Many of us are spoiled with having or getting access to lifts.

the guy I bought my 69 Vette from left out the rear drivers side bolt that you can only really get at from the bottom

I had headers on a 69 GS Stage one where one tube was separate and went around the frame, those were fun to install on the ground

 

Gkull probably has the best idea and proven with the use he puts his car through. Studs are the way to go and his use of high temp silicone to keep them from rolling off is a great idea.

I like copper gaskets lil more money but they dont tend to blow out.... and I use these locking header botls they are a bit to get (lots of pieces to fiddle with) on but once done i havent lost one or gotten a leak yet.

 

gkull or others,
Driver side from the top. Ok I get that. Does the steering gear have to be out to get long tube headers in? What about the dip stick tube?
My headers go past the transmission bell housing. Hence the reason it's loose to get the transmission out. But that's a whole nother story. I would be willing, although maybe not right now, to take the steering gear out again. I should have done this when I had the steering gear and master cylinder out, but I wasn't planning to do anything to the drive train at that point. If I have to break into the brake system again, I'm out for now. That was a big old mess and not doing that again right now.
I have the car on jack stands so I can get under it pretty easy, but it's not on a lift.

 

I don't take the steering anything out! I have to remove some clutch linkage. My two kind of headers are designed nice. My AFR and Dart heads both have .600 inch raised exhaust ports. Which is up and outboard compared to stock heads.

 

After some sleep and some thought...

I got the dip stick tube out and the headers dropped right out. Oh happy day!

I also found a 19/32 12 point socket used as a spacer on the front right bolt that spaces out the A/C mount bracket. I guess I now have to look for the right spacer for that. Or not care how it's spaced out.

 

I just installed a set of Doug's Headers on my '77.

The header bolts that come with the headers... toss them in your 'misc bolts' bin
You definitely DO NOT want header bolts that require a socket because some of the pipes make it impossible to get the socket on the bolt head, even with the smaller bolt heads that Doug's supplies. I found some allen key header bolts at the auto parts store that come with a socket with a ball allen. From personal experience (meaning yesterday!) DO NOT get the Cometic brand... there is a reason why it's $15.99 and the Mr. Gasket set is $54.99! The socket was so loose it wouldn't stay on my ratchet, and the ball allen got stuck in the very first bolt head.

What I ended up using were these (well look like these)


I got mine from ACE but you can get these at Lowes or Home Depot or any good hardware store. I found the 3/4" long ones worked perfect. I got a couple different sizes since they were inexpensive. The longer ones didn't bottom out, but they got to a point they were hard to thread in. I suspect those bolt holes made not have been threaded all the way down. I've seen some comment and say 'why risk cheap bolts breaking off', I can say the ones I got actually are beefier than the ones I got with my headers! You can use a regular 5/16 allen socket (longer key though) to tighten SOME of the bolts, but it's still hard to get the ratchet in straight on some because of the pipes. I just used a regular 5/16 allen key and was able to get those ones nice and tight. As far as strength, I had absolutely no problems. Also I got mine in black and they look really good and beefy on the headers. The bolts I got were less than $2 a bolt and worked perfect.

 

Stage8 locking header bolts on ALL my cars for years never had and issue...

 

In the end I decided to go with the ARP-100-1207 bolts because of the smaller head size given the clearance to the header tube.


I think it turned out nice. Had to pull the header evenly by doing all the bolts a little and then again and again. If I got the header cockeyed by pulling one side in too far, there was one bolt that would get too close to the tube and I wouldn't be able to get the wrench on it. Not that big a deal. Thanks for all the help because I would have bought the wrong bolts without this help and would have been frustrated.

 

I needed 2 inch bolts because I used marine header spacers to clear the angle plugs so I bought some grade 8 Allen heads that are drilled for safety wire. It worked great

 

They look great. I always liked the built-in washer on those ARPs and the 12 pt head. You spared no expenses on the gasket too.

Anytime you get a header flange that refuses to mount up nice & flat to the head (warpage), there is an old trick to fix that.
Pull header back some and using a hacksaw blade cut a "kerf" on the BACKSIDE of the flange between cyl 1 & 3 and 5 & 7. Cut the kerf only deep enough to allow the flange to flex a bit. The kerf will be hidden from view once the header is bolted up.

 

You could feasibly put a dab of high temp red silicone on the bolts so they wouldn't back out. I would never use bolts in aluminum heads. You can damage the threads. Bolts only fit on smaller 1 5/8th pipes. Never on 1 3/4 primaries. 5/16th studs are the only thing that works and it is so easy to be able to just hang the gasket in place and lift the pipes on!

Rescue Roger, I would worry about the heat turning the power steering box grease into crusty nothing. I had to dent my nice S/C header with AFR heads to install one plug.

 

I agree, that pic doesn’t show the dimples I had to put in for clearance, I had to get creative

 

Yes...^^^^..

I use Grade 8 header stainless bolts with standard SS lock washers from home depot and after tightening up a few heat cycles, they have never loosened up..ever....I think the lesson here is that using a high quality stainless header type bolt with a stainless lock washer will not loosen up, if you want to try alternative solutions to above....

 

I use ARP header bolts with the 5/16 head. It's easy to get to every bolt with a wrench and they never have backed out.

 

After getting the headers in and all tightened up, I went to put the flywheel dust cover back on. Guess what. Long tube headers go past the flywheel and interfere with the cover. So the cover has to be mounted before the header is installed. Ugh. Take it back off, and start over. I have put this car together at least 3 times now.

 

That doesn't sound right. I know that cover is a PITA to get all four holes lined-up working around the headers, but it is do-able.

Maybe just loosen one header flange enough to get some play in it. I can't believe someone would design a header collector that interferes with the drivetrain.

Try again, it should go.

 

It just interferes with getting the dust cover all the way out. You can get to the screws ok. I think loosening will get me enough play to get the cover back on. It's not a big deal unless I ding the headers that I just painted and got back in looking good. If that happens I will cry some. But I'm learning. They are Hooker Competition Headers.

 

I have had two regular dual exhaust systems on my car with iron heads (and full length headers) but now I have aluminum heads with hooker header side pipes. The studs are the best imo IF you can get the headers over them. I had no issues with leaks and bolts with the side pipes but the side pipes have two, frame mounted studs that keep the pipes and header weight from moving around so much. I do use aluminum gaskets though which help seal old headers. Have to use slightly longer bolts though. I think 1”? Need to check but that gives me over 1/2” of threads in the heads. If I had regular exhaust I would at least put a stud in the back hole, ideally all of them if you can. You have to use anti seize on the threads imo.

I did order the Stage 8 6 point, Allen head bolt kit. I think 12-point would be a problem for my setup. I need a wrench AND Allen head on the back bolts.

 

i learned the hard way. Use painters tape to cover the fresh paint so it scrapes up the tape. It’ll help alot

 

I had them covered when I put them in. Then I ripped it off because I thought I was done. That's what I get for thinking.