i recently purchased headers from another member here and he informed me that i needed new bolts or nuts for the header to the engine connection. i was wondering what exactly i needed to do the install. i think there are 10 bolts used to tighten the header to the engine. can i use stock stuff? or should i go to a hardware store and purchase new hardware? please give me details on EXACTLY what i need for the install (sizes and what not). thank you very much for any help you guys can give.

 

Ok you will need ten nuts (the 12mm socket works onmine so I'm not sure the nut size, I'll check if I need to but the 12mm should be enough to get the size)

You will also need six nuts and bolts to hold the downpipe to the headers, three on each side. A 3/8 nut ans bolt would be enough, if a 1.2 incher would fit in it would be plenty.

I know you don't want to hear this, I'm a DIY'er myself, but you should have a mechanic get under your car and loosen the CAT-DOWNPIPE nuts... they are usually rusted and you won't be able to take care of them with the typical driveway setup. Trust me I play around with my TL-S all of the time, but during the origional header removal on my 99TL and my 02TLS I had to get a mechanic to loosen the bolts ( and the o2 sensor ) beofre I started the header swap/install. I got under the car, took off the cat cover and then couldn't do anytthing to the rusted nuts.. It was a little agrovating to say the least. However once the header nuts were loosened and the O2 sensor was loosened, the rest of the job is quite easily done from your driveway with regular tools. the nuts on the rear headers, are a little tricky to get to, but you can do it.


Oh an another note, I would invest in a tube of liquid RTV gasket , put a 1/8-1/4" bead on the headers before installing them and you'll help ensure a perfect fit with out leaks.

 

sweet, thanks a lot for answering all my questions. one more though, can i use RTV gasket stuff with the normal gasket that comes with it? thanks.

 

one more question. i've read that it is better to use the stock gaskets that you order from the dealer for the engine to header transition. if you pros could give me some insight as to which gaskets to use where and if it is neccessary to use the liquid gasket as mentioned above. thanks.

 

go to an acura dealer or honda dealer and buy stock factory gaskets... they are called Exhaust Manifold Gaskets.. Honda dealer should be cheaper and its under Honda accord v6 coupe 98-02..
most likely will be out of stock and will have to be ordered.

 

about the downpipe nuts.

if you are a diy just grind them off. thats what i did for my axle backs.

 

Now this is the funny place.. people have had problems getting their headers to seal properly, so I would suggest using the gaskets you had sent with the headers, no point spending more money if the current gaskets are in good condition. Plus you will have the gaskets on your car already, there is a chance the gaskets on there are in good condition.

I would use the gaskets in combination with the liquid gasket, it can only seal it better, which can't be a bad thing. You will have to wipe the excess liquid gasket away when you tighten the nuts, but follow the directions on the tube, lightly tighten the bolts, wait for 20 min, then crank them tighter..

Sorry about the timely reply.. I imagine you wold have been tackleing this project this weekend.. I hope you can still get it done today. it should only take four hours max, that's with tons of complications, two hours if you're flying..