How on earth did you get your car high enough to do the job?

 

You're on Camp Lejeune, right? Go to the auto hobby shop and put the car on a lift.

I was at MCAS New River 1983-1987

 

You will need ( 4 ) H/D jackstands that will get your rockers approximately 24" off the floor.

I purchased a 4 pc set from sears, Has a small number 9 followed by these numbers 50150. Range 15 3/8" to 24 5/16".
Craftsman Professional. Rachet locking jack stands. 6 ton/12,000 lbs.
You will not need any wood under these jack stands. They will get you high enough in the air to do the job.
By being "rachetting", they click into the next level while pulling up on the top part of the j/stand, instead of having steel dowels going in holes on the stand bases.

Do a search on "How to lift " I suggest using a hyd floor jack to lift the front & another hyd floor jack to lift the rear using a wooden "2x8",long enough to span both the front & rear lifting areas. Making sure the wood is not making contact with the front or rear springs while doing so.

As you go up have a jack stand on each side of the floor jacks, alternatting going up a couple inches at a time, in the front and then to the rear.
Once the car is at the work height, put the jack stands in the 4 puck locations.

 

Yea, but don't wanna leave my car in that parking lot if I don't finish the install before clean up time.

 

I'm going to have to search Sears' website to find out what all of that means...Thanks for the product #. I'll see what I find.

 

I can't find anything on Sear's site with that product number. Couldn't find any jackstands that go up to 24# either.

Will 24" be high enough to do the job?

 

It wont take you that long. I did alot of header installs for people while I was there.

 

It does take a series of large jack stands (at least 4) and 2" by at least 10" (12" is better) sections of board to put the jack stands on to make them tall enough. Mine would have been tall enough fully extended, but that made me a little nervous, so I put 2 sets of 2x12' board underneath instead to make it tall enough.

My jack also didn't extend up high enough so I had to put a really thick phone book on top of it to get the car far enough up in the air to get the jack stands underneath. More 2x's may have worked underneath the jack, but it would have been harder to move around.

Also, start with the front of the car. If you start in the rear the nose will hit the ground or at the very least you'll never have enough room to get the jack under it.

One last tip - I only had one jack and put the car up by going back and forth - ie. I jacked the front up some, then the back up some, then the front, then the back some more, etc. When you are jacking an end up you have to be careful that you're not 'pushing' the car forward or back off of the opposing jack stands. This was the only way that I couldn't figure out how it get it 24" off the ground since you can't put an end up 24" all at once, then move to the other end to jack it up 24".

Get the 24" of clearance no matter what you do. If you have that you're life will be SOOO much easier getting the headers in.

Hope it helps.

 

I put my LG's in from the top, unbolt the master cylinder and swing it out of the way (the lines can stay attached), take off the coil brackets and they slide in like butter.

 

alot has to do with the brand of header. I just installed a set of XSPower long tubes.

 

Oh wow, I thought 3 feet was the minimum that could be done. I already got jack stands that'll get it 18" high. I can definitely get it to at least 24 inches with a series of 2x6s.

I'm about to order my headers now. I guess I'll install em this weekend and get a mail order tune while I'm on leave in mid December.

Thanks everyone!

 

I just ordered a 24" jack stand set to go along with my 18" jack stands. I should be good putting the 24" on the front under 2 2x6s and the 18" under the rear under 2 2x6s, right? Seems like I might risk the car sliding off the rear stands...or maybe I'm being paranoid.

 

You are putting wood between the car and the jack stand? Be careful stacking wood because it will slide very easily. Even a single piece can let it slide if you're not careful how you put the car on it. I personally just put the jack stand saddle right under the crossmembers.

I woud also highly recommend the 6-ton or 12-ton stands. The base is so much wider than the little 2-ton ones.

Peter

 

Be very very careful using wood
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...in-garage.html

 

Putting wood under the stands may not be a great idea. I used six 3 ton stands. 2 at each end and 2 in the middle. I couldnt move the car if I tried. Had pleanty of room

Some headers may need more space to put in from the bottom.

 

I drove my front onto fairly tall ramps and leveled the back with jack stands. I probably had 14-16" under the car. No problems installing LG street headers...but I took my time.

 

I had originally planned on putting the stands on wood, but I may have to revise that now.

 

After reading that thread I've decided not to go with my original plan. Guess I'm gonna get some more jack stands so my front and rears will be the same height. I'm gonna have to make due with the 22-24" height.

 

Quick question. Does the alternator have to be removed to install headers from the bottom or is that just for top installations?

 

you may need to remove it to gain clear access to the front manifold bolts.