At 01:07 PM 8/23/98 -0500, you wrote:
> <<Well the headers are installed and working(what a bitch that
> was!).>>
> No question about it, installing headers is a pain in the ass! Got
> mine in yesterday after about 5 hours (I purposely worked slowly and
> double checked everything so there would be no f*%k ups). The first
> tip for those that haven't installed theirs yet is that the stock air
> box must go! Also, while most of this can be done by one person,
> you'll need an extra pair of hands when you hook the Y pipe back up
> (preferably someone with really small hands and thin arms!). Rather
> than bore the list, if anyone wants all the gory details of what
> worked and what didn't as well as some pix, email me privately and I'd
> be happy to send them.
I installed mine Friday morning (to go racing Friday afternoon; no
pressure...) ;-) Took me about 5.5 hours, total. The install wasn't hard
per-se, but it was "cumbersome". Its the little things that take up
most of the time, like trying to figure out how to tighten that right
rear bolt. :-) (I ended up using one of the stock center studs and nuts.)
I drove my truck up onto a set of oil change ramps and did the entire
install myself. (For the Y pipe, I just stuck the bolts through the top,
then squeezed the flanges together with one hand while threading the bolt
on with the other.) One thing that saved me a bit of time was using an
impact wrench to remove the Y pipe bolts.
>
> <<Also I have noticed no improvement whatsoever from the headers other
> than a very slight increase in gas mileage(.5 MPG). Has anybody else
> noticed much of an improvement?>>
> I've noticed a big improvement but I just got 'em in yesterday so I
> don't have any data on MPG yet. The but dino says the throttle
> response and acceleration are much better and the greatest thing is
> that the engine doesn't ping anymore with the 87 octane Mobil gas I
> use!! Can anyone explain why headers would eliminate the minor
> pinging I used to get?
>
> Anyway, good luck to those about to install headers and remember to
> have some Band-Aids around! I don't think you'll get any serious
> cuts, but it sucks to get blood all over those shiny new headers:-)
:-) Yep, I've got a fresh coat of grease under my fingernails and
several new cuts and scrapes (and one burn) before all was said and done.
They sure do look nice. Performance wise, the jury is still out. (I've
got a traction problem which is keeping me from seeing the full gain.)
From where I'm sitting, the headers appeared to give me about a tenth
in the 1/4, but its really hard to tell.
On the way to the track after the install, I didn't notice much
difference, except that the rpm's seemed to come up a lot faster when
revving the engine in neutral, and it idles slightly lower. On the
way back from the track, the truck did feel a lot stronger. I unplugged
the computer before making my runs at the track, so maybe it just hadn't
adjusted to the headers before. The sound isn't any different (that I
noticed) at idle or while driving around, but if I get into it, the
exhaust note does have a more "tuned" sound to it. The headers also
seemed to get rid of the slight "bap-bap-bap" on deceleration that came
with the Gibson 3" cat-back. I haven't had a chance to fill it up yet,
so I don't know how the gas mileage was affected.
One thing that I noticed was that they headers heat up VERY quickly,
and cool down quickly as well. (if you start the engine when its cold,
get out and walk around to the engine bay, the headers are already too
hot to touch). They put out a lot of heat at idle, but it doesn't seem to
be too bad if you keep moving. I'm *very* glad that I got the ceramic
coating. I'd hate to see the heat these things would put out without it!
They don't cool down quite as quickly as they heat up, but you can actually
touch the headers (and keep your hand there) a surprisingly short time
after shutting off the engine.
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------------------------------.
| Affiliations: DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA. RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT CC (14.85@90.72), '96 Kolb FireFly 447 |
`----------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
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