Moodist

iTrader: (2)

Anyone know a good/reasonably priced shop to get headers installed in the suburban philadelphia area and/or west chester area?

Lord Helmet

DIY. It's easy.

Moodist

iTrader: (2)

I am not shy of DIY tasks, it is just headers seem like a pain to install. Just the thought of not having air tools/proper tools to get the bolts off.

Lord Helmet

Once all the bolts have broken free, it's terribly easy. I used NO air tools. Besides, it's gonna be a little hard to use air tools for some of the bolts because of their locations. I called several places before I did mine and some places wanted between $150-$300 just to do it. Once I got all my bolts free, it only took me, by myself, about 2hrs to do it. Thay even included taking them back off because I accidentally put the back ones on the front and front ones on the back. Without that screw up, I probably could have done the job in and 1hr and 40mins or so.

GreenMonster

Chris, any specialty tools needed ?? I've got a 3/8 in. drive universal joint, which might come in handy, but other then a ratchet, sockets, extentions, breaker bar, and some liquid wench, what's needed ??

Breaking the bolts loose on exhaust stuff has always giving be a hard time in the past...

Lord Helmet

That's about all you need, really. Oh, and you'll need a big open end wrench (17mm or 19mm I believe) for the o2 sensor and a can of liquid wrench should cover it. It's an extremely basic job.

GreenMonster

Yeah, there's quite a list of tools here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153613

But I usually can manage w/o alot of the fancy stuff... If I need something, Sears is only 2 miles down the road...

mclarenf3387

A can of MAPP gas and a breaker bar is all you need. It cost me 40 bucks for the gas which came with an electric push button igniter.

Titand19

Tell me about this gas stuff brett.

If you need a lot of leverage, and don't have a lot of tools, I've placed a pipe over a wrench to give you greater leverage.

A good old fashioned impact gun will make your life a lot better.

Moodist

iTrader: (2)

Nice, thanks for the replies. If I can convince a friend of mine to help me out, I think I may tackle this.

Moodist

iTrader: (2)

Well...turns out I have access to a pretty large air compressor. All I need to do is buy a air ratchet and I should be able to use this to get the bolts off! Any other/special air tools I need other than a ratchet?

Frink

Nice to see a Philly boy in here...I've done my own installs so far bu nothing that complicated...if you find a trust worthy shop in the area lease let me know and I'll do the same

Moodist

iTrader: (2)

Hey Man, where in Philly are you from?

I am going to do the headers with a friend. It looks doable.

Moodist

iTrader: (2)

Well we tried and couln't get it done.

I got the manifold cover bolts off, we got the A-pipe bolts off, but the bolts that go into the cat are impossible to break open. The compressor we had didn't support air tools (it was crap), so we couldn't use an impact gun. Tiriend a breaker bar, tried heating up the bolts, nothing worked.

Now everywhere I call wants $300 for header replacements.

Frink

I'm from Plymouth Meeting area right outside Philly. What about you? If it looks doable then go for it. I would trust myself more than a random mechanic. I'm still looking for someone to put a aftermarket HO alternator in b/c it looks like I'd have to lift the engine slightly to do so.