Both of my headers are mounted. We got the driver's side in yesterday. The install was fairly simple, actually. The headers went right in without any issues. The most difficult part was tightening some of the header bolts and tightening some of the plugs. I removed the stock manifolds & Y-Pipe over Thanksgiving, so I didn't have to mess with that this time around.

Me & my brother have been doing all of this ourselves. He has a nice shop and a lot of tools. A lift would have been nice, but having the car up on jack stands has worked well enough. I would definitely recommend having another person assist with the install. I allowed plenty of time to get this done. I still have to install the Y-Pipe & exhaust, but the header install wasn't bad, imo. Allow yourself plenty of time. Patience is a virtue.

I've heard the gaskets that Kooks provides are pretty good, but I didn't use them. I think they are actually another type of Percy's gasket. I would also recommend getting some 1" header bolts. I haven't opened what Kooks provided, but they appear to be 12 point 3/4" bolts. I'll confirm that tomorrow. Given the thickness of the flange, coupled with the fairly thick Seal 4 Good header gaskets, I think 1" bolts are a good idea.

Let me know where you find the SLP socket. I'm interested in getting one myself.

If you have more questions, let me know. I'll answer anything I can. I definitely think you should give MarylandSpeed a call and see if they're running any specials.

 

I just checked out the SLP socket on Jegs. It's essentially what we were doing with the 1/2 drive socket and vice grips. I never knew until now that it was designed to work with a wrench. It's a pricey little b***ard, but I would recommend getting it.

 

I went ahead and ordered the socket from summit, plus new NGK TR55 spark plugs, the Percy gaskets, and ARP 12pt 1" stainless bolts. Great to hear the headers didn't give you too much trouble. I'll have a lift to do mine, plus some air tools if needed. I plan on spraying down all the stock bolts with PB Blaster a couple nights before the install.

 

I used PB Blaster on my stock manifold bolts. They came out pretty easily. If the ARP bolts have a 3/8" head, you'll probably have to grind a wrench down to get it to fit over some of the bolts.

Did they give you a better price on your headers when you called?

 

just for some extra advise....

you shouldn't have to remove the oil filter or raise the motor up if you get the car high enough. when I did my kooks, I had the car on ramps + a 5in thick block on each side.
I used the supplied gaskets and bolts, and I have had no problems so far. Use PB blaster on all the bolts etc.. of the manifold and exhaust the night before you start. Getting in all The header bolts gave me the most trouble, so thats just a heads up. Congrats on your KOOKS purchase, those things look awesome once they've turned that nice golden color

 

Thanks man, I'm really looking forward to getting these bad boys on the car. I was going to try getting these in with pulling off as little stuff as possible, so good to hear you didn't have to pull the oil filter.

Guess I'll have to grind down a wrench, no big deal. But I guess I got the discount on their website, they were marked down like $100 and shipping was free. I'll call em anyway, once my phone finishes recharging...

 

Here's some more info that could apply.

My car had an oil cooler on it, which had to be removed. I was told I would need the stock oil filter adapter after removing the cooler, but it wasn't necessary because there was already one on the car. The only thing I needed were two bolts to replace the studs that held the adapter on when it's used in conjunction with the cooler. There is also a coolant bypass hose that's necessary. I believe it may be possible to block off the associated port on the water pump, which may eliminate the need for the hose. The oil cooler on my '94 is a different design than the 95+ oil coolers, so this may not hold true for the later models. At some point, I believe GM simply quit installing the coolers.

 

I don't have an oil cooler, so no worries. But I thought the oil went through the radiator, it should have nothing to do with the water pump.

 

The oil cooler actually has engine coolant circulating through it, and oil just travels through the cooler. The oil doesn't go through the radiator.

 

Oh. Either way, one less thing for me to worry about.

 

Got the headers and y-pipe in, finally opened them up:









And here's the catted y-pipe:



Man, these parts are sexy. Except for one thing... The y-pipe box was pretty chewed up (probably UPS again):



...and the intermediate y-pipe looks a little squished:





Um, is this normal? Sure doesn't look like it. I plan on calling Kooks tomorrow, just wanted some more input. If it is dented, should I take the time to send it back? Would it actually hurt airflow any? Doesn't look like any of the welds are cracked, and the part that slides into the main y-pipe piece is perfectly round. The cat appears undamaged. Any thoughts?

On a side note, DAMN THESE HEADERS ARE SEXY!

 

They're not sexy, they're pure evil lol. I hope to get a pair of kooks to replace my hooker LT's when I get my tax return, however a guy could almost get a set of good heads for the price of the kooks & catted y-pipe. They're high quality pieces though.

As for the small dents it looks almost as if the connection goes into smaller diameter of pipe? I'm not sure really, but kooks should definetely have an explanation.

 

They cost me a bit, but all in preperation for the heads/cam .

But the "dent" creates an out of round pipe, same circumference but bowed into an oval shape, right after the cat weld, then bows back out to a circle before the clamp connection. After thinking about it, it might be for floor pan clearance, but Kooks will know for sure.

 

My Y-pipe was flattened in the same spot. I never really bothered to determine if it was necessary. All of my stuff fit beautifully. Even though I have to nothing to actually compare them to, I'm glad I spent the extra money for the Kooks.

 

I did have one minor fitment issue with the Kooks. The bracket on the stock Y-Pipe, by my cat, that slid through the rubber mount didn't fit right when removed and bolted to the Kooks Y-Pipe. I just left it off. I guess I'll eventually get something fabbed up.