DIY: V6 Tiburon Headers
12-31-2009, 03:14 PM
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Vehicle: Two Accents, Mini, Miata, Van, Outback, and a ZX-6
DIY: V6 Tiburon Headers
Original DIY on Dingleweed's CarDomain page 6
HEADER INSTALLATION
First,
I would like to thank "The Man", TC from Next Generation Motorsports, for helping with this install by giving me valuable advice and hints.Second, installing headers yourself is DEFINITELY not for the mechanically timid. Anyone who has seen a cramped front wheel drive V6 engine bay can just imagine how difficult it must be to install headers...
That being said, here it goes...
First
thing to do is jack up the car on the front passenger side and spray all of the "Y" downpipe nuts with some WD-40. Then, removed the "Y" downpipe.
And
no, I am not laying under my Tib with just the stock jack. I also have TWO jackstands under there supporting the weight just to be sure. (Also, do not pick up the WD-40 thinking it is your beer...)
Here are all the the header parts layed out, just itching to be installed
The next step is to remove the heat shield on the front exhaust manifold.
Once you remove the heat shield, you can take out the two O2 sensors. I just left them attached and hanging. Start getting used to scrapes, scratches and bruised knuckles. Here you can see a good whack that my knuckle took while undoing the downpipe. This pic is as I work on loosening the top, right bolt of the front manifold.
Here is a pic of me taking off the middle upper nut of the front manifold
Now I have finally gotten off all of the 7 nuts (three on top and four on bottom) holding on the manifold, but it won't come off because there is about a 1/4" between the end of the head bolt on the bottom passenger side and the top of the AC compressor. Which is not enough to get the manifold off >
So, I'm stuck... what do you do... call The Man, TC himself!
Hint #1
In order to get the stock manifold off you have to move the AC compressor out of the way. There are 4 bolts holding it in place. You need to take out the two on the bottom and the one behind this AC line on top.
This is the tricky part, the bolt is BEHIND the AC line (the one attached to the red bolt on the left). It can be removed with a 12 mm wrench box end without having to discharge the AC system. BUT, I couldn't get a good grip of the bolt and enough leverage to break it loose. Fearing that I might strip it trying too many times, I reluctantly decided to vent the AC system and move the AC line out of the way so that I could use my breaker bar to break the bolt loose. Oh well, I'll just have to get my AC recharged later on...
(Ironically, this turned out the be the hardest bolt to break free for the ENTIRE install...)
Loosening the AC line... (dammit!)
Here I am loosening the last bolt on the compressor and it is getting late...
Now, you have to remove the serpentine belt. It is a VERY good idea to make a sketch of the path of the belt before you take it off. Plug your ratchet into the square hole on the end of the belt tensioner. With your knees against the bumper adjust your ratchet so that the line between the three points: belt tensioner pivot, square hole on the end of the belt tensioner, and the end of the ratchet, make close to a 180 degree angle. Now push down on the ratchet and take the belt off of the top-most pulley. Remove the belt from around the AC compressor. Once the 2 bottom bolts of the AC compressor are out, as well as the PITA one behind the AC line on the top right of the compressor, loosen the last bolt holding on the AC compressor on the top left of the compressor (but do not take it out all of the way) and rotate the compressor slightly clockwise. This will give you enough room to remove the stock manifold.
The manifold can be removed through the bottom of the car between the engine mount and the oil filter. It will fit, just keep moving it around and adjusting its orientation...
finally got the $#%*er out
Now bring in the new front header from below and wiggle it onto all of the head studs.
Here I am lubing up all of the threads of the head studs with anti-seize grease.
And finally here is the front header bolted into place
Now, reattach your vented AC line.A couple of pics from underneath.
Now for the back cylinder bank...
TC's trick #2 was to take out the top bolt of the alternator and loosen the bottom in order to swivel it towards the firewall in order to get the back exhaust manifold off. So, of course, this is the first thing that
I do.
Also, if you remove the fenderwell plastic cover that has a neat little hole in it so that you can access the crank pulley nut through the fender well (those of you who have replaced their crank pulley know which cover I mean) you can see a whole lot more and have another window through which to stick your arm. The plastic fenderwell covering is held in by two 12 mm bolts directly straight up if you are looking up from the ground.
Here is a view through that opening toward the alternator with the two bolts indicated.
After "moving" the alternator out of the way I feel that I can see and feel a whole lot from underneath the car. So of course I start to take stuff apart before I dedicate myself to remove the upper part of my CAI, and my upper plenum of the intake manifold.At this point, it really helps having finished the front side first (you know where all of the bolts, nuts, etc. are). From underneath the car, you can see a little less than half of the bolts that you know you have to take off in order to remove the stock manifold. But, if you squeeze your arm up there (on the driver's side of the exhaust manifold), you can feel them all. And, if you can get a finger or two on a bolt, you can get a 12 mm wrench on that bolt as well.
Here is where it is an advantage to have small hands, but a disadvantage to having short, stocky arms. I can get my fingers on the bolt, but I squeeze/scrape the hell out of my forearms trying to reach them.
Oh well... I have quite a few scrapes and patches of sore skin, but I was able to do everything from underneath the car and did not have to touch my CAI or upper intake manifold.
First, reach up and remove the 3 bolts holding the heat shield onto the manifold.
After removing the 3 bolts holding the heat shield in place I could not get the heat shield out of the engine bay. So, you kind of have to move it around and out of the way of whatever nut you are trying to loosen next.
After the heat shield, I removed both O2 sensors.
With the alternator and the heat shield out of the way I could loosen all 7 of the nuts holding on the manifold.
This is where patience becomes a virtue, as you can only turn a wrench or ratchet about 1/16th of a turn at a time!! But, eventually I got all seven of the manifold nuts off.
Now that the manifold is free of the head, the heat shield can fall right out. (Watch out that it doesn't hit you in the face...) And the manifold will quickly follow...
*PITA, oh... I mean "Challenge"*
OK, three problems arose: the top middle, driver's side top, and driver's side bottom unscrewed with the entire threaded rod/nut assembly. (All the rest, including the front manifold, just the nut unscrewed from the head bolt, now 3 of the 7 nuts came off with the threaded rod they were bolted onto.) Now, I have a nut stuck on a threaded rod that is supposed to be attached to the cylinder head. Here's a pic of my firewall-side cylinder bank with 3 missing head bolts.
After soaking the nuts in WD-40 and thinking for a while of how to break loose nuts seized onto a threaded rod without damaging the threads, my live-in girlfriend, out of the blue, suggests screwing them back into the head without a manifold or header so that the rod bottoms out in the head and the nut breaks free, and then the nut is "broken".(You gotta love having a fellow experimental physicist as a girl friend...)
Low and behold, it worked beautifully and I broke the nuts loose from the threaded rod and got the rods to stay in the head at the same time. (It also took a little vice grip action on the non-threaded part to get the rod to stay in the head as I unscrewed the nut.)
Now, bolt up the new back header. Once again, patience is a virtue because you can tighten the nuts by about 1/16 of a turn at a time...
Once the back header is bolted on, install the pre-cat rear O2 sensor. Lube up the threads with anti-seize lube, but be VERY careful to never touch any part of the O2 sensor that sticks out past the threads (the oils from your fingers are not good for it...)
A good tip for installing the sensors is to twist the sensor about 5 or 6 turns counter-clockwise (as though you are unscrewing it). That way, when you screw it into the bung hole the wires are not twisted or stressed.
Re-attach the alternator that you loosened earlier
Now reattach the serpentine belt (remember, you sketched out the belt path before...)Connect the positive battery terminal back to the battery. (You should have disconnected it before moving the alternator.)
At this point, I think that I might have mentioned everything that needs to be reattached, retightened, etc. for anything that has been altered in the install process. But, I probably am forgetting something so keep paper or very good mental notes yourself of what you have done in the install so that you can "redo" it at the end.
OK, the only thing that should be left at this point is to attach the "Y" downpipe.
At this point I was so excited I just could not tighten the 6 bolts of the downpipe fast enough! But, once again, my philosophy is to stop and think about everything that you loosened, reattached, etc. to make sure there are no loose nuts or anything you forgot.
Here is an undercar shot of the finished install of my prototype OBX headers to my GReddy catback.
After this, my brother (whom I have to thank for much needed help for many critical steps in this install, as well as all of the great pics) and I took it out for a test drive... and...
WooHooo! Holy Sh!t! G@d d@mn!
Definitely the most satisfying mod I have done! My first mod, my CAI comes in a close second.
To close it off, here is a pic of my current engine compartment
Total install time
Day 1 3-1/2 hours: remove front manifold and install header
Day 2 2-1/2 hours: remove back manifold and reattach head bolts
Day 3 2 hours: install back header, down-pipe, and cleanup misc. other reattachment jobs
But the satisfaction of doing it all myself...
worth every penny and every second!
HEADER INSTALLATION
First,
I would like to thank "The Man", TC from Next Generation Motorsports, for helping with this install by giving me valuable advice and hints.Second, installing headers yourself is DEFINITELY not for the mechanically timid. Anyone who has seen a cramped front wheel drive V6 engine bay can just imagine how difficult it must be to install headers...
That being said, here it goes...
First
thing to do is jack up the car on the front passenger side and spray all of the "Y" downpipe nuts with some WD-40. Then, removed the "Y" downpipe.
And
no, I am not laying under my Tib with just the stock jack. I also have TWO jackstands under there supporting the weight just to be sure. (Also, do not pick up the WD-40 thinking it is your beer...)
Here are all the the header parts layed out, just itching to be installed
The next step is to remove the heat shield on the front exhaust manifold.
Once you remove the heat shield, you can take out the two O2 sensors. I just left them attached and hanging. Start getting used to scrapes, scratches and bruised knuckles. Here you can see a good whack that my knuckle took while undoing the downpipe. This pic is as I work on loosening the top, right bolt of the front manifold.
Here is a pic of me taking off the middle upper nut of the front manifold
Now I have finally gotten off all of the 7 nuts (three on top and four on bottom) holding on the manifold, but it won't come off because there is about a 1/4" between the end of the head bolt on the bottom passenger side and the top of the AC compressor. Which is not enough to get the manifold off >
So, I'm stuck... what do you do... call The Man, TC himself!
Hint #1
In order to get the stock manifold off you have to move the AC compressor out of the way. There are 4 bolts holding it in place. You need to take out the two on the bottom and the one behind this AC line on top.
This is the tricky part, the bolt is BEHIND the AC line (the one attached to the red bolt on the left). It can be removed with a 12 mm wrench box end without having to discharge the AC system. BUT, I couldn't get a good grip of the bolt and enough leverage to break it loose. Fearing that I might strip it trying too many times, I reluctantly decided to vent the AC system and move the AC line out of the way so that I could use my breaker bar to break the bolt loose. Oh well, I'll just have to get my AC recharged later on...
(Ironically, this turned out the be the hardest bolt to break free for the ENTIRE install...)
Loosening the AC line... (dammit!)
Here I am loosening the last bolt on the compressor and it is getting late...
Now, you have to remove the serpentine belt. It is a VERY good idea to make a sketch of the path of the belt before you take it off. Plug your ratchet into the square hole on the end of the belt tensioner. With your knees against the bumper adjust your ratchet so that the line between the three points: belt tensioner pivot, square hole on the end of the belt tensioner, and the end of the ratchet, make close to a 180 degree angle. Now push down on the ratchet and take the belt off of the top-most pulley. Remove the belt from around the AC compressor. Once the 2 bottom bolts of the AC compressor are out, as well as the PITA one behind the AC line on the top right of the compressor, loosen the last bolt holding on the AC compressor on the top left of the compressor (but do not take it out all of the way) and rotate the compressor slightly clockwise. This will give you enough room to remove the stock manifold.
The manifold can be removed through the bottom of the car between the engine mount and the oil filter. It will fit, just keep moving it around and adjusting its orientation...
finally got the $#%*er out
Now bring in the new front header from below and wiggle it onto all of the head studs.
Here I am lubing up all of the threads of the head studs with anti-seize grease.
And finally here is the front header bolted into place
Now, reattach your vented AC line.A couple of pics from underneath.
Now for the back cylinder bank...
TC's trick #2 was to take out the top bolt of the alternator and loosen the bottom in order to swivel it towards the firewall in order to get the back exhaust manifold off. So, of course, this is the first thing that
I do.
Also, if you remove the fenderwell plastic cover that has a neat little hole in it so that you can access the crank pulley nut through the fender well (those of you who have replaced their crank pulley know which cover I mean) you can see a whole lot more and have another window through which to stick your arm. The plastic fenderwell covering is held in by two 12 mm bolts directly straight up if you are looking up from the ground.
Here is a view through that opening toward the alternator with the two bolts indicated.
After "moving" the alternator out of the way I feel that I can see and feel a whole lot from underneath the car. So of course I start to take stuff apart before I dedicate myself to remove the upper part of my CAI, and my upper plenum of the intake manifold.At this point, it really helps having finished the front side first (you know where all of the bolts, nuts, etc. are). From underneath the car, you can see a little less than half of the bolts that you know you have to take off in order to remove the stock manifold. But, if you squeeze your arm up there (on the driver's side of the exhaust manifold), you can feel them all. And, if you can get a finger or two on a bolt, you can get a 12 mm wrench on that bolt as well.
Here is where it is an advantage to have small hands, but a disadvantage to having short, stocky arms. I can get my fingers on the bolt, but I squeeze/scrape the hell out of my forearms trying to reach them.
Oh well... I have quite a few scrapes and patches of sore skin, but I was able to do everything from underneath the car and did not have to touch my CAI or upper intake manifold.
First, reach up and remove the 3 bolts holding the heat shield onto the manifold.
After removing the 3 bolts holding the heat shield in place I could not get the heat shield out of the engine bay. So, you kind of have to move it around and out of the way of whatever nut you are trying to loosen next.
After the heat shield, I removed both O2 sensors.
With the alternator and the heat shield out of the way I could loosen all 7 of the nuts holding on the manifold.
This is where patience becomes a virtue, as you can only turn a wrench or ratchet about 1/16th of a turn at a time!! But, eventually I got all seven of the manifold nuts off.
Now that the manifold is free of the head, the heat shield can fall right out. (Watch out that it doesn't hit you in the face...) And the manifold will quickly follow...
*PITA, oh... I mean "Challenge"*
OK, three problems arose: the top middle, driver's side top, and driver's side bottom unscrewed with the entire threaded rod/nut assembly. (All the rest, including the front manifold, just the nut unscrewed from the head bolt, now 3 of the 7 nuts came off with the threaded rod they were bolted onto.) Now, I have a nut stuck on a threaded rod that is supposed to be attached to the cylinder head. Here's a pic of my firewall-side cylinder bank with 3 missing head bolts.
After soaking the nuts in WD-40 and thinking for a while of how to break loose nuts seized onto a threaded rod without damaging the threads, my live-in girlfriend, out of the blue, suggests screwing them back into the head without a manifold or header so that the rod bottoms out in the head and the nut breaks free, and then the nut is "broken".(You gotta love having a fellow experimental physicist as a girl friend...)
Low and behold, it worked beautifully and I broke the nuts loose from the threaded rod and got the rods to stay in the head at the same time. (It also took a little vice grip action on the non-threaded part to get the rod to stay in the head as I unscrewed the nut.)
Now, bolt up the new back header. Once again, patience is a virtue because you can tighten the nuts by about 1/16 of a turn at a time...
Once the back header is bolted on, install the pre-cat rear O2 sensor. Lube up the threads with anti-seize lube, but be VERY careful to never touch any part of the O2 sensor that sticks out past the threads (the oils from your fingers are not good for it...)
A good tip for installing the sensors is to twist the sensor about 5 or 6 turns counter-clockwise (as though you are unscrewing it). That way, when you screw it into the bung hole the wires are not twisted or stressed.
Re-attach the alternator that you loosened earlier
Now reattach the serpentine belt (remember, you sketched out the belt path before...)Connect the positive battery terminal back to the battery. (You should have disconnected it before moving the alternator.)
At this point, I think that I might have mentioned everything that needs to be reattached, retightened, etc. for anything that has been altered in the install process. But, I probably am forgetting something so keep paper or very good mental notes yourself of what you have done in the install so that you can "redo" it at the end.
OK, the only thing that should be left at this point is to attach the "Y" downpipe.
At this point I was so excited I just could not tighten the 6 bolts of the downpipe fast enough! But, once again, my philosophy is to stop and think about everything that you loosened, reattached, etc. to make sure there are no loose nuts or anything you forgot.
Here is an undercar shot of the finished install of my prototype OBX headers to my GReddy catback.
After this, my brother (whom I have to thank for much needed help for many critical steps in this install, as well as all of the great pics) and I took it out for a test drive... and...
WooHooo! Holy Sh!t! G@d d@mn!
Definitely the most satisfying mod I have done! My first mod, my CAI comes in a close second.
To close it off, here is a pic of my current engine compartment
Total install time
Day 1 3-1/2 hours: remove front manifold and install header
Day 2 2-1/2 hours: remove back manifold and reattach head bolts
Day 3 2 hours: install back header, down-pipe, and cleanup misc. other reattachment jobs
But the satisfaction of doing it all myself...
worth every penny and every second!
12-31-2009, 04:00 PM
#3
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Bl@@dy hell, all I can say is cheers dude smile.gif
Watch this space, I'll upload my attempt just as soon as I have enough time off work
Watch this space, I'll upload my attempt just as soon as I have enough time off work
12-31-2009, 04:05 PM
#4
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Vehicle: Two Accents, Mini, Miata, Van, Outback, and a ZX-6
Yeah it's a good DIY. Just so it's clear though, I don't deserve the credit for it. The rightful credit is given in the top line. I do plan to follow this DIY if I get headers for our Tib though, except for evacuating the A/C, there is no need for that at all and without the equipment to scavenge it properly that's bad form IMO.