I installed a set of headers on my 68 f250 4x4 and did not have the starter in place first and I then remembered hearing on the forum about having to remove the header to get the starter in. However I had to do alot of jacking and so on just to fit the dang things in and so I thought about loosening off the motor mounts and jacking up the motor high enough to place the starter in and it worked fine. I have a 390 and the starter is full size not sure type of headers though might be worth a shot post a reply let us know how it goes.
ktownford
67F700 dump 390
68F250 4x4 390

 

Another question. How did you get to the starter bolts/connections? The only one I can get to is where the battery cable goes to the starter.

 

To get to the starter bolts you just got to roll up your sleeves and get under your truck. The bottom two are easy as is the starter wire, but the top one is a pain. It will seem like its 2 miles long and you can only turn it a bit at a time. Once you have the bolts loose, pull out and shake the starter and it will plop out of its hole. I replaced the old bolts with grade 8's, because the heads willn't round off. The only down side is that if the 8's seize, they can pull the threads out of the bellhousing. If this happens to my truck I'll just slap some nuts on the back or heli-coil the holes and never worry about it again. hope that helps

 

All right, into the fray I jump. I have a 1970 F250 with a 390. There is no way to even get to the fender from inside the headers. The real pain that I have is the header and muffler are one peice welded. I will replace that soon enough. I need to replace my starter as well, and at least shield the starter from the headers better. I am increasing my starter to solinoid cable from 4Ga to 1Ga.

I noticed the same problem that all of you have with removing my header bolts. One thing that a local parts shop turned me onto several years ago is the PB lubricant that somebody back there mentioned. This stuff rocks!! I have done everything from pulling engines to rebuild them to removing 20 year old muffler lines. At night, while the part is still warm or cold, a good dose of PB lube. I am telling you that almost everytime, I come back in the morning to remove the bolts and I can almost unscrew them with my fingers without a wrench! The twenty year muffler line removal was the most amazing. The nuts almost looked like they were one peice with the u-bolts. I was expecting to have to use my reciprocating saw. But just a slight pressure of the wrench and they almost spun free!

 

I will try the PB Blaster again this weekend, I just would hate to bust the head off another bolt.
Mine is the same as yours. There is absolutely no way to get to the starter, the way my headers wrap around it, that I can see.