07lane40

anyone have any problems installing shorty headers (particularly JBA's) that i should be aware of? Ill be purchasing a set of JBA's from another forum member soon, and im wondering if theres anything i should know prior to install. I know ill need new gaskets, and to keep the stock bolts in, is there anything else?

ive seen a couple of leak issues (among other things)with other car models.are there any issues with our 6s?

XtremeRage

Naw you should be fine, just takes a little time/cursing but you should be good. It helps to remove things such as the battery and the box to make the one side easier to work on and we removed things such as the spark plugs and distributor on top to make things a little easier to get to on the other side but other than that should not be a problem, just have patience. Remeber if some bolts seem like they just dont want to move, spray on some WD-40 and get out a hollow metal tube for leverage (helped once or twice). Also I remember needing to pull the oil dipstick at one point when putting the new headers on, so that is easy it just has an o-ring holding it in at the base so don't worry about giving it a little tug, the whole thing should come right out from the base. Good luck.

cvz_finezt

just take ur time and dont rush it. it's as straight foward as it can be. u can even leave on ur cats and the rest of the pipes while doing the install. but make sure u have a first aid kit readily available/

jwilhelm

Hey Lane, it's very good that you're putting out a post like this to inquire of other forum members experiences installing the JBA shorties. The two items I haven't mentioned to you are: 1) loosening and reinstallingthe 1 1/16 inch nut that secures the EGR tube to the driver's side stock exhaust header. This is not a real big problem but unfortunately you may have to spend the bucks to buy the wrench that fits the nut securing the tube to the driver's side exhaust. I couldn't find a short version of this wrench anywhere. That would work great with the limited room around the area. With the wrench I purchased I found it easiest to loosen the nut from underneath the car. Before wrenching anything, spray onlots of some kind of loosening agent to break the seal on the nut. Makes a big difference. 2) When you install the driver's side header you have to relocate the stock coil pak with a neat little kit that comes with the headers from JBA. Because of the thickness (3/8 inch) of the header flang, it makes it impossible to leave the coil pak in stock position without using the kit to realignthe position of the coil pak. The kit repositions the coil pak a little outboard so the bracket that holds the pak can be used. It's not a big deal, but takes a little time and patience, and the purchase of a few new nuts and bolts, to set everything up correctly. There's also one of the bolts that holds the bracket in place that must be repaced with a slightly longer bolt. Again, a trip to Home Depot or Lowes with do the trick. Make note of these two additional points, and when you're ready to install, I'll email you more written detail with photos of everything.Take care, Jack.

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07lane40

thanks for the help guys. Jack youve been especially helpful. thanks again.

themac5150

I only had 2 real glitches. The EGR tube reinstallation, it took forever to get the threads to start with out cross-threading. The tube didn't line up perfectly with my set, and its a solid tube, so it was very awkward trying to bend it where it needed to be and start the coupler. The other item was the dipstick tube. It comes off easily and reinstalls easily, but the mounting bolt tab just didn't line back up with the hole correctly the way it did with the stock manifold. I had to remove it and bend it slightly over my knee a few times until I could get the bolt to start without cross-threading. I had a torque wrench, but some of the bolts were just impossible to torque with what I had, and a box end wrench is what I had to use. One more aggravation note: I used the stock studs and nuts; those nuts are the self-locking kind and it took forever just to get all of the nuts to the "finger tight" position before tightening them all down. They wouldn't spin by hand at all and having your arm in an awkward position, hunched over the fender, tightening all of them down with a wrench (I used a ratchet if it fit), really got to my back.

Jsierzega

having the tools is half the battle

07lane40

what tools are needed? im pretty strong so i dont think getting the nuts torqued to specs will be a problem, what else will i need? torx bits/sockets? were pretty stocked as far as tools, with the exception of a torque wrench and air tools (we have access to them though if theyre really needed)

Jsierzega

yeah torx sockets were a big help. sounds like you have a decent supplies though so you should be fine

imnutz66

having a second pair if hands when dealing with the collector bolts won't hurt either