Hey guys-

I am in the middle of my heads/cam swap and my headers are rusted into my Y pipe.. The guy who did custom exhaust didn't make the Y easily removable.. It only disconnects just aft of the headers and just ahead of the rear exhaust..

I am about to go heat up the exhaust and try and see if we can get it off, however, I was curious if anyone has done with without pulling the headers out of the car..

Looks like it's not doable, but I thought I'd ask..

Thanks guys..

Jeff

 

You can get the heads off without pulling the headers.

 

Yep, what he said, I just pulled mine off with my pacesetters still in there. It takes some work and you have to be careful not to scrape up the header flanges, but it is possible.

 

You can loosen the band clamps on the y-pipe, which will enable you to turn the header toward the shock tower.

 

I did it with them in the car

 

Ok, I'll give it a shot..

I can't see getting it the headers off the Y without cutting the Y the way the exhaust shop put in my Y.. Arrgggh...

To top it all off, I just found a dime sized hole in my header where it joins the Y...

 

I also did heads with the headers in the car. These were kook's headers. I loosened the headers at the y-pipe and since my y-pipe isn't bolted to the transmission mount/crossover, it left a lot of play left-right and up-down near the heads. Some of the head bolts I had to slip the socket and extensions inbetween the primaries which made it a hassle, but better than pulling the headers.


When I was pulling the rachet back at one point the socket got caught on the flange and almost dropped into the primary, that would've been great!

 

Yep sure can, but I prefer to drop them down at least, these cars are tight enough, why make it harder? Just my .02

 

i also struggled to get the driver-side header out and was able to do it, so i just got my friend to hold it out of the way as i torqued down that side and also while i did the other stuff.

 

That is a good friend that will hold your stuff out of the way while you get torqued!!!

 

I just unbolted them and let them hang.you can do it. It just take some time to wiggle them around

 

I wound up taking them out.. I had to cut the exhaust as the exhaust shop hosed me..

Gonna take the Y to a local shop next week and get it repaired..

Finally got the pax head off today.. Man, these bolts are gonna be FUNNNN to put back onto the back of the heads..

 

You'll be telling yourself how easy it is after you've done it once, trust me. There's really not a whole lot to it, just take your time and gitrdun.