First and Foremost: Think SAFETY, Dont go thinking you are going to be safe with just a jack. Do lots of research even though I have snapped many photos and provided lots of Ideas Continue to do research and plan ahead. Have back up plans alike.


Now to the nitty gritty,

Upon bringing the car into the garage i planned everything down. measured gaskets, made sure everything fell in place, inspected the welds and flanges to be straight and not warped. Made sure i had all materials and tools needed.

Friday Night I stationed the car and lifted it approx 2 feet on the drivers side, put a chuk on the rear passenger tire to prevent movement "just in case" (backup) also put the car on a safety and lowered the jack afterwards i re-positioned the jack with a small amount of force... not enough to take it off the safety jack but enough that you feel some tension.. the idea is to secure that you have the car in the air and supported under all conditions. 3,500lbs falling on you will be fatal so THINK SAFETY FIRST. Also REMOVE THE BATTERY POSITIVE WIRE.

I allowed the car to cool over night. Saturday afternoon I dissambled the engine cover, Z-Tube and intake box just to have enough clearence up top for whatever i may need to do, Removed the Lower Engine Cover(s) and Painted the Steering Coumn Shaft to the rack and pinion.

Grabed a can of Rem Oil (WD40 equivalent) and sprayed it on all the bolts around the cat converter to Y-Pipe to the Header to cat converter and stabilizer bar on the transmission to cat converter; Let it soak for a few minutes sprayed again and grabed 3/8 Drive Rachet and a 14MM Socket. At first I tried being macho man.... NOT Had to grab a breaker bar and break them loose. Once the bolts were loose i took off the bracket and set it aside Placing ALL NUTS and bolts in the Container i had previously arrainged.

Twist GENTLY the Clip that connects the Oxygen Sensor on the Cat. Conv. and use a small philips screwdriver or the tip of a needle nose pliar to unclip it and it slides right off.

Remove the cat converter and save the Flange for the cat converter to Y-pipe. You will need this later on unless you have a new one. I found it easier to go through the front of the car attach a few extensions to the 14mm long socket and remove the screws you can reach from this angle.

Set the Converter aside. You can see 1 stud stayed on the Manifold dont worry this is normal.

Remove the steering column shaft by simply losening the bolts and moving the Joint up it will slide right up with no problem. REMEMBER TO MARK THE POSITION BEFORE YOU TAKE IT OFF....... IF YOU FEEL LIKE TAKING IT OFF, not needed.

Now with a 10MM Socket and a swivel you can grab a few of the bolts holding the heat shields, remove them. The heatshield comes out without a hitch from the top. At this point you can see the studs and nuts on the manifolds. You can reach them easily with a 3inch 3/8 Extension and a long 14mm or 9/16 socket.

Remove the oxygen sensor on the manifold.
and set it aside (on the tranny is fine)
remove them also. Place EVERYTHING IN THE CONTAINER.....

The headers should come out easily also from the bottom. Now you can make you observations or hold it high in the air like a trophy.... or do what i did and sling it out and grabed the new one and smacked it on.....BUT WAIT Dont forget the exhaust flange gasket lol i got so excited i forgot about that.... Had to remove them after placing them in and saying ohhh yeah gaskets...

So put the gasket in place and insert the manifold into the head. present the nuts on the studs with your hands. This will ensure you dont strip the studs by mistake.

Now Starting torqueing them down i did in this manner:

<< front of car

3-1-5
6-2-4

each one bringing them evenly to distribute the force correctly and allow for a proper seal.

You may notice that from in front of the car NEAR THE A/C Compressor you can Fit a 3/8 Swivel and a 14mm Socket also right below the strut you can also do the same.

The ones up top may need to be completed using a geared wrench or a basic wrench.

Once you have tighten them all up Then take a break, Dont try to rush through any of this you dont want to forget about anything.

Once you have cleared your mind a bit or goten some water/beer ... whatever... then reinstall the oxygen sensor.

Since you do not need the heat shields anymore because aftermarket headers dont support them You can save the 4 10MM screws that become spare parts.

If you have enough energy remove the cat conv for the passenger side...

I personally removed the cat converter and left it for the next day... Remember all this can be accomplished with air tools if you wish to use them.


Passenger side:

Since you already removed the cat converter you can now remove the heat shields....

Since I used power tools i will try to mix around and have it so everyone can understand what I did here.
Once again going to the 1/4 Drive Ratchet with 10mm end with a swivel and some electric tape for stability, You can reach the top 10mm bolts from the top using the extension and swivel, the ones in the lower end can be reached with either a 10MM wrench, or socket no swivel needed here. What i did was instead of using hand tools went straight for the air rachet with the extensions and swivels and i was done in 5 minutes with this....

Then i using the small breaker bar losen ALL the nuts on the header and came back with the air rachet and they were all gone in a flinch, Note: for this side its easier to work with the larger under body cover off, you can reach the bottom right bolt (one closest to the front of the engine) from under the car right above the alternator. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE BATTERY POSITIVE DISCONNECTED. you can fry your ecu, have a fire, or get a huge JOLT if you happen to touch the positive and ground it out. ...

Dont forget to continue to place ALL BOLTS, NUTS, etc.... in the canister don't loose them.

When we moving the OE header and replacing the other header MAKE SURE YOU ARE CAREFUL, because there is a green clip towards the end of the header, this is your fuel line, Do not bend it or try to make too much force through it.

put your header on along with the proper exhaust gasket and do the same with this header present ALL the nuts with your hand and then progressively bring them together to create that proper seal.

Rear of Car <<<<< front of car >>>>>
3-1-5
6-2-4


reinstall the O2 sensor,

now you are ready to reassemble your car.

Reinstall the cat converter using the new gaskets, if you dont have new ones i suggest getting a high heat copper gasket liquid and making a thin flat bead along both sides with the old gasket. this will ensure a proper seal.

re install everything,

if you used a bit of gasket maker then you have to wait till the product is ready for its use. If not

Gather all your tools, make sure you have no tools in the belts or fans,

reinstall the battery, put her back down evenly and Turn the car on. check for leaks....

If you hear a hissing noise it could be a leak. if you hear a loud pah pah pah or moderate pah pah pah.... thats a leak find its source turn off the car wait till it cools disconnect the battery and retighten.

Recheck and you are good to go.

Enjoy your new mods.

Within 500 miles lift the car and recheck bolts and retighten as needed.


Hope this serves anyone in the future.


Pictures of the process.