Danton

Mine need to be welded in a few spots. So I was wondering if I need to remove the crossover pipe first or will the headers slide out without going through that headache? Any info appreciated!

Regards,
Danton
87' 951
03' 325i

dime1622

nope. i had to take off my cam tower to get it out. else i would have had to take out the crossover pipe, and i was taking off the head anyway. some people say it can be slid out, but theres no way.

Dan87951

You have to remove the cam housing. You can leave the cross over pipe in but you have to remove the 6 bolts the headers bolt to it with. If your planning on removing your head just leave the headers connected to the head and remove it as one assembly otherwise you need to remove studs in the head than you can remove the headers.

Bill

You do not have to remove the cam tower or the cross-over.

First disconnect the headers at the cross-over. Then remove the motor mount bolts on the header side (leave the driver side mount connected). Jack up the engine, this will tilt the engine and give you enough clearance to remove the headers. Pull the outer y tubes back. The inner y tubes can then be pull up and out through the top. Then the outer y tubes can be dropped down and out the bottom. Simple.

The cam tower method is way more work.

Danton

I think removing the passenger motor mount bolts and jacking up the engine is alot easier then the other options. I'll give it a shot and hopefully it works. Thanks...

-Danton
87' 951
03' 325i

brad-cam

My experience:

- disconnect fuel lines
- unbolt hard cooling pipe from cam tower
- remove alll bolts/but holding headers to head and cross over pipe
- headers come out the top with some creative movements (2-3 header first, then the 1-2)

If your motor mounts are old and sagging, you might need to disconnect them and jack the engine up to the stock location...

PorscheDoc

Correct, you DO NOT have to remove the cam tower. Undo the 8 exhaust studs, (you will need to remove the studs completely though, so double nut them and back them out. Then undo the 6 bolts at the crossover pipe connection, and they will slide out. When putting back together, make sure you get all the hardware started, before tightening any of them down.

Bill

By tilting the engine, you do not have to remove the studs. I do not like to remove the studs as eventually you affect their ability to hold torque. Creating an exhaust leak. This is why they are studs and not bolts. Also I use locktite red when installing these studs, again to avoid exhaust leaks. Locktite red does not like to be removed.

It works, or I would not have posted. And you are welcome.

Danno

You can remove the headers without removing the cam-tower, or studs or jacking up the engine! They come out the bottom, here's my procedure.

- using 1/4" 10mm socket w/built-in wobble and 6" and 3" extensions, remove one heat-shield bolt from above between #1 & #2 runners
- from below, remove two bolts from bracket that hold heat-shield halves together
- from below, remove two bolts holding bracket and front heat-shield to oil-filter housing
- remove heat shield from around motor-mount
- slide both header heat-shield halves down and off back of headers
- remove all header nuts
- pull both headers outwards until they both hit fender
- remove #2-3 header out the bottom
- rotate bottom of #1-4 header towards center of car while pulling #4 flange outwards (it will come off if you rotate & wiggle)
- continue rotating bottom of header inwards and wiggle #1 flange off studs
- remove #1-4 header out the bottom

Installation is the reverse.... simple.

eclou

I did what Danno wrote, after divine inspiration. You can get them out after removing the heat shields and the coolant tube. Really not that tough a job.

Alpine951

Did this 2 months ago. drove up on some front ramps, Unbolt the headers at the block and collectors, Removed the hard collant line that runs accross the headers( drain some of the collant), unclip the power steering res and move it forward out of the way, remove the studs, the 2-3 pipes should come right up and out, the one pipe won't clear the cam cover and the engine bay so I jacked up the motor slightly without loosening the motor mount bolts and was able to get it out after a few wraps with a rubber hammer. Getting them back was not as easy because the bolt holes don't exactly line up. i actually elomgated on of the holes to get the header back on.

dime1622

i tried danno's method when i did it, and the 2-3 header came out fine, but 1-4 was impossible. there was simply no way it could fit.

Danno

heh, heh... The trick is to rotate headers, not pull them straight off the studs... When you push the bottom flanges towards the engine, it opens up more space between the headers and the fender. Then you pull out a little more. Then you push the bottom in a little more and pull out the top a little more, etc. Do the #4 first, then #1.

Mike B

I got mine out with some creative movement too. I didn't touch the cam-tower or motor mounts although my motor mounts are fairly new.

Crazy Eddie

Hi Danno
Hope all is well
where would one get?

using 1/4" 10mm socket w/built-in wobble
Thanks Ed