There is a muffler shop down the street that is a dealer for DynoMax Headers.
If I go there is it a big job for them to install with all the brackets and everything?

How much? How much time?

 

Forgive my bluntness here, but, shouldnt you be asking them?

 

:rolleyes:

 

Sure, go ask them!! :lol: They will tell you it is a HUGE job, something you would never dream of doing yourself, it's going to take their highly skilled mechanic 12 hours to perform this horrendous task even using their very expensive specialized tools!!!

It depends mainly on how well the headers fit. Some guys are able to unbolt the exhaust manifolds and bolt on the headers.... Even then, you will either need to cut the front exhaust pipes to fit, or fab up some new ones.

Other guys, (like me :) ) can't even get the stock driver's side exhaust manifold off!!! And if the headers don't fit just right you have to start banging them with a hammer so they will clear whatever it is they are hitting.. so the difficulty of the job can vary quite a bit. I don't know what brackets you are talking about. MJ

 

It depends on whether or not you have an auto or manual tranny. If manual, the driver's side header will either need to be dimpled, or the Z-bar will need to be cut and then welded back together with a smaller center section. If you have A/C, then I think you need a special bracket. I have not done this myself, but I've seen it done on a 78 vette with manual tranny.

 

I watched the welder/mechanic put mine on. It looked farily simple. They did not have to alter anything or put any brackets on to make them fit. They bolted directly on when all the stock exhuast was taken off. The only thing that was a problem was i needed a new a/c condencer bracket but since i took the a/c belt off because the freeon is all gone i told them to forget about it. So it's farily easy as long as you have the proper tools. As for the piping after the headers thats a different story. GEt a professional to do that

 

MJ, Captain, and Justin: Thanks for some great input. You set me on the right path! :)

tnt76vette: Frankly, I do not think you understand the purpose of this forum! :nonod:

 

With all due respect Sir, if you arent going to put them on yourself then you are gonna have to pay someone else to do it, correct? Do you have A/C? that'll cost more....so many variables here that NO ONE on the Forum can answer your Q's precisely, and no one HAS......You want to know how long and how much.....again too many variables to tell you.....Try and :mad me if ya want (Ya aint getting no cherry), but I do speak the truth. If you are not gonna put them on then you are gonna have to pay somebody else to do it, so you should be asking them....... :cheers: PS: I paid 2 hundred bucks to get mine put on and that included an "H" Pipe. Thats more $ figures than anybody else has given ya........ :cheers:

 

TNT was on the money and provided appropriate feedback. The people likely to do the work should've been your first point of contact. As the owner of a Vette I continue to pay people to modify, I would've been interested in what an easily accessible operation has to say about header installation. The purpose of the forum is reaping AND sowing.

 

:confused: Huh? I've never seen this done - I had to remove the Z-bar to get my hedmans in but there has to be at least 2" clearance from the headers to the tubes one I reinstalled it.

What Mfr sells this abortion of a header? Cause I'll certainly never buy a pair (should I find myself in need) I'm sorry but that just sounds like shoddy design to me. The thread is about dynomax headers are they really like that? man I would be seriously hot if I had to modify my clutch linkage to fit a set of economy headers.

Admittedly there isnt a ton of room in there but a slight move of the tube would eliminate the need to cut up the clutch linkage.


[Modified by fauxrs, 8:13 PM 9/10/2002]

 

I agree with you, I was just stating what the individual had to do to make his fit. Who knows, maybe he didn't get the right headers from whoever he bought them from, but they were dynomax ceramacoat. I wouldn't modify my clutch linkage either, I'd talk to dynomax, but that's just me. I'm just saying what the guy in my club had to do, whether it was right or wrong. He could not get the headers to fit, and was unable to dent them the way he wanted, so he modified the clutch linkage.

 

4 speed here and no problems and no need to dimple. Wonder if was trying to get them to fit without removing the z-bar. :confused: He should get another set cuz they should fit. I put the headers on myself then had a muffler shop, Tuffy, so the connecting. Paid $80 but they did a very poor job and I have to go back this weekend for some touch up welding to seal some leaks.

 

i put a set of hooker headers in 20 years ago. they went right in. i just had to make sure the vette was off the groud high enough. the only mod i had to make was making sure i had the correct length spacer for the A?C bracket.

 

man....woulda been easier just to say that in the 1st place ;) :D :cheers:

I wish more people would lend a hand and treat others as they would want to be treated, overall the entire forum would benefit as a whole :D :cheers:

 

This is supposed to be a place where people share information and exchange ideas....and HELP one another ;)

It woulda been much easier if anyone didn't have anything POSITIVE to add, to simply not add anything at all :)

Maybe he wanted to get an idea of cost prior to going to the shop so he doesn't get ripped off.....

Maybe a person can enjoy the thrill of a vette, yet be unable (for various reasons ;)) to complete their own mods ;)

This is supposed to be a community of people helping people, especially on a day like today....some repsonses suprise me :(


[Modified by Mean Green 2000, 8:03 AM 9/11/2002]

 

29 posts and you're telling the rest of us what the purpose of the forum is? :confused:


Let's see here. I have a job that I haven't done myself and I'm not sure how difficult it is to do. Nor do I know how much I should expect to pay to have someone else do it. Rather than go to a local shop and have them charge me an arm and a leg simply because my car is a Corvette, I could first check with a forum that has thousands of members, many of whom have either done this work themselves or paid someone to do it. Then I can go into a shop and have enough knowledge in hand to know what to expect and to know when the guy is BS-ing me or not.

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable use of the forum to me.

OHSIXX,
The header install itself should be pretty straightforward. They'll slide right up from the bottom. I think the Z-bar (clutch bellcrank) was the only real obstacle in my car. At least once I removed it to put the header on. I can't imagine them charging more than an hour of labor to do that. Swing by, we'll tackle that part no problem. :D Might be a long drive home to florida with open headers though :eek:

My car is non-AC though. With the AC on yours, I'm not sure what brackets mount to the exhaust manifold. I'd suspect that any header company expects that and has brackets that should bolt right on.

Now the pl;ace where I'd be concerned about the $$ is the cutting & fitting to the existing exhaust. I've got no clue what they should charge for cutting & flaring the existing exhaust.

Good luck!

 

Save a few bucks, get intimate with your vette and do it yourself! If ya don't wanna get your hands dirty, then the shop should not charge you over 4 hours labor to do this job. I've heard that the a/c bracket can be reused, just need to apply a spacer to the header flange to move the bracket out. Any shop should be able to do this too. In my experience tho, most shops tend to use Bubba solutions when the mech runs into a problem. Better keep an eye on em if you have them do it. That's why I do as much work on my own vehicles as I can.

OH YEAH....make sure you drive around a coupla days with headers uncapped. It's a life-changing experience.


[Modified by Brettmc, 9:55 AM 9/11/2002]

 

I can't wait!!! :cool:

 

Terrific thread! I learned alot, so thanks to "almost" everyone. :)

 

I think he is just trying to get a ballpark figure to see if he is getting a fair price for the job.