I posted this thread on ltxtech.com as well; http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread...251#post467251


I spent all night preparing for my headers install today. In fact, my father woke me up when I went to sleep under the car with a wrench in my hand. I slept there for about 3 hours lol.

Anyway, my question is how many bolts there are on the exhaust manifolds, and does someone have a good picture so I can see where they are? And how am I supposed to reach them, from under or over the car? I'm a newbie when it comes to work on cars, in fact - this is my first time doing any serious work on one. I spent 12 hours under the hood yesterday/today and I feel like I only got like 5% done... it's embarassing.

I just want the manifolds off, and after that I will remove the exhaust system. And when that is done the fun will begin; my Pacesetter LT's + y-pipe and Dynomax Bullet Muffler install!


I hope some kind stranger can help me through this, I will have my iPhone and charger with me so I can read your replies if I get any!


And yes, I've been searching like a mad man on google and all the f-body sites, but either I suck at it or there isn't much to find.


The car in question is a -97 Formula A4.

Bonus info: her name is Wixxan!

 

There are six on each manifold. IIRC you can get all the passenger side from above. Drivers side I think you get the front two from underneath, the middle bolt next to #3 from above and the back two from underneath. For the driver side you may have to use a a wrench that is longer than normal to get the ones from above. If those manifolds have never been off the car be warned it may be a gold plated bitch to get the bolts loose, and you could end up snapping some of them from the bolts being rusted.
Before taking the manifolds off you want to get the y-pipe off first. Those bolts too may be a huge pain in the ***. Get the stock y-pipe out of there, take the starter off and the oil filter and that'll give you more room to work with the exhaust manifold bolts you may need to get from underneath.
Here's what you're working with:

 

Thank you for the detailed answer, I really appreciate it!


I decided to borrow an acetylene torch and cut the bolts to the original y-pipe tonight or tomorrow. I tried to use a wrench for hours yesterday but they wouldn't budge.

But how do I get the starter off? I have searched on YouTube and google like a maniac but I'm not any wiser. And where exactly is it located? It's right under the engine right? like between the engine and the gearbox? And it's round, right?

This project was a lot harder than expected... but I will soldier through, I promise!

 

It looks like this:


It is on the passenger side at the rear of the block. The same as any small block Chevy. Remove a cable from the battery and take the wires off the solenoid which is what is sitting on top of the starter motor.
There should be all kinds of tutorials on how to do a LT install. If not here or google then www.camaroz28.com.

 

Thank you for the picture of the starter, it seems like I was right then. But can it really only be sitting there with one bolt holding on to it? I screwed of the bolt but it was still stuck there.. no movement at all. Am I supposed to unscrew the shield that is there also?


Yeah sure, there are lots of tutorials, but none for us who has never been under the hood before. All tutorials assumes that you know each and every part of the car which I don't.

 

There are two bolts that hold the starter in place. Do some searching for LT1 starter or SBC starter. You can also pick up a Haynes manual from a parts store which will give you good general information.

 

Oh and don't get discouraged. I've been turning wrenches as a hobby for more than 15 years and I recently installed some Hooker shorties in my 95 T/A and it damn near killed me. I had anticipated a lot of trouble getting the manifold bolts out, so I followed the advice I've seen in a few places about religiously soaking them with PB Blaster for a week or so before attempting the removal. I didn't have any issues getting them off thanks to this approach. Also I took the entire accessory bracket off which made things easier. Furthermore, no matter how much soaking with PB, I twisted off 5 of the 6 manifold to y-pipe bolts, and I was honestly thankful for that.

Also, I tried to take some shortcuts to see if I could avoid disconnecting steering shaft, removing oil filter, and removing starter...Don't waste your time, just do all of the above, don't think a header install is possible with those things left in place.

My biggest problem was getting the new bolts back in with the new headers. Hard to describe, but I used a combination of female hex-head cap screws and regular hex head bolts to get it done...I'm sure there's a better way, but my issue was that the bolt holes are so close to the primary tubes, I couldn't seem to get a good grip on half the bolts no matter what combination of hardware, wrenches, sockets, u-joints, etc. I had on hand. Like I said, I'm sure there's a better way to do this, and I'm sure not all headers are the same in this respect, but in all honesty, if I ever get the urge to make changes to headers, I would probably drop the damn engine before going through this again.

 

Yeah I remembered that I had an Haynes manual laying around, it's gonna be my bible for the next couple of days/weeks!

Thank you for your long and encouraging answer, friend!

No I won't get discouraged, I have been in love with these cars for the last 15+ years so I've been wanting to learn how to wrench on them. It's the logical next step after buying one I think.


Too bad I have an extra cat right after the drivers side exhaust manifold to deal with since mine is a -97 lol..

 

www.shbox.com

This should be your other bible.

 

Yup, that is indeed a very useful site made by a pure enthusiast, thanks for reminding me!