so i sea foamed my car this weekend and discovered a leak in my passenger side exhaust header. they are stock headers and im hoping its just the gasket. anyone got any tips to make changing that gasket a little bit easier? seems like it would be hard to get at but im sure some of you have dont it plenty of times and have some tips. thanx!

 

I have one piece of advice, not directly related to the exhaust manifold, but when you've got it off, change your plugs if they're anywhere near ready to be replaced, since it'll be alot easier with the manifolds off.

 

you say stock headers ... do you mean exhaust manifold? theres a big difference between a header and a manifold. Sick

 

ummm. i guess it would be the manifold then. as far as i know the car is completely stock.

 

well headers are a performance/upgrade u use to replace the exhaust manifold which woud be ur stock object. for better airflow. but um take them off see what the leak is coming from and if its weldable or fixable or if it needs to be replaced. better off getting HEADERS.

 

so you can actually see where the gasket is leaking? exhaust manifolds have a habit of cracking especially if they happen to get alot of water spray when it rains. exhaust manifold bolts are sometimes very tough. get you some good penetrating oil and spray the mess out of them and let them set for a while and spray again. if the bolts are tough keep spraying and setting. if you break one don't freak it happens quite often. you'll have to use a drill and a ez-out to remove it. good luck. Sick

 

coolcool. yea, im planning on getting some hooker comp. headers, but i dont have the cash right now. so im just hoping its a gasket and not the manifold itself thats leaking. thanx for the help guys.

 

yea i bought some hooker super comp shorties for my 350. i love them to death. Im havin one hell of a time sealing up the driver side though. i think im just gona go and buy a set of nice gaskets instead of the ones in the package. But im telling you now. be ready for one hell of an install. directions call for you to take off the A/C pump and all that, i didnt. Just unbolt the passenger side engine mount and jack up that one side like an inch or two and it will go in much easier.

 

THANX!!! that was the advice i was lookingfor, lol. thinking about it that seems like an obvious thing to do. coolcool. i think im gonna enlist my buddy to bring his jack over and help me do this this weekend. thanx a ton.

 

also, be sure to label your plug wires. i didnt. and the distributor cap is off like, 45 degrees, its weired. Some kind of rig job, but it runs fine. took a mighty long time figureing out how to get that thing running again.