Well, I got the passenger side in fairly easily. The driver's side has me stumped! I've lifted the front end a good 26-28 inches with my floor jack and a 4x4 on top of it and I can't get the header in from the bottom. I've taken the alternator and valve cover off and I can't get it in from the top. WTF? I can't get this damn thing in no matter what I do! :mad :mad

 

I know what you're going thru, it's time for a break and a beer.. With the alternator off, steering shaft out of the way and the valve cover off it will go in. When you least expect it, she'll drop right in. Don't give up ! :chevy

 

I agree. That side was a bit of a pain but suddenly the stars aligned and it fell into place. Using a breaker bar to lean on the engine and get an extra 1/2 inch helps too.

 

Hey Lou,
Look when I did my install it would not go in from the top on the drivers side. I removed everything - everything. The drivers side goes in from below. I had the car up approx. 22" as measured from where you would jack up after front wheel. That is where you would lift to change the front tire. At that hieght it went in. Goog luck & go easy - keep the hammer hidden.
:thumbs:

 

I finally got the driver's side in, but I got lots of problems. I think I'm in over my head and there's nobody in this area that I know of that can bail me out. I lined everything up leaving all the bolts loose, put the x-pipe onto the headers, put the bracket bolts into the bell housing and then went back and tightened up the header bolts. Now I can't get the bolt on the driver's side bracket to turn into the bell housing. It won't go up more than half way so the header hangs down farther than the other side. Now, the other problems - while trying to get the driver's side header in from the top I broke off the plug from the fitting that screws into the block on the front side (the wire comes from the alternator). I'm not sure how to fix that. And, I lost tension on the belt while trying to reinstall the alternator and I can't figure that one out either. I finally gave up for the night. I think this is more than I should have attempted. For you DIY'ers out there - give some real thought to having someone else install these. I'm thoroughly pissed and frustrated as hell........wishing I never messed with it to start with!!!!

 

It can be frustrating, but stepping away for a while as mentioned is often the best cure. I have ripped my car apart a couple of times now. The headers have always been a little touchy. You may have to loosen some of the header bolts to get the bell housing bolt to tighten. Will it come out? Do you notice any metal shavings? Are the threads messed up? I will go look at mine to see if I have any more advice.

Regarding the plug, I believe you are referencing the coolant sensor plug. It is actually in the head. No big deal, you can get another one. I'll see if I can find the part number.

The belt will have tension as long as it is properly installed. You can resolve that pretty easily as well. You have to make sure the belt is properly installed (i.e. routed correctly around each pulley). Do you have an aftermarket tensioner?

 

I have the bell housing bolt loose now, but I wouldn't be surprised if the threads are messed up. I had it in there loosely and after tightening the header bolts it must have sprung back some. I'm afraid if I get that tightened it right the header might not be nice and flat against the engine block. I do not have an aftermarket tensioner. Where can I find a diagram of the belt route? I can't see down in there well enough to tell where it's off.

 

I can get you the belt layout shortly.
The header hangs too low ? Does the bolt hole line up ok? Or do you have to push the header left or right to get it lined up.

Yes, you really want to protect the heads, so try to have the bolts in as far as possible.


[Modified by Wt99C5, 7:13 PM 12/27/2003]

 

The bolt hole does not line up and I can't move it enough to get it to line up. Maybe I need to drill the hole in the tab out so I can tighten it up. I can't leave it the way it is and even when the header bolts were only finger tight the whole wouldn't line up right down there. This is incredibly frustrating.....

 

Hang on buddy, IM me your phone # I'll call you on my cell phone

 

Belt=
start at the passenger side. Over the tensioner, under the water pump, over the alternator, under the powersteering pump, over the idler pulley, then under the crankshaft pulley, and back to the tensioner.

The bolts in any header install are easy to cross thread. Just DO NOT cross thread any that go into the head, or you will be taking off the heads.
As for the bell housing, you can loosen up all the bolts again, (every bolt) just slightly, and I repeat just slightly to allow movement. Then remove the offending bell housing bolt and run a tap through that hole.
If you do not have a tap, then install a better bolt, (from the other side) when there is no side load, to renew the threads. You can take the old bolt out and use a thread file or bench mounted wire brush to clean the threads on the old bolt. if it is too bad, you will have to get a new one before proceeding.

Any header install is more than meets the eye. It usually goes better with a helper to hold and line things up.

If you were in Dallas, we could have them in for you in a flash.

One of the key things is to make sure that all bolts are installed nearly all the way by hand before final tightening. This will insure that there will be no cross threading of the bolts into any aluminum.

Sorry you are having problems with the install. Again, I wish you were closer so we could bail you out.

I am still at the office for a while if you want to reach me.

Lou Gigliotti LGM

 

Let me clarify - the hole on the tab is very close to the hole in the bell housing, but not close enough to get the bolt to run up and in and I can't push it enough to get it there. It's at the same level as the other header, but since I can't get it lined up perfectly I can't tighten that bolt in to bring it up tight to the bell housing like the other header. The bolt will actually tighten up about halfway, but it turns very hard and I can tell there's a lot of pressure on it.

 

Lou, I don't THINK I cross-threaded any header bolts, but maybe I did. The way this has gone I guess that would be about par for the course.

 

I am having the same problem with my FLP headers in regard to the bell housing. I just figured out that if you loosen the bell housing up (the two bolts about where you are trying to attach the headers) everything just slips on. I hope this helps
Good luck

 

Here is a picture of the belt: http://www.texanjohn.com/test/belt_diagram2.jpg

Also, do you have the other header completely tight already? If so, you will most likely need to loosen it up some to get driver's side started. Then you can tighten all of them up.

Couldn't find the ECT sensor part number, but it does require thread sealant and should be torqued to 15 lb-ft.

 

I had the same problem with the bell housing tab when I installed my FLPs. I wedged a screw driver between the tab and the bell housing to gain a little bit of space. I then used a die grinder (a dremmel would work too) to elongate the hole slightly.

All "bolts right on" mods usually require a little bit of tinkering to get things just right.

 

One way or the other I'll get these things on! The best move I made today was to quit because as my posts showed I was frustrated to the point where I wasn't going to do anything positive no matter how long I stayed out there! The second smartest thing I did was to get on the Forum and ask for help! To all of you who have offered tips and encouragement - Thank You, especially to Al in Georgia who even called me. Sometimes when you're tired and frustrated the little problems seem REAL big! Thanks again to everyone. Tomorrow's another day - just stay close to your computers in case I get snagged again! :thumbs:

 

I had to work at aligning that tab also...I think we used a large screwdriver or similar lever to push things into the right position.

 

Lou

I just finished installing the KOOKS long tubes on my 2001 and had te same insuues ( two days of struggling ) Finally it dawned on me. Two things you must do to get them in on the driver side

1- Unblot the motor mount bolt and jack the motor up on one side ( this will tilt it over

2- Remove te oil filter

It should now go in

YOU MUST BE PATIENT

I almost gave up, DON'T the result is worth it :D :D :D :D :D :D

 

ddv005,

Yeah, patience is good when you work on these things. For the price Lou paid or any of these aftermarket wonder headers, don't you think maybe they should just FIT RIGHT????

Did the tabs on your Kook's line up perfect?