Changing headers

[Delorean1986]

Hey Folks,

Wondering if I will have to remove my engine in order to take of the exhaust headers.

I am going to do a whole new exhaust and would prefer to not have to take the engine out but wanted to get some info before I start to try.

79 Chevy V-8 454

Thanks

[roundhouse]

You have a sawzall , right?

You may need to run the front up on oil change ramps


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[Irish_Alley]

yeah most times the headers have to come up from below

[Delorean1986]

Saws all yes….

Not sure I want to hurt the headers.

Thanks for the input though everyone I appreciate it. I am doing all new breaks today and doing my carb next week as well as removing some of the emissions crap….

[Irish_Alley]

we have brakes on our truck, till something breaks then we have no brakes 

[Delorean1986]

These are the breaks…

 [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcLITA7Ugw0[/youtube]

[enaberif]

Doing any exhaust work you should have one of these ... . Makes quick work and less mess when cutting exhaust pipe.

[Kren420]

Putting the headers on and taking the old manifolds off is fairly straight forward.  Stock height on a half ton and I didn't need to jack it up or anything.  I did pass the headers up from below to a buddy who held it it place until I could crawl back out and put some bolts in.  The hard part was changing my stock starter a couple months later.... almost didn't have enough room to get the starter out with the new exhaust system!  New mini starter goes in and out with ease though.

[Delorean1986]

Putting the headers on and taking the old manifolds off is fairly straight forward.  Stock height on a half ton and I didn't need to jack it up or anything.  I did pass the headers up from below to a buddy who held it it place until I could crawl back out and put some bolts in.  The hard part was changing my stock starter a couple months later.... almost didn't have enough room to get the starter out with the new exhaust system!  New mini starter goes in and out with ease though.

Glad you responded. So I should be able to unbolt them and slide them out? Then slide the new ones in from the bottom and mount them with the help of a friend.

So after you did your exhaust you had to replace your starter which was a pain to get in after doing your exhaust. You would recommend just replacing your starter before doing your exhaust for ease of work…. both need to be replaced on "Maple" (79 Chevy) so I will probably do them at the same time….

Any links to youtube videos with folks with right age of Chevy's that you know of, where folks are working on them?

[Irish_Alley]

on my 86 c10, i pretty much cut the old exhaust off with a sawsall then slid the headers up from the bottom by myself. it was a pain and would of been better with a helper. this was 15  or so years ago but i think i removed the plugs just to get more room. never had a problem with replacing the starter with headers

[Delorean1986]

When removing the headers should i heat the bolts to removed them?

The headers on this beast of stock and I don't think they have be touched since 79… just don't want to bolt to sheer off in there….

[Kren420]

I soaked the manifold bolts with some loosen-all spray the night before and about 20 mins before I removed them.  I used a sawzall to hack the old exhaust off first, and I also removed all the spark plugs before removing the manifolds.  My truck also has A/C so some slight modification to the A/C bracket was in order.

More on the starter:  I didn't have the truck jacked up at all and had no helper this time, so underneath messing with things proved difficult, but once I put it in the right position it slid out.  With the mini starter I could put past the headers in any position, which was nice when working by yourself with the truck at stock height on stock wheels.

[Delorean1986]

I soaked the manifold bolts with some loosen-all spray the night before and about 20 mins before I removed them.  I used a sawzall to hack the old exhaust off first, and I also removed all the spark plugs before removing the manifolds.  My truck also has A/C so some slight modification to the A/C bracket was in order.

More on the starter:  I didn't have the truck jacked up at all and had no helper this time, so underneath messing with things proved difficult, but once I put it in the right position it slid out.  With the mini starter I could put past the headers in any position, which was nice when working by yourself with the truck at stock height on stock wheels.

Kren420, I have the the Big 10, with AC. Do you have a photo of your modification to the AC mount? Was that just some simple bending or custom medal fab?

[ehjorten]

On my '77 K20 I was able to snake the headers up from the bottom.  The headers are full-length Hedman Elites.

[Kren420]

I soaked the manifold bolts with some loosen-all spray the night before and about 20 mins before I removed them.  I used a sawzall to hack the old exhaust off first, and I also removed all the spark plugs before removing the manifolds.  My truck also has A/C so some slight modification to the A/C bracket was in order.

More on the starter:  I didn't have the truck jacked up at all and had no helper this time, so underneath messing with things proved difficult, but once I put it in the right position it slid out.  With the mini starter I could put past the headers in any position, which was nice when working by yourself with the truck at stock height on stock wheels.

Kren420, I have the the Big 10, with AC. Do you have a photo of your modification to the AC mount? Was that just some simple bending or custom medal fab?

I do not have any photos at this time, but all I used was this link from this very website.
http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=9291.msg200733#msg200733