Yesterday I installed FLP headers on my 2002 Z06. First I want to thank Nate of EXTREME MOTORSPORTS for the system and a great deal. They came to my home quickly, intact and without a scratch. I am a fairly good Mechanic that does it all myself, with every imaginable tool and working out of my Garage with Drive on Ramps that you can stand under. This will give you an idea of my experience and the shop on this install. I gathered several writeups and tips from other on the install ( and thank them ) beforehand. As a result I have a personal writeup on how it went for me. My car has 3000 miles on it.

BEFORE out on the Ramps:
1. Removed both fuel rail covers and then the coil packs and wires to plugs.
2. Remove the Air tubes from both sides. Bent the Pass air tube up out of the way carefully. Remove the driver side air tube and hose assembly out of the way so that no hose is sticking out by the Brake Booster. This will assist you in the room that you will need later.
3. Removed both Valve covers.
4. Removed Dipstick ( one bolt )
5. Removed the 4 bolts from each heat shield and removed the DRIVERS side shield. The passenger side will not come out yet, but it needs to be pulled away to assist removal of manifold bolts.
6. Removed every bolt on both manifolds and re-installed one bolt on each side loosely.

Going out to the Ramps now:
7. Moved the car out 20' onto the drive on ramps. This is downhill for me so it had to be done right the first time. I needed the Battery hooked up to unlock the steering wheel for this.
8. Sit the parking brake and Removed battery negative cable.
9. Removed the altenator. ( 2 connectors and 2 bolts )
10. Depressured and disconnected the braided fuel line on the driver side and swung it up over the brake booster.
11. Under the car I removed the O2 sensors, the oil filter, the 3 nuts per side on the manifolds, two bolts that hold up the front X pipe, two in rear and the 4 bolts to the Borla CBs. Dropped the X pipe out on the Yard.
12. Up on top I removed the one loose bolt on each manifold and snaked them on out the TOP on each side. The Passenger side heat shield comes out with it easily.

Installation:
13. Passenger side Header goes in rather well from the TOP. That collector bracket has to snake thru the starter area and you're home free. Installed the FLP gasket and some header bolts with Anti-sieze - do not tighten. Go under the car and slid a bolt in the collector tab loosely.
14. Drivers side would NOT go in for me at all UNTIL I loosened the steering shaft by removing the front single bolt and letting it pivot over towards the front left wheel some. I made sure the steering wheel was locked inside before doing this. The collector tab on the header still poked and grabed on the block as it went down, so I temporarily bent this tag 90 deg. - Then the header went in from the TOP easily. I installed the FLP gasket and some bolts in it. Then went under, bent the tab back flat and slid a bolt in there.
15. Re-installed the bolt in the steering shaft. I then installed the new NGK TR6 plugs for my N20 system.
16. Under the car I installed the O2 sensors in the headers, the Cats to the headers, clamps on loosely. Then the O2 sensors to the outlet pipes, then slid these into the X pipe and connected it to the Borla CBs. Everything lined up as it should. Then went back on top and torque down both sides on the header bolts.
17. Re-installed the altenator and drive belt.
18. Re-installed the valve covers and coil packs. I went back with Magnecor Competition wires. There were 4 of the 8 plug wire boots coming close or touching the header tubes. So I made my own "cool Socks " with the braided heat wrap. This works wonderfully.
19. Had to do some bending to bring the Pass side air tube back into alignment with the new Header, just worked with it and it finally lined up perfectly.
20. Put everything else back in on the top - air hoses, dip stick, etc. Installed new oil filter under the car.
21. Back under the car, I then started tightening up all the clamps, working the Cat outlet tubes around to make sure the crisscrossed O2 sensors do not hit the bottom of the car. ( note: FLP - weld nuts on the back of the X pipe to use existing stock bolts in the rear, should be very easy to do ).
22. Checked, Double checked, then tripple checked all fasteners moved, all connectors moved, and for all tools accountable. Then reconnected Neg cable and fired her up.
23. Immediately a big SEG appeared on my face. I am very happy.


:cheers:

 

Nice write up and thats just about the same way I did it when i had my system. I did it on jackstands though. The passenger side tab had to be bent on mine to get it around the starter but the drivers side fit on without removing the oil filter. I had a UPF44 on so maybe it is a little shorter in size. The steering shaft was moved over and the altenator bolts were just made a little loose for some movement. The steering shaft will only fit back on one way so if the wheel does move a little bit it just needs to be moved back into place so the shaft will fit back on the right way. I had an early version of the system and the fit underneath was horrible but i managed to get it done once I got the car on a lift. Enjoy your new power. :cheers:

 

:eek: :crazy: eesh...Im handy under the hood but that still sounds in-depth. good write-up and thanks for letting me know what Im about to get myself into. Im just about to order my FLP system and was wondering what all went into the install.

any trouble with the v-clamps or the band clamps leaking? :skep: ive had bad experiences with band clamps :rant:

 

The clamps are holding tight. The key ( my opinion only ) is to make sure all pipes are aligned properly ( and the FLP kit is made right, to fit ) before tightening up the clamps. Another thing that I did was apply anti-sieze lubricant to the inner channel of the V clamps that allows greater torquing/aligning of the two pipes as it is tightened up. On the band clamps, the FLP pipes are already a tight fit, these just make sure they are tight.

My system has no leaks that I can detect.

Tom