Long Tube Headers
To start with unhook all of the plugs that attach the O2 sensors then you will be able to remove the OEM H-pipe or after market mid-pipe if you have one installed.
We will remove the engine mounts from the motor on the drivers side. This will serve 2 purposes. It is going to give us more room to play with when we are installing the new PaceSetter Headers, as well as allowing the removal and replacement of the oil dipstick. The OEM stock exhaust manifolds have spaces between each exhaust port. The new headers have a 3/8" laser cut flanges that are going to seat tight against the heads. You have to have the dipstick removed in order to install the headers. We didn't do this initially, but our instructions will aid you during your installation. Some of the photos are out of sequence because of this but don't be confused.
The dipstick tube is attached via a flange to the head about half way down the tube. Remove the bolt that is restraining the flange to the head and then remove the motor mount. Remove the actually dipstick itself and then clean all the excess oil and gunk from around the location where the tube enters the engine block. The tube is sealed to the block via and O-ring. With the flange loose, the tube can be wiggled back and forth and removed from the block. When you remove the tube, there is the threat that some gunk could fall into the hole in the block. Ensure that you have clean this area well.
With the dipstick out of the way, plug the hole with a small piece of rag or cloth. Remove the motor mount and this will clear the way to remove the driver’s side exhaust manifold. The EGR tube that routes hot exhaust gas to the EGR valve needs to be transferred to the header, loosen the flange nut so that the tube can be removed from the stock exhaust manifold
The exhaust manifold is held on with 8 nuts and studs. Removing some of the nuts might actually back out the studs from the heads. Don’t worry about this, will be removing them eventually anyway. Remove all the nuts from the center out, leaving the outside 2 nuts until last. Loosen the remaining 2 nuts so that they can be removed by your fingers. Hold the manifold against the head with one hand while removing the last of the nuts. With all the nuts removed, the manifold can be removed. You may have to tap it a little to loosen it up. It is fairly heavy so make sure you are prepared when it comes free of the studs.
Place the manifold in a safe place out of the way. Remove the OEM manifold gasket. Remove any of the studs that did not come out with the nuts. Once all the nuts have been removed, we are going thread the new Stage8 locking header bolts into the head. These are higher quality bolts and threading them in and out of the head a couple of times will "Chase" the threads and make it much easier when we are mounting new header.
Clean the head surface with a good quality scraper being careful not to scratch or damage the head. The head material is Aluminum and is a fairly soft material. With the head surface cleaned, you can also take some brake cleaner, spray in on a rag and wipe the mating surface clean.
The OEM header gaskets are better quality than a compressed material gasket. We purchased a new set of OEM gaskets to ensure a good quality seal.
