I just recently bought a 1996 Pontiac trans am lt1 automatic. all stock I bought from an older lady, only 110k miles. Has an exhaust leak from the passenger side manifold. So I bought the gaskets an took off the alternator I got the front 3 bolts out but cannot get to the back 3 at all. From underneath it looks like I'd have to pull the exhaust pipe running to the driver side manifold to get my hand in. Any ideas, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Your going to have to unbolt the Y-pipe to allow the manifold to move away from the head, so you can clean the old gasket off, etc. Most likely you will snap a stud or two when unbolting the Y-pipe. Use lots of PB Blaster.

 

People with skinny arms can get the manifold to head bolts from the top.

 

Hehe, I'm one of those people, but I said to heck with it. I think from the bottom is the way to go, but the y-pipe will be a pain if it's never been removed.

I snapped some studs myself when I had the stock setup. Some of that was from when I got a decent air tank and air tools in my garage and said **** this. You have to be careful with that too as rounding a nut or stud will make for a even worse day.

 

it's worth it to just do headers.

I'd pay $200 for a used set before I bloodied my hands up dealing with the factory setup.