[Quiet Lunatic]

Well, I couldn't wait anymore I had to put them on. I wanted to wait to get it dynoed again after I put the Magnaflow on to check the power increase, but I couldn't get on the dyno schedule anytime soon. Pi$$es me off to because I was curious about the hp/tq increases. Oh well, at least I have the stock baseline numbers. Anyway, the install went ok at best. The passenger side went on in a little over an hour, surprisingly easy. The driver side however was a different story. It took me probably about 6 hours to get it put on. I took some pictures that I'll get posted when I get a chance. The install is straight forward and not complicated at all but be prepared for for some cut-up and bruised hands doing the drivers side. If you have small forearms it should go a little easier but that's not the case with me. The few directions that are supplied, which are worthless by the way, mentioned to disconnect the steering shaft from the steering rack. I didn't find the need to do this step. The only extra thing I did that the "instructions" didn't mention was to remove the y-pipe hanger that attaches to the back of the tranny. Doing this gave me a little more working room especially on the drivers side. If you want to take the extra time to disconnect the 4 O2 sensors and remove the y-pipe all together, you will have even more room to work. I wish I would have done it myself. Again, the only side you will have a problem with space is the drivers side. Lots more stuff in the way, top and bottom. If your Nitro is a 4X4, then be prepared to work around the universal joint coming out of the axle pumpkin. All-in-all it wasn't too bad, just time consuming because of limited work space on the drivers side. No specialty tools are required. The main things you'll need are a 10mm, 12mm and 13mm wrench and some extensions with sockets to remove and reinstall the y-pipe to header bolts. I also used a set of car ramps to put it up on which was perfect. The heigth was just right for working underneath and up top. If you haven't done anything like this before I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself.

I did the install on Saturday and wasn't able to take it for a drive until this morning when I came to work. Some of the things I noticed was interior noise. When I put the Magnaflow on the interior noise increased but was really only noticeable when you floored it, then it got pretty loud. When I floored it this morning, the interior sound was considerably lesser, damn near like stock. Not sure why the headers affected the overall interior sound but I'm as happy as a pig in $hit that they did because I like a quiet interior. As far as power goes, there's definitely a noticeable increase, particularly when you floor it and it shifts into passing gear. I only had a 9 mile drive to work this morning so it will take more driving to notice all changes but what I've noticed so far is pretty good. I'll be getting on the dyno schedule as soon as I can so I can see the combined increases from the exhaust and headers. As soon as I get them I'll post the results.

 

[NitroTech]

Good write-up. Can't wait to see the pics and some dyno numbers. :rep:

 

[GT]

Yeah man! Congrats on getting them in yourself! Can't wait to see the numbers when you finally hit the dyno!!!

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

Some install pics.

I had the resolution set a little to high on my camera so some of these are a little blurry. Anyway, you can see how open the passenger side is from the top and down below. I didn't take many pics of the drivers side because to be quite honest, you wouldn't have been able to see much since it is so confined. The fourth pic is of the drivers side factory manifold from underneath, not much room to work. If anyone has any other questions I'd be glad to try and help.

 

[Skulman]

OK I have a couple of questions. When you did this work, where did you find yourself doing the majority of the work? From above or below? Also you mentioned you had the Nitro up on ramps, in your opinion, could you have done some of the work easier be maybe reaching through the wheel wells with the tires out of the way? Did all the bolts/holes line up ok? Did all the supplied bolts fit properly? I ask these questions because as a mechanic I know some of the things to be aware of and once I bring mine to work and get started on it I will have no means of transportation to get somewhere if something goes wrong. I just want to be prepared for any problems :i_rolleyes:.

I had the resolution set a little to high on my camera so some of these are a little blurry. Anyway, you can see how open the passenger side is from the top and down below. I didn't take many pics of the drivers side because to be quite honest, you wouldn't have been able to see much since it is so confined. The fourth pic is of the drivers side factory manifold from underneath, not much room to work. If anyone has any other questions I'd be glad to try and help.

 

[Ed B]

My Hat is off to the Header Guy

What a job!!!!!, I see one of the other Nitro owners ask some very good questions. I changed out to header once before, and I was taken back by what I was able to achive. power was up, gas milage was up as long as I was not in to it, and the motor was at least 15 degrees cooler go figure. I'm sold, but I have the R/T 4.0L 4WD and I may want some help on this one. Looking forward to the dyno info.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

OK I have a couple of questions. When you did this work, where did you find yourself doing the majority of the work? From above or below? Also you mentioned you had the Nitro up on ramps, in your opinion, could you have done some of the work easier be maybe reaching through the wheel wells with the tires out of the way? Did all the bolts/holes line up ok? Did all the supplied bolts fit properly? I ask these questions because as a mechanic I know some of the things to be aware of and once I bring mine to work and get started on it I will have no means of transportation to get somewhere if something goes wrong. I just want to be prepared for any problems :i_rolleyes:.

The work was done pretty equally from top and bottom. However, I found myself working from below on the drivers side more. Reason being is because you have to remove the old manifold and install the new header from underneath. Like I said, the passenger side should only take you 90 minutes at the most. The first thing you want to do is disconnect the y-pipe and get it out of the way by removing that bracket I mentioned in my earlier post. I found the ramps to be the way to go. No need to remove the tires and wheel well linings because it won't get you anywhere. All of the bolt holes lined up perfectly, no issues with any of the supplied hardware. If you have a buddy to help you with the drivers side that would be good. At one point I could have used an extra set of hands but had to make do with just my two.

One thing to note. To install the drivers side you have to install the gasket and the top center bolt first. Only screw this bolt in about half way. You'll notice that the top center hole isn't a hole but a slot. This is done because the tubes are in the way to install the bolt if the header is already in place. This is where a buddy can come in handy. Once you get the top center bolt and gasket in place, crawl underneath and fish the header up into place. This is going to take some fancy manuevering. When you have the header close to it's final location have your buddy reach in from the top and place the slot in the header on to the bolt that you previously installed. Once the header is slid into place and you are still underneath the vehicle, reach up and push up on the header and you should feel it snap into place. The slot that is on the header is designed in such a way that once snapped into place it holds it there while you line up the other holes and install the remaining bolts. I found this out by accident because I couldn't get the holes to line up for nothing and I was getting pi$$ed so I just gave the header a push and it snapped into place. I was smooth sailing after that discovery. Another trick you can do, particularly on the drivers side is to get a strip of duct tape and tape the lock washer and nut into place on the header where the y-pipe connects. I forgot to do this when I did the drivers side and it took forever to get those bolts into place. I did it on the passenger side and it made life a lot easier. Hope this helps.

 

[SLUGBUCKET]

Install Instructions: Moved From Header Group Buy Thread

#43 vbrep_register("24685")

07-05-2007, 10:22 AM
SLUGBUCKET

vbmenu_register("postmenu_24685", true);
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Wichita, KS
Age: 27
Posts: 35
Vehicle: Nitro
Color: Bright Silver
Rep Power: 1 Rep:60

iTrader: (0)


Header Installation Better Instructions
HERES ANOTHER WRITEUP INSTALL: I MOVED IT FROM THE ORIGINAL HEADER BUY POST. AND YES....DRIVERS SIDE INSTALL SUCKS!!!

I just got done putting mine on 7-4-2007. Expect a very long day!

First, take the instructions they gave you and throw them away (except for the torque sequence diagram)! They suck.

Follow These Steps.

Disconnect the battery.
Remove the 4 nuts with a 10mm wrench on the passenger side heat shield. I used a ratcheting box wrench.
Disconnect the ball joint on the manifold with a 15mm (could be 16mm) socket. A universal joint and a couple of extensions are your best friends today!
Unbolt the 6 bolts on the headers with a 12mm wrench/socket. You have to work from both the top and the bottom of the car for this one.

Drop the old manifold through the bottom of the car.

Install the new header from the top, with the gasket properly aligned you can use the new hardware to start a couple of bolts. Torque the bolts in the order that the jba directions state. I just tightened them as best I could. There were no torque specs in the directions.

Loosely connect the ball joint, do not tighten yet.

Now for the drivers side.

There are 2 nuts on the drivers side wheel well that you can remove to free the steering rod. It helps to move it a couple inches to the side to get at the manifold bolts. Make sure you dont move the steering guide too roughly, the seal can come apart and make an already difficult task worse. (I know, it happened to me) It is a rubber/metal ball like joint with a needle bearing in the middle, and a real pain to put back together.

Remove the heat shield with the 10 mm wrench (a gear driven box works wonders in tight spots).

Remove the 2 bolts on the ball joint.

For a 4wd vehicle you will have to remove the tail pipe (the connection before the muffler) and let the cat forward pipe hang so you can squeeze the old manifold out the bottom. Dont even try to get it out the top. I spent an hour trying to figure out how to get the old one out and the new ones in.

Slip the new header in from the bottom, it takes some tweaking and cussing, but it fits. Make sure you hold the cat forward pipe up and to the side while you slide in the new header.

Thread in the top center bolt for the new headers before you try to install the header. The header is cut so you can slide it onto the bolt. install one of the other top bolts to set the header, then you can go underneath the car and thread the other ones in. Make sure your gaskets are in line, because threading bolts is tough enough due to the 3" of workspace. Torque the new header as bes you can.

Install the ball joint bolts on the drivers side and tighten them down.
Then tighten down the passenger side ball joint.
Re-install the tail pipe.

Re-connect the steering drive bracket. Make sure you dont move the metal/rubber ball type seal around to violently, or it will come apart.

Reconnect the battery.

Start the car and check for leaks.

Mine had no leaks and I thank God for that.

Passenger install time: approx.2 Hours
Drivers install time: 5 hours (had technical difficulties, and poor instructions.)
Would take probably 2.5 hours without any problems occuring)

I took some pictures of the ordeal. I will post them later. They are more before and afters, rather than tech install type.

They look great on the car, but dont make the exhaust sound any louder.

There is definitely a better throttle response, and it has a lot more pep in the mid rpms.:ura1:

MPG data will come soon.



SLUGBUCKET

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

Good write-up. Can't wait to see the pics and some dyno numbers. :rep:

I stopped by JBA and picked up a pair of headers yesterday. I inquired about dyno results and was told that they had dyno'ed my Nitro while doing the R&D for the headers. Results will be posted on their website soon.