OK, so the Gibson s/s headers arrived for my truck. I got the PB Blaster, soaked them stock nuts/studs overnight then again in the morning for about 20-30 minutes. Came right off; no broken studs. Schewww! I read in the directions about the gasket portion. So, I decide to adhere (with the prescribed Permatex copper gasket sealer goop) the gaskets (passenger and driver's side) to their respective header. That way, in the morning, they'd be secured on the well and I wouldn't have to deal with gaskets moving around and misalligning the holes, right?

I start on the driver's side. Goes ok, but takes me all day (well, 6 hours) with Y-pipe removal, clearing the way to get to the headers, dropping the replacement bolts/washers 400 times while trying to delicately manipulate my not-so-agile fingers into the tight crevaces. After many compound expletives, success! Oh yeah, also an interruption to run into town to the hardware store to get a 5mm hex head socket that Gibson fails to list on the "here's the tools and things you'll need to do this install" list.
Thanks, Gibson!!!

That was yesterday. This morning I jack up and double-secure the passenger side of the truck for my assault on the passenger side. Removal goes even easier than the driver's side. Cool, right? Wrong. For some unknown reason which I now unofficially equate with the mystery of the missing sock in the dryer, I am unable to screw the bolts into the cylinder head. I get a few of them in, and just thread them a few turns like the instructions say. I press and hold the header against the head and try to thread the next bolt in... and "no-go"! I try all different angles with the bolt; I shimmy and shake the header around while "feeling" with the bolt for the hole; and nothing! Zilch. Nada. Zippo.... MULTIPLE compound expletives. I spent 8 hours trying to get 8 bolts in today and only managed to get 3 in. I can't for the life of me figure out WHY the other bolts won't line up and thread??? I was SO pissed that I just called it a day (just shy of 4pm) and thought maybe tomorrow will bring better luck.


So, anybody know a trick to coercing these last few bolts into cooperating? I also managed to drop one bolt into never-never land b/t the engine block and the motor mount, so I guess tomorrow I'll be tracking down a replacement for that!

Anybody have a similar experience and can share how to resolve it? It's bad when you get to the point of talking to the bolts and begging them to "just get in there, darnit!"...

 

Yes actually i might have an idea, but i don't know if this is your problem. We were rebuilding a chevy block for a friend.. (you know those cheviues.. they need replacing every few years) and it was a very cold day. While putting the exhaust manifolds back on we encountered the exact same problem. The problem was that while off the block the cold actually changed the size of the header.. just a tiny tiny bit - however it made it not work. So we lite up the torch warmed it up a bit and whala! It fit.

I don't know what kind of weather you got there in cali - but just an idea. This problem i had was down here in south texas on a cold day - - in the 30's or so, nothing freezing. worth a try


good luck.

 

I got a ? for ya ,did you lay the header up against the manifold you took off .maybe gibsons spec's and tolerances are off in the hole layout on the flange. I had a set of hooker headers one time that need a little hole massage with the old rat-tale file.

One other thing to think about if the holes are that tight now,when it expands from heat is their a chance of cracking the aluminum head in the area of the bolt/stud boss.

I don't know what the head looks like in that area ,never did headers on a 5.4 ,yet!!!!!

Your our test bed !!!!!

Rich

 

i put jba headers on my 97 f150 4.6 4x4. and man what a job some of the bolt holes you could barely touch. let alone get a tool on. it took me all weekend. from then on i will never do headers on a newer truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i feel your pain!

Tony

 

Really don't have any help for ya, but I am curious on how the truck runs and sounds with them.

 

I had the same problem with a set of JBA's that I installed on my '94 5.0. Sounds simple, but I took the punch/awl that Craftsman includes with some of it's tool sets and put it in the other hole for the header tube I was having problems with. Carefully using the head/bolt hole as a lever, I pulled back against the header tube until I could get the other bolt started. I was lucky not to bugger up the threads, but after 8 hours and having just one bolt left, you'll do almost anything. Good luck!
Bert

 

Yep, you guys ALL touched on various parts of this process. From the cold (35 degrees) the last couple of days to possible tolerances not quite right, to the inability to get a tool (let alone a fingertip or two) on some of the bolts due to the header tube configuration.

Frustrating to say the least. But.... I actually dreampt about it last night and I think I have a solution. Scary, huh? I should have left the OE header studs in place and used them as guides to seal the new gaskets to the head. The bolt holes on the headers are slotted on top, so once the gasket was sealed to the head, I could have removed the studs, installed the new bolts leaving about 3.8" clearance for the header flange to slide under. Then, I could slide the header into the four upper bolts, snug them down and that SHOULD line up the four lower bolts. '

My dilemma now is that I already sealed the gasket to the header and I lost one bolt into "never-never land" b/t the engine block and the motor mount. (insert compound expletive of your choice here: ______ ). So, I have to track down a new one today.

Here's my gasket solution: cut off the round portion of the gasket where the header is slotted so I can place the four top bolts in with 3/8" gap, slide it in, snug down the 4 top bolts, and HOPE & PREY the 4 bottom holes line up!

I'm skeptical on another thing I noticed, too:
The gasket doesn't cover the entire lower rim of the forged area where the headers bolt to. I looked at the head when it was bare and it appears that each exhaust port (hole) has a raised rim and the area b/t each port (hole) is solid and therefore cannot leak. Weird to see though: I'm used to gaskets that secure flush up to the head. It will definitely suck if there's a leak. It'd be like starting all over and there's no way to find out if they're going to leak w/o putting the entire thing completely back together. So, keep your fingers crossed for me....

I'll let you guys know how it goes later today if/when I complete the job. I don't know if I can download a brief recording of the sound, but I'll try IF everything goes well...

Thanks for the support. I'll keep ya' posted!

 

Nothing wrong with taking a drill and going ten to 20 thou over.

Put each bolt in 2 or 3 threads. No more until you get them all started.

 

FINISHED!!!

Well, at 4pm I finished the header install, reassembled the Y-pipe back onto the exhaust, put the passenger-side front tire back on, and buttoned everything back up under the hood (intake, battery, double-check for stray tools, etc).

Then, the moment of truth: Will there be an exhaust leak or leaks? Will it sound meaty, mean & nasty? Will it even start?????

Thankfully no exhaust leaks, it started right up. BUT... it doesn't sound a whole heckuva lot different than before. I did not drive it, it just revved it up a couple times in park. It did have a bit of a "zwoop" under throttle, but that's about it. I can hear the cat-back more than the headers, which is actually fine with me because my fiancee keeps complementing how smooth and quiet the truck is for such a big truck. So, at least I WILL KNOW what's under the hood. The less she knows the better (BTW, I told her I had to replace the bolts because they have a history of seizing up. She said, "they do? ok, honey...". Yes!

Anyway, probably no sense in posting a audio/video for the sound since there's not a lot of difference. Sorry, Yeti.... but I will add a pic or two in my gallery soon of the Gibson s/s headers.

Thanks again for everyone's help and support... All of yesterday's frustrations somehow seem so trivial now! Gee, imagine that

Best,

 

FYI, I just posted 2 pix of the headers, installed on my truck. Not much to look at, but at least it's proof that even a novice like me with the very generic set of tools can do it by his/herself. They're in dare!!!!

 

FYI, I just posted 2 pix of the headers, installed on my truck. Not much to look at, but at least it's proof that even a novice like me with the very generic set of tools can do it by his/herself. They're in dare!!!!

 

Glad it all worked out for ya!
Now let us know how you like them, sound, any gains? etc.

BTW: Your 59 is sweet!

 

Daryl,

Congrats on the install. SS looks real good.

 

Sound is basically the same, except when I stomp on it. It has more of a "zwoooop" to it. Seems to flow better and has crisper acceleration at all ranges. Not too shabby....