1999 K2500 Suburban 7.4L

BNielsen said:

So I take it I should invest in some good EZ-Outs and plan for a day where I can lock myself away to avoid going on a rampage?
I don't THINK any of mine are broken? But there is occasionally an audible ticking when I first start the truck but seems to go away once it's heated up

Click to expand...

Easy outs, reverse drill bits…. But take the key is a welder. Heat is what will save the day, I mean glowing red, that’s half of why welding a nut on works so good, gets that stud really hot.

Easy outs are worthless, don't even waste your time or you'll be digging out stuck bolts with broken off "easy" outs inside. I welded a nut to mine to remove it but it was broken off beneath the surface and took a million tries to get a stack strong enough and to stick well enough.

Welding is the ticket for removal. See my previous posts a few pages back where I tried an EZ out... Haha. Like others, my studs were not broken on extraction.

I think I had a stud break off, too. Seems like one of my heat shields had it stuck on there. I dont plan on doing anything about it unless the engine comes out.

One of my spare heads has a broken stud in it too....dont know why the machine shop didnt remove it.

I used the ls style heat shields when I did wires last time.

A wee bit more progress today. Driver side is done. Haven't touched the passenger side yet.

Setting the header + gasket + EGR tube was tricky by myself. I found that the best approach was to fully tighten the EGR nut, then loosen just enough so that the EGR tube could spin freely. From there it was just a matter of snaking the EGR tube behind the block and lowering the header down into position while lining up the gasket.

I used copper sealant between the gasket and header, but nothing between the gasket and head. The directions say to apply on both sides, but I didn't feel confident I could keep the sealant out of the exhaust ports while lowering the header down into the engine bay, so I skipped that. I plan to check the header bolts frequently, and I don't think I'll have any exhaust leaks.

I have yet to attach any of the exhaust piping to the header yet, but header clearances look great in the engine bay. I read somewhere on this forum that someone had to grind a portion of their Gibson headers on both driver and passenger in order to clear a head bolt. The driver side dropped right in, so curious to see what happens on the passenger side.

Are those valve covers Cummins Beige?

454cid said:

Are those valve covers Cummins Beige?

Click to expand...

Yes sir, good eye.

Quick start up video:


This is right off the headers, because why not. I'll be mating the rest of the exhaust soon enough.

Sounds good, sounds familiar

Papablunt said:

Quick start up video:

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

This is right off the headers, because why not. I'll be mating the rest of the exhaust soon enough.

Click to expand...

I now regret not investing in those headers for  my Burb. Although I wouldn't have had the cam or roller rockers to help make the good sounds.