places.
On the drivers side I just popped of the valve cover making sure it was clean first so rusty crap didn't fall in anywhere. then I pulled the plugs and reversed them so the spark plug holes where covered so crap couldn't fall in there. After that the drivers side just slid in and I thought what a clever dude I was but knew the @#$@ was yet to come.
Some people remove the steering wheel "bracket/brace" theres just a single bolt you pop and it falls apart. I popped the bolt and was trying to separate them when I thought of how important it is that I don't @$@$ up my steering and so left that method alone.

The passenger side..
well I searched and read for 1 1/2 hours this morning on that..and because I've AC I either had to lift the engine, which is removing the one bolt in the mount and with a trolley jack and a good peice of 2 by 4 under the oil pan to lift the engine. Because it's still connected on the other side it will tilt. Very easy to just drop in form the top...but I got worried about the stress on the trans and hearing some snap of brittle plastic so decided it'd be easier to replace the starter if it got knackerd than the trans or some odd wire.
After hours of trying everything else , I dropped the starter ...on my face nearly
bent the dip stick some more out of the way and with the fan temp switch being sacrificed in a major shower of powdererd plastic they headers just slid in..

I'm not sure about the engine lift method ..it seemed daunting to me but the starter removal was easy apart from I removed the lower bracket bolt and couldn't get the 10mm headed little @$(*$ back in.
so if you go for the starter way don't fully loosen that lower bracket screw.
The starter drops out very easy and goes back very very easyily.

I'd also remove and reverse EVERY sparkplug so the holes are covererd and you can put the new ones in easily.

I choose accel header plugs that are about an 3/4 inch shorter than the old autolites. (machinist at the speed shop recommended them over standard plugs). If I left the old size plugs on I'd have to remove the headers to get them off..

I left a plug in and couldn't get it out...so I hit it with the fixing stick ..it expolded leaving the bottom of the plug in the hole...not reccomended but I wanted to get the car started before dark.

Also if your plug socket has a box end then you can turn it with a large wrench..and it saves a lot of space..just be carefull not to over tighten.

This is a long write up I know..
but what a long job...I feel I know my car inside and out now after having my face in the oil pan for about 4 days

I also fixed and found..a vacumn leak..a loose engine ground strap..
and totally murdererd my fan temp switch ..ah well.

I've got pics to post as well
of the edelbrocks and where I had to grind them..

 

I got the car started as well...
This is the biggest thing I've done yet to my car and I feel like I've accomplised something..man the times I wanted to just wave a wand and wish it would all dissapear and I would wake up in the morning not covererd in oil and with no rust flecks in my eyes..
it was all just a bad dream and I really drove a honda civic

 

Yeah, that's how header installs usually go. Anyone who tells you it's as simple as removing the old exhaust and bolting the headers in has yet to do their first set!

I've installed LOTS of headers over the years but I still end up cracking my knuckles against stuff, cursing, figuring out what's keeping them from sliding in place, wondering if it's all worth it for 20 more HP, etc. Your second set of headers probably won't go any easier than the first!

I think you made the right decision to go with TPI-style headers to get the larger 3" y-pipe. That's what I've always done when putting headers on a car with one of the "low output/small exhaust" 305s- and I've never regretted it.

Congrats on the successful install.

 

I feel your pain..probably the worst part about it was taking off those damn clips that were bent over the manifold bolts, and the fact that it's impossible to see what you're doing most of the time. You almost have to be a contortionist to do half the work, but I still think the gains are worth it. Lets see some pics!

 

Heres a comparison between new headers and old.

 

Heres another comparison pic and also the one special tool needed above all the others.
I had to get every tool I had out and layying on the ground near me..every drive ,every socket, every wrench, 3 adjustable wrenchs..the only tool I didn't bring out was the crowbar..I didn't think having that lying around would of helped..would of been to tempting to just dent the heater core box..

 

On the Edelbrocks i got which I think where 6872's ($329 from summit I got mine for $338 from local speed shop) they came with AIR!! I should of just committed to removing the whole air system seening as it all ends up in pieces during the installation anyway..
The PITA is with the Edelbrock AIr tubes is that they protrude to much..so DREMEL time.

 

Heres a pic after I ground them down. I didn't want to go to far in case I cut the tubes.
Last night I started the car and let it run just for a minute. THeres a lot of smoke as the rust resistant covering there coated with burns away. And all the Wd40 gets fried.
I didn't fit the cat because I wanted any metal filings from the porting to be blown out and not lodged in there.
It sounded very loud but felt much louder..felt like I was being stampeded over by lots of soft footed baby bison..made me want to cough..

The Edelbrocks also came with 90* x 4 sparkplug boot jackets so I had to ripp apart some of my accell 8.8 and put the new type on. Make sure you have all 90* sparkplug boots. Doesn't seem very important now but once the headers are installed you can see there needed or theres going to be melting going on.

 

I'm going to post up more pic's later..
steering column boot..how close the y-pipe is to the starter.
New Heat sheild for the starter $50 new starter about $130...
I'm going to get one of the plumbers heatsheilds from home depot and tye that into place..
the spark plug heatshields are also $50..
I"m not sure how much the new fan temp switch is yet or if I'm going to leave that in place and make a switch on the dash or just lower my temp on my chip..but either way when your doing this install the switch gets slaughtererd so add that cost as well..

Also they come with a oxygen sensor extension cable because the new bung whole is down near the oil filter. I threaded the new cable through the chassis making sure it was near anything that could rub it or sqaush it.
New sensor $30

THis picture shows my car up a little

 

wow that o2 extension cable would have been nice..dont know why they moved the sensor to the other side in the first place. the headers came with that cable?

 

yeah the headers came with the extension cable..I figure they have to move it lower because of how long the pipes are before they all join together.
My new oxygen sensor fitted nice and easy just needed an adjustable wrench. it also came with anti seize on it which was good because I couldn't find mine.
heres a picture of the steering wheel nut you can remove on when installing the drivers side. untighten and the bolt slips out then you can separate the steering column. I just removed the plugs and valve cover and that worked.

 

Heres a pic of the lower startet bracket bolt..
DO NOT loosen this fully it's a huge PITA to get back in. But you may need to loosen it a bit to get the top bolt back in.
The starter just drops out when you remove the 2 big bolts..very easy.

 

this is a pic' of the Y-pipe. It fits very well and neatly behind the oil pan..no issue at all..which is good since I bought the headers for a TPI 305..

 

lastly heres a picture of why I should of bought the cat back exhaust for a 305 TPI instead of a 305 TBI. Every one recommends doing it the tpi way but I wanted it all be as easy as possible because it was my first exhaust.( 7mths ago)
As you can see the pipe reduces a lot and I'll now have to figure away to get that to connect to my 3' cat..
I would say buy the 305 TPI exhaust to anyone doing this it'll save time and money later if you are going to install headers as well.

 

also lastly if anyone is thinking of doing this and need help then no problem if you want to PM me and ask a question or if you live in northern NJ are stuck again just PM me.
cheers and I hope all the pic's help

 

when i can't figure something out, i just keep spraying WD-40 on it...then come back later and look at it again....and if i still can't do it...i go back to spraying more WD-40 on it... ...then when i realize that Wd-40 has nothing to do with what I'm working on, i just say the f word...hehe

 

Yeah headers arn't easy and that pretty much sums up everyones header install.

 

hahah amen

 

I think if it wern't for all the accessories it'd would of been easy. made me think of how nice it would be to work on an older pre cat's car..
I don't think it's easy but I did it ,so anyone with patience and effort could do it..it's just how many days of your life do you want to give up

 

SNORK!

Looks like another good addition to the TGO funny farm.

 

Have you gotten everything bolted together yet? Can you tell a performance gain in it? Good write up on the install, will be doing the same in about 1 week but removing the AIR system. Thanks for all the really good info, good job!

 

thanks.

Everything is bolted back up apart from the slide on 3' CAT and the CAT to CAT back exhaust still. I may take it to work to get welded up. I've not had time recently to work on the car. I've only driven it backwards and forwards on the drive so everything gets lubricated.
I'm looking forward to taking it out for a blast in a few days. I'm expecting a huge noticeable improvemnet, so I'll post then.
Good choice to get rid of the AIR I wish I'd done that too. Never to late though but it'll def' make your job easier not havin them pipes in the way, plus neater.

Pm if you need any help

 

ROTFLMMFAO!!

I feel you bro!!!!

 

You mean when you're removing the stock exhaust manifolds, right? Those AIR tubes are weak, I usually bend them back and forth.... then they crack, then I yank.

But as for you're AIR tubing on the Edelbrock's, keep them. We're in the same state, and their starting to contemplate visuals. But this shouldn't even be the main factor though, as the real factor is that you don't lose any real time by yanking the smog pump. Plus, you're doing our environment a good service.

Other than saving weight, and reducing clutter... smog pumps don't really hinder performance.

 

I meant it would be easy to install the new headers without AIR pipes on. I may be wrong but thats what seem to keep catching on everything when I was doing mine.
I wouldn't remove my AIR for performance though and I'd be deciding to be screwed at next inspection as well (NJ).
But a '74 corvette would be nice to work on without all the clutter.

cheers mate

 

I started my install today of the same edelbrock TES headers but in the chrome with black y-pipe. I started with removing the old cat, I used my dremel to just cut things that wouldn't come loose. I just cut the clamps and the bolts - it was much easier that way. I did find that my old cat was previously gutted by someone before me. I always wondered why I my car had a very rich exhaust smell - Now I know why. I then removed the y-pipe, mine was super simple - 3 out of 4 bolts were real easy. I then went top side and removed the air components on the passenger side to make more room. I did the same as posted earlier to pull the plugs and reverse them. I removed all the exhaust manifold bolts and had to loosen the lower bolt on the AC bracket. There are also 2 bolts that held on the metal shield that protected the plugs, loosened them and it came off. I dropped 1 vacuum line that ran to that flap in my exhaust at the y-pipe. My exhaust manifold bolts were cake, some were finger tight! I was suprised. I got the manifold off and moved my plug wires and the new header slid right in with no problems. I started all the bolts and used a long bolt on the front pass side bolt to hold the bracket that holds some canisters for the AIR system. I did break the back off my air pump in the install. I looked at it closely and someone had previously tried to glue it so I don't claim that one as mine All the bolts on the passenger side were RELATIVELY easy EXCEPT the rear bolt! HOLY ****! I could only get my 7/16 wrench to turn like 1/10th of a turn before having to flip it, turn, flip it, turn. This was in such an awkward position to. It took me 40 minutes for that one bolt. Like stated earlier - REMOVE THE STARTER would have been easier to access but same slow progress for tightening. Once all torqued down I re-installed all the air components and it looks good. I will post tomorrow on the previously said - Easier side, we'll see.

 

Excellent.
sounds like you had more luck (skill) than me in getting the job done.
The drivers side should be a doddle for you then.
Let me know if your new cat mates up perfectly with your old exhaust. My universal is about 8' to short DOH!

Are you getting a new chip in there as well?

 

Part 2 Complete! I removed the drivers side exhaust manifold with just a little dismay. I really had a hard problem with the second bolt from the front that held on an AC bracket. I had to dremel cut it in half to weaken it and it finally gave in and came out. It was a little bit of a pain removing the AC Bracket that is connected to the power steering pump (behind it) and bolted to the front of the block. I removed the PS and loosened the AC to get the bracket off. The center bolts and the rear one were all easy to remove. The second to back was hard because of a little piece of metal that was pressed against the head of the bolt that you can not see because of the spark plug heat shield. I bent the hell outta the shield and finally saw the problem and gently bent the small piece of metal off the bolt and the socket was good to go on it then. I tried REALLY REALLY hard to get the header down in that seemingly large opening but it was always caught on the steering knuckle. I had a lot of problem getting the knuckle seperated, it finally gave and the header slid right in. Bolted everything up and used the longer bolts and spacers on it to hold the AC bracket and all ways golden. I reran the plug wires, reattached the steering knuckle, I lubed it up good with lithium grease and tapped it back in place! The AIR tube on the drivers side faces backwards and not frontwards. I bought a 4' piece of 3/4" heater hose and a 90 degree pcv valve elbow to reroute the line. I connected the 90 deg right at the little canister on the left side of the engine where the tube orginally came from and it makes the line go to the back of the engine instead of across the front. I used the 4' tubing and took it behind the distributor and around to the AIR connector on the drivers side header. I think it is a better routing than factory! I connected the lower collector to the Y-pipe and attached the new 3" in/out Catco cat. I took a clothes hanger and hung that and the old 2 1/2" piping to the muffler til tomorrow when it goes to the muffler shop to weld on the cat, and run a new 3" pipe back to the flowmaster that is currently on it. The flowmaster has a 3" inlet but it has an adaper right now for the 2 1/2" pipe. They are going to hook it up good for me so it is 3" from front to back. I was worried after hanging the cat and pipe because it was now time to start it! What a hoot - almost open headers, it had the cat on it. I can't wait to drive it. I am first in line at the muffler shop for 7:30am. Will post tomorrow after everything is complete and show a few pics. Plug changing is easy as heck now! Thanks for all the good advice to make this project easier from thedogs!

 

This most defnitly has some GREAT info in it, so I'll see about linking in into one of the TBI stickies....

BUT...just because the car has a TBI on it guys, doesn't mean it's TBI related. This thread will be moved to the 'Exhaust' board...

Bruce (90RS305)

 

Part 3 - Complete. Exhaust shop just welded on my 3" catco cat and ran me a 3" pipe to my old Flowmaster that accepted the 3" pipe perfectly. It sounds better, throttle seems a little more responsive. I did find I have a small leak at my pass side collector I will work on later today when everything cools off. As far as performance gains, My tired old 305 needs replacing I think. 19 years old and 105,000 miles. I guess that will be the next write up! I am editing this post earlier today after about 30 mile on it. I can feel a little better accelereation and the rumble the headers give the exhaust note is nice too I am pleased with the install. I am going to clean the engine bay tomorrow and get a few pics up.

 

WOW! Great post(s). I just received my Edelbrock TES's (#68722) this week. Got the coated set with the black y-pipe and A.I.R, the set-up for TPI as well. Looking forward to the install.

Do any of you guys have some more pics or tips you could post or send me? kzadworney@hotmail.com

As far as the A.I.R. goes, for now I plan on keeping the system intact. I was thinking though... In the future if I plan on doing a smog delete, what about some steel braided lines coming off the AIR tubes with a capped end leading to, and hidden, somewhere near the firewall. Would this give the appearance of being Smog Equipped? Probably would look nice too.

I look to be doing my header install sometime within the next few weeks. I live in Central NJ, where are you other NJ guys located?

KZad

 

I'll snap some pictures today an postem later tonight for you. I will show you what I recommend for the AIR line that goes accross the front of your engine and how I routed mine to the rear.

 

Here is how I routed the AIR tube that use to run across the front of the engine bay to get it to mate with the reversed inlet on the drivers side header. The TPI Headers accept the 5'8" tube from the back side instead of the front like the stock manifolds did on a carb or TBI.

 

Dude thats how my AIR tube was run originally. I PM'ed you about that. It definetley looks cleaner having that tube snake round the back. My AIR system look slightly different to yours though.
your spark plug wires are as tied up as mine


I got my exhaust welded up today.

3' cat welded with new 3" section.
realignement of my exhaust I pretty much had dragging around whilst I was waiting for the welding to be done. new hangers etc.
The AIR tube I broke whilst driving with it tucked out of the way,repaired and connected to the CAT.
The reducer part of my EDELBROCK TBI cat back cut and enlarged. The guy said he didn't think he could do a 3" but when I went back it looks just the same!

total came to $165 ...BARGAIN really considering the guy did a very clean professional job and I took it to my local MIENEKE!!!

Only drove around for 20 mins..but the exhaust's tone is totally different ..alot smoother and I can watch the rev's try to climb as quickly as my speed. The car is a lot lot quicker and more responsive to boot. The engine feels like it can BREATHE.

I'd recommend gettting all TPI stuff for your TBI and saving the welding cost's.

by the way,I live in northern NJ near morristown.

 

One thing I did to my 88 with these headers was to put a heat shield for the brake lines on the driver's side. This is just below the proportioning valve where there are several lines really close to the exhaust. Just cut and bent a thin metal shield to fit in there.

 

I'll take a look at that.
I'm doing my brakes this weekend and I need to put a heat shield of some kind near my starter too. thanks

drove the car for about 2 hrs today and the difference is huge.
much much smoother. very quite until I floor it then its a sudden whoosh of noise and speed. Maybe my old cat was blocked because the difference is night and day.
I'll post pics of the welding I had done sometime this weekend.

 

Do these headers work with angle pluged heads?

 

I acutually found 3rd gens to be one of the easiest header installs that I've seen, If you have shorties. When we put my buddys mmotor in the headers wouldn't clear so we had to take them off and put them on after the motor went in the car. It really was a piece of cake, but also thats on a new motor so the bolts were easy. I just installed some on a 70 Dodge Dart with a 340, and let me tell you that sucked so much!!!! Had to drop the starter, disconnect tierods idler and pitman arms, drop the centerlink, unbolt the motor and lift it up, then drop the K-Frame down some to get them in. Those old dodges are a pain in the ***, Chevy all the way baby.

 

Quite a bit of clearance all around the plugs, should be no problems at all with this.

 

Picture of my engine with the Edel. TES and you can see the pipes come straight out of the port then curve down, roughly an inch or more clearance from the end of the plugs, not close to them on the sides.

 

I am still wondering how to bolt up the a/c bracket, the dipstick, and the alt. bracket. (???) what did you guys use?

I have the hedman headers and was wondering if the manufacturer is supposed to send new bolts? The standard header bolts will not allow these brackets to be conected.

help me out, I'm confused.

 

TOM3 thats a beauty.

bowtie driver
I didn't go the AC route myself so I'm can't help to much but didn't your set come with a bunch of different sized bolts? I have a bunch of bolts left over from my install. I choose the ones that gave me best access.

I left the dipstick just free standing but theres going to be some metal type cable tie/clamp for it in home depot for like $2.

Can you post a pic of where your up to now with the AC bracket?

 

The Edelbrocks come with an fairly complete install kit with different bolts, and a clamp for the dipstick. There is a rod type support for the AC that has to be bent on the ends, the instructions call this out, hard to bend though.

 

I used the old AC bolt on the front bolt on the drivers side. I used the starburst looking black bolt in the second bolt hole on the drivers side to mount the AC with no problems at all. The pass side I used the starburst head long bolt with spacer to hold up the black canister AIR thingy on the front bolt on pass side. As for the oil dip stick, me too - Free Willing it. It was really tight on space getting it in there and once I got it in, I realized it wasn't coming out without a fight. Hope this helps. If needed I will post a pic of both sides if it will help you out a little better.
Tony

Nice friggin Engine

 

I just got mine on last week and they werent much fun either. I got the coated ones so I was trying my best not to shove them into place and mess the coating up so that made it a little worse than if I just got painted ones and rammed them home. I also smashed my fan switch but kind of did it on purpose because Im replacing it when I install my stealthram with a lower temp one. I love how my exhaust sounds now although Im still getting use to that header sound under the hood which you can actualy hear the pulses through the thinner walled pipes.

 

I just noticed my fan does not work! Where is my fan switch at, I guess I broke mine too and did not even know I did it!

 

the fan switch is on the passenger side.
Somewhere in the middle just beneath the headers.
If anyone can post a pic of it's location it'll be great other wise I'll do it this weekend when I'm doing my rotors.
along with my newly welded exhaust.

"My1986IROC-Z" could you post the pics of how you did your AC bracket?

My fan is hard wired and just runs all the time. I like the noise more than any cooling benefit's.

Thank you for everyones input on this thread as well.
Cheers

 

here's some links to other install post's
TRAXION
Notes on Installation of Hooker Long Tube Headers (2210)
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ght=fan+switch

here's a fan switch picture and stuff
25TH ANNI RS
broke sensor in left head need to no where to get one..
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ght=fan+switch

header option chart
anesthes
Thirdgen Header option chart - explained
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...eaders+install

 

I guess I will have to call hedman. I bought these used and was just wondering if they sent bolts to do a proper "bolt on" swap.

dog, thanks for the links. if you could post some pics it would be appreciated. I have the motor out right now and am putting on the 416 heads but I also have to rewire my fan. the moron that had it before me jacked up alot of things. he hardwired the fan but on a toggle switch. so you gotta remember to turn it on all the time. I'd rather have it automatic.

 

I'll get you pic's up of my fan switch and the wiring if I can figure how it was done...and what bolts I have and all that stuff this weekend..I've no time before saturday.

If someone else can post pic's of any brackets they made that would be great as well.