I had 2 other guys helping me when I decided to install Kooks headers into my 02 Z06 about a year and a half ago. The install went less than perfect and took around 18 hours to install. Now I am trying to take them out to put Kooks headers with AIR tubes in all by myself and I am mentally ready to let the car off jackstands and roll it down the hill into the river. Never before in my life have I been so generally angry, because I was there when these bastards went in! I have removed the following:

alternator
coolant temp plug
steering shaft
coil packs
valve covers
starter
oil filter
lower bell housing
spark plugs and wires

I then took off the driver's side engine mount bolt and loosened the passenger side a couple turns. I jacked the engine towards the passenger side and wrestled with the headers for about ... oh, seven hours yesterday and about 5 hours today. The whole time I adjusted jack height and switched sides multiple times to no avail. I am sincerely ready to shoot myself and end this agony.

If anybody has any tips/ideas please let me know. And if your tip is along the lines of "buy LG headers next time" I will hunt you down and get someone else to slash your tires. Just kidding ... not really.

If anyone lives in the East Tennessee area and is free, I will compensate you immensely if you come over to help.

Thanks

 

Ok, i've dealt with this very same thing when i installed my KOOKS headers about 6 months ago. I fully understand. Took me three days. Just way too tight of an area... I did something that nobody in the forums ever mentioned doing... and it probably wasn't the smartest thing but it worked. I took a car jack out of my other car and put it in between the the engine block and another solid piece on the other side... jacked it just another inch or so that i needed and the headers dropped right in. This of course is after i had already removed the alternator bracket and also rolled the engine toward the passenger side... if you use a jack, of course be very careful what it's pressing on because you're using quite a bit of force and could crack or brake something... Needless to say, I was desperate... but IT DID WORK!!!... I've heard of folks also using a 2x4 to pry the engine over even more... i tried that to no avail... good luck!

 

Would it be easier and cheaper to have AIR tubes welded on your current headers?

 

Thanks for the info! I used a mini jack on the drivers side and had it out in 10 minutes (had everything removed already). I can't find a good place to position the jack on the passenger side though. I worked with it for two hours this afternoon and am still on a break.

I really want to see a video of the Kooks tech guys installing these things in a C5 in their proclaimed 2-3 hours.

 

Hell yeah it would!
you free today?
Mind packing up your welding outfit and being at my house asap?
Oh yeah, do you have some AIR tubes with flanges in your back pocket?

Sorry for the sarcasm, it has obviously been a long week. These are all things I entertained already but the cost for fabbing air tube header flanges and getting someone to come work in my garage is pretty high. Not to mention welders want things on their bench not trying to clean a pipe on a car, let lone weld it 360 degrees.

 

I believe what was later mentioned to me after I did the install was to jack the engine really high... not sure if you've maxed out your jack height from underneath but don't be afraid of clearing the engine from the mount bolts, it will come right back down on them... so maybe undo the driver side mount bolt a little more than just a couple turns to allow the engine to go higher before it starts to roll to that side... then jack the engine with the passenger side mount bolt completely removed until the engine clears the bolt, and then jack some more... I don't recall having to use the jack on the passenger side but i definitely had to remove that starter... good luck!

 

Put a 2x10 under the oil pan and jack that bitch up. Yes, they are a pain in the *** to install but I did it in an evening by myself.

 

Actually yeah. You driving to Los Angeles already? Lol. I was just asking. Idk if your car is running but I know, at least here, that there are exhaust and welding shops that can fab an AIR tube up so I was wondering if that would be an option for you. I know some shops that do a lot of header installs and fabrication that actually carry spare AIR tubes since theyre prone to breaking off or craking the weld to the header.

 

so did you finally get the headers out? what was the final trick?

 

Literally just installed mine yesterday with a friend to help out. On the drivers side we took a 2x4 to the alternator bracket and pried the engine up and over, the header fell right into place (this was after disconnecting the oil sending unit that the tip of the header was hitting, but I'm assuming you already removed that seeing as the instructions say to do so). On the passenger side we put the 2x4 under the car almost where the starter was and pried it to the side and after a few minutes of wiggling the header it fell right into place as well. After reading the horror stories of Kooks headers I was surprisingly happy with the install even though it was no where near the 2-3 hour instal they claim. Good luck, hope you can get them in soon.