89 3500 - header install from the top?

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unstable

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The instructions say that the vehicle must be lifted at least 36" off of the ground...really I'm thinking that they can probably be installed from the top but I figured I'd just bounce this off everyone here to get any thoughts on it before I started the project. It shouldn't be a big deal. In fact, it seems to make more sense trying to install from the top because then you are only feeding the collector region down towards the bottom, instead of trying to push an entire exhaust flange UP...makes sense? yes.
 

6chevy9

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makes sence yes, but on my old camaro they had to come in from the bottom. not to say they are the same, but as easy as it looks from the top it may only come from the bottom. i tried both.
 

unstable

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When we did the motor in my dad's 79 4x4, granted it had a SBC, but I'm pretty sure we did it from the top and there was plenty of room. In any case, I bought the el' cheapo hedman headers for $179 from Summit. I picked up a couple of cans of high-heat black paint on my way home today, I scuffed up some of the paint on the headers and I hit them with the high heat spray. Then I went out and broke off the air injection crap...She sounds better already without the air. :) I sprayed the living crap out of all of the exhaust manifold bolts with PB Blaster, in hopes that it will make my life easier over the next couple of days. I did try breaking a few of the exhaust bolts and 2/3 came easily, so I will keep my fingers crossed. I also sprayed the crap out of the pipe that joins the exhaust manifolds before they shoot back to the cat. I'm really hoping to salvage as much as I can of the exhaust. If the cat has to come off, I don't care...if I have to run this thing with open headers for a few days, I don't care. Eventually I'd like to go dual exhaust, but I don't want to pay a $hitload of money to an exhaust shop to have it done right now and with the gas tank where it is, I'm not sure how I could do it myself.

That actually reminds me of when I was in high school, we swapped a 360 into my friends dodge truck. It originally had a slant 6. He bought some headers and couldn't afford to do the exhaust on it at the time so we rolled around town with open headers setting off car alarms. That was a fun little truck, enough balls to make it exciting.
 

Mike

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Usually easiest to put them in from the bottom but unbolt them from the top.
 

unstable

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I started the headers last night...didn't finish, so I have to drive my wifes rig to work this morning. I removed the air pipes on Wednesday. Last night I managed to get both exhaust manifolds unbolted. On the passenger side there was one bolt that was already broken off in the cylinder headers and I managed to get two more broken off in the drivers side. I think there's plenty of meat sticking out so once I get the exhaust out of the way I will try welding a nut to the top of each extruding head and try backing them out again.

I also ran into some problems with the dip-stick tube where it was held onto an exhaust manifold stud. In the end, I managed to get the whole shooting match out, but the dipstick got mutilated in the process and it ate up alot of time hammering on smaller sockets to get the nut and bolt out...not fun. Guess that's part of the adventure of working on a truck that is now 21 years old...wow I'm getting old.

I would have had the headers mounted up last night had it not been for the little issues I encountered (and have yet to fully address / i.e. broken bolts in heads now).
The only roadblock to getting the exhaust manifolds out of the way is where they bolt to the crosspipe. Chances are I'm going to have to cut those exhaust bolts and it was close to 8 PM when I reached this point last night...I had no daylight--and I'm not sure if I mentioned it but I had my eardrum blow up last Friday so I'm a little off-balance and moving around too much gives me vertigo.

This morning I'm heading over to NAPA to pick up a bung and I will drop it and a collector off at my buddies shop to have him weld it up. Tonight if the weather is nice I will cut through those exhaust bolts and then address the broken bolts in the heads
 

6chevy9

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when you replace your exhaust flange bolts it would be a good choice to throw in some new dounuts if your not already doing so. every single time i have taken the y pipe off my truck and put it back on they would leak in the next few weeks. it is the most anoying sound to ever hear!
 

unstable

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thanks for the tips. I'm going to have to break out the torches or locate my cut-off tool. I moved into a new house last year and the garage is still in disarray...those flange bolts aren't coming out without some encouragement.

My buddy loaned me some mac-tools stud removers/installers that he said might work to get the broken bolts out...I can't get to them until I get the y-pipe out. I'm really crossing my fingers they come out easily.

I did something really stupid yesterday. I decided to put the bung in the end of the collector, where there is a flange that mounts to the header...I took the piece to my buddy along with the bung and as soon as I set it down I realized that I needed to bring the flange too, otherwise after he welded on the bung, the flange wouldn't fit over the piece. That's all set now. Bung is in place and if/when I swap to carb I can just get a plug to thread into the bung to close her off.
 

unstable

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Headers had to go in from the bottom. The drivers side went alot smoother than the passenger side which surprised the crap out of me. In any case, the headers are bolted up now. Plugs and wires are back in. The starter needs to go back up, the exhaust is pulled down and tangled up in the frame.

For the broken bolts in the heads...I tried the stud extractor to no success, I also tried welding a nut to the broken bolt and it just kept breaking shorter and shorter. Although not my preference, I just put the headers up without getting the bolts out. I'd like to have something rigged up to be able to drive this truck to work tomorrow and short of tearing the heads off of the block, I don't think those broken bolts are coming out. Being that I'm planning on having a motor rebuilt to slam into this thing, I didn't think it was worth the effort. If she leaks some exhaust, oh well...yeah it kind of sucks but I will live with it.

it's kind of rainy today, my garage is filled up with crap so I have to work outside...I need to work up the motivation to go out and brave the weather to get this finished today.

During the process of removing the passenger side exhaust, I totally destroyed the dipstick tube so there's a new dipstick going in today as well.

I'm entertaining the idea of bolting mufflers to the backs of the headers with 90 degree bends as a quasi-dual exhaust for the time being.
 

unstable

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FYI-
none of the existing exhaust matched up after using the hedman headers. According to the manufacturer's notes, it said something about modification to the catalytic convertor may be required...long story short, the Y pipe extends up too far towards the engine to compensate for the shorter exhaust manifolds, the headers are quite long in comparison...it boils down to taking the thing to an exhaust shop, which I didn't really plan for at the moment in time but ultimately it would have needed done anyhow. I think I'm going to end up shelling out $600-700 for dual exhaust. I'm dropping the cats all together and I'm going to cross my fingers that I don't get popped on an inspection. I will know more tomorrow, it's sitting at the shop now.
 
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