I'm going to be putting these on my car next weekend. My question to those who have done it. Which is easier, pulling the engine, or dropping the crossmember? I have no problem doing either one and will be using a lift for this.

Thanks,
John

 

I have not doen this, but I would think dropping the x-member would be easier becasue of the steering knuckle.

 

Drop the cross member - I've helped install these without dropping anything but it wasn't fun.

You might have to make a few "adjustments" to make them fit. Reason why in the car is a better option.

 

i'm fairly certain that you can't put a motor back in the car with msds (or other aftermarket) headers. just not enough clearance.
i've done a couple without doing either. tight but doable.

 

My thought with pulling the engine was to lay the headers in there and drop the engine right back down. Sounds like I should pull the crossmember.

 

More votes for pulling the cross-member. This way you can wiggle them in from the bottom. Good chance to do rack mounts, engine mounts, or rack seals. Also, see how loose the ball joints are. Oh - Oil pan gasket!

 

just lift the engine slightly. we never do anything to remove the headers. just take off the nuts and drop the headers (on or off). some of the nuts on the driver side are tight, so, loosening the engine bolts and lifting the engine up a few mm's is an easy way to do it. dropping the cross member doesnt buy much , it would seem


mk

 

Put mine on without doing either. It probably would help to raise the engine a little bit though.

 

I assume you took off the accessories and brought them in through the front?

Thanks guys!

 

no , just take them off and on from underneath. just do it one nut at a time

Its not easy, but it can be done, and those little swivel 12mm sockets help a lot, along with gearwrench.

mk

 

Picked up my headers from QC Coatings on Friday. Put them on the car yesterday. It took about 2 hours to get the factory manifolds off. Two studs broke in the removal, two were missing already, and one was already broken off in the head. The last one being the pain to deal with. I had to drill out the stud, remove it, and then retap the hole. The engine mount heat shields on both side had to go. I also had to grind some metal off the passenger side engine mount. The passenger side header went straight on. To get the driver's side one on the steering U joint had to be removed. I didn't lift the engine or play with the crossmember at all.

We also test fit the new chin spoiler to make sure everything lined up. The front end should be primed later today. Hopefully it will have paint on it within the next two weeks.

 

The frustration of doing a job like this "the short cut way" and not removing the things you need to remove has always been too much to want to try. Its just so much easier to remove the stuff you need to remove - especially if you run into problems.

 

I wouldn't have tried to do it this way had the car not been on a lift. As it was, it took me and another guy 5 hours to get them on.

 

Yeah... but how does it sound?

 

I have a cat that fits the MSDS headers with a custom y pipe if you or anyone is interested.
I used to put it on to get smogged