*This thread should only be referred to as a general guide. Different aftermarket manufacturers may have header designs that differ greatly in comparison to the header you are about to see. Installation may vary for your particular application**The header in the following pictures is a prototype for an undisclosed company which was provided to me for R&D and QA purposes
Tools required
ratchet
10mm regular socket
12mm regular socket
14mm regular and deep socket
socket extensions, various lengths
The header...
First step, remove 3 10mm bolts that secure the heat shield to the exhaust manifold. They may be hard to see and even harder to get to, but they are there and they aren't tough to remove.
Remove the heat shield and set aside.
Next, remove 2 14mm nuts on the upper half of the exhaust manifold flange using a deep socket and remove the 3 14mm bolts that secure the lower portion of the flange to the head. They will be tough to remove due to the amount of space behind the engine in the engine bay.
When I did this particular step, for some reason the two upper 14mm nuts removed each entire stud from the head as shown:
Later I reinstalled them as is with no issues but should you encounter this same scenario, I highly recommend separating each nut from it's respective stud, applying some sort of thread locker to the stud, and reinstalling the stud(s) back into the head.
Next, you'll need to jack up the car in order to reach the two 12mm spring bolts at the collector as well as the 12mm bolt that secures the manifold to it's bracket. This part may be very difficult because there is very little room to work underneath there and it is difficult to maneuver an extension into place. I was unthreading each spring bolt about a 1/6 of a turn at a time. You may notice that the bolts are fairly long too. Take your time and do your best to remove them.
Disconnect your O2 sensor and you are ready to remove the exhaust manifold.
NOTE: The car I was working on was equipped with an aftermarket front strut tower bar. Although I was able to maneuver the exhaust manifold out without scratching the bar's finish, I highly recommend removing the bar if the vehicle you're working on is equipped with one to avoid possibly damaging it.
Now that the OEM exhaust manifold is out, I decided to double check and make sure that the bracket bolt and two spring bolts would thread correctly into the aftermarket header.
Just for reference, I took some comparison pics.
My buddy that provided the header instructed me to reuse the stock donut gasket. I proceeded to remove the original donut gasket...
But then I noticed that the collector on the new header had a larger diameter than the collector on the OEM manifold so reusing the donut gasket was no longer an option. In order to find a solution, I took the header with me to the nearest parts store and asked for a new donut gasket that matched the diameter of the collector. Problem solved.
Comparison of the two donut gaskets, new one is on the left and the OEM one is on the right:
New donut gasket installed on the new header:
With the O2 sensor properly installed, the new header is ready:
Installation of the new header is the opposite/reverse of removing the OEM exhaust manifold. If the exhaust manifold studs had come out of the head and you did not separate/reinstall them back into the head, you'll have a difficult time installing the new header because you'll have to align the exhaust manifold gasket and header to the threaded holes on the head "blind" since they face the firewall. If they did not come out (or they came out but you reinstalled them properly) you should have no issues since the studs will align everything for you.
NOTE: The exhaust manifold gasket is not symmetrical in design which means that it can only be installed one way.
When installing the new header, install all nuts and bolts loose until everything is on and aligned correctly.
After that is done, you can tighten up all the bolts as necessary.
After everything was tightened and secure, I had reset the ECU and started up the car. I let the owner take it for a test run and there were no issues what so ever.
Questions or comments? Feel free to post...
Modified by 24TEN at 3:49 AM 1/15/2008
24TEN Garage SaleEF/EG Parts and Rims, Click Link:
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WTB:
JDM/EDM black top DOHC ZC timing belt cover
the oem header actually looks pretty good except for the merge and the merge on the aftermarket peice doesnt look too fabulous...
hey ceej. great install. how's the arm?
