Suicide Bobb

Per the title, I just want to know what nuts/screws I should spray with PB Blaster the night before I plan to install long tube headers.

Thanks!

-Dylan

rdsx18

I did shorties but I would spray down all the studs holding the stock manifold on.

808muscle

I would get a good pair of gloves and a 13mm ratcheting box wrench. With those two items you wont lose too much blood and you will be able to reach those impossible nuts. I actually didnt spray down anything when I did my install.

ghunt

Might depend on your mileage...My car has 67K on it. I hit all the manifold nuts with PB Blaster and let them sit overnight before touching any of them. On the driver's side, they all came off without a hitch, then I sprayed PB Blaster on all the studs, all of which came out no problem except for 3 of them (which I just had to double nut and break loose). Driver's side, two of the studs came out with the nuts for some reason. All others came out normally, but again had 3 studs that didn't wanna come out and again I double nutted those and they came right out.

I raised the engine up and broke most of mine loose with a 3/8" ratchet and deep 13mm socket, although I did use a long handled 1/2" wrench on a few (1/2" wrench will fit a 13mm hex). The worst one to get at is the bottom front one on the passenger side because it's right against the AC compressor.

Oh, you might also spray the bolts on the steering shaft.

Everything else came out easy on mine, as far as what you had to remove (starter, motor mounts).

BTW- Do one side at a time and jack up the engine on the side you're working on. Makes things way easier to reach.

Suicide Bobb

Well, that works since mine has 67k on it too!

I appreciate all the advice. Wish me luck

ghunt

Don't be afraid of this job but do allow plenty of time! I'm doing mine on jackstands with the car about 2 feet off the ground and I have plenty of room. But, I've spent close to 8 hours on this job already (granted, I'm tackling a couple other small projects at the same time, and the dipstick tube gave me fits).

And, that reminds me, that's one thing I totally forgot about- the dipstick tube. Hopefully yours will be easier than mine, but mine was a total biatch to remove, because the O-ring on it gets stuck in there good. I ended up having to order a new tube (bent mine up and had vise grips on the top), although they're only around $25 from a ford dealer or $30 if you order online, so not too bad at all.

rdsx18

My dipstick tube popped right out easy but yes, allow for at least 2 days of work, mine took 10+ hours to do from what I remember, and it was frustrating at times, especially the o2 sensors.

Suicide Bobb

Well, one of the studs for the starter (power wire?) snapped, and then when I tried to take the starter out to extract the stud, one of the heads of the screws for the bellhousing bolt stripped. Spent 5 hours trying to extract that, and literally developed hypothermia. Spent the rest of the evening in bed. Worst luck ever.

ghunt

Ouch...damn man, that's no way to start a project! I'm confused as to how one of the starter bolts would have stripped trying to take it out...or do you mean that it rounded off?

Suicide Bobb

Yeah, it's typical bad luck for me...

There are 3 screws (at least) holding the starter onto the transmission bellhousing, and one of the heads of the screws rounded off. Was using a ratcheting wrench that slipped off. Extractor sockets are too wide to fit and I can't apply enough forward force to keep it on the screw. I'm going to try once more with a drill today, and if all fails, I'm going to cut the head of the screw off. From what I can tell, the starter will be plenty stable with two of the 3 (or four, if there's one I can't see) screws holding it on. I may even be able to extract the rest of the screw later if necessary.