My Mechanic is finishing up with my heads cam install, and now he says the headers i have (rk sport) wont work so hes putting back the stock manifolds. The problem is that the stock y pipe is welded to the cat. There is no flange to bolt up to the new y pipe. Since he doesnt weld he would have to take it somewhere else and charge me more....well being broke and all I have no choice but to run the stock manifold. He also says the rk sports are crap and i should return them because they look "flimsy". He also talked about having to make a custom y pipe cuz hes having fitment problems too. Shouldnt they bolt right up if i got a new cat? I dont know wtf to do now...ideas?

 

Have him install the RK sports and Y-pipe, buy a cat, drive it to an exhaust shop close to you to complete the install. It seems to be a cop out for most incompetent mechanics to call the products crap to avoid figuring out a solution, just from my experience. BTW, I ran the RK Sports for a few years and would use them in a heartbeat instead of an LT header.

 

Better yet, just get an offroad pipe from RK Sport for those headers/y-pipe and it should bolt right up and save cash to boot.

 

Lol headers wont fit...thats why no one else ever works on my car. Boo hoo im to dumb to make it fit, but ill still charge you 500 bucks for the time i spent trying...some mechanics **** me off. Tell him that they will fit or just have im put the stock manifods back on, drive it home and put on the headers yourself...or whatever

 

I agree VIPRETR he didnt say they were flimsy untill he found out they didn't fit. But he did say it didnt look like they would fit even b4 he started on them, which sounds to me like he never wanted to do them in the first place. He told me it took him all day like i should feel bad for him or something, and then he added he was hung over too... he first put on the new headers b4 he lifted the car and THEN found out i needed a new cat and back went the stockers before i even talked to him. I probly would have told him to wait and get a new cat like u said. So i guess thats what im paying him for, changing parts back and forth for no reason. Now i gotta run the stock manifolds untill i can get enough cash to get them in which im guessing is NOT good with the added heat from the new heads, cam. Is it allright to run the stock manifolds for a couple weeks during the break in period?

 

You should be fine, your just going to be down alot of power. It's a situation almost exactly like this that was the impetus for me learning to do all of my own work. Do yourself a favor and get some shop manuals and a nice set of tools. With a little confidence and alot of research you'll be surprised at what you can accomplish in a driveway with a jack and jackstands, not to mention all the money you will save on labor! Seriously, if a professional mechanic is challenged by a simple header install he should look into bussing tables at the local IHOP. Oh, and tell that idiot to refund the money for the hours he spent taking off the headers and reinstalling the manifolds or put them back on for free. It's not your fault he didn't wait to find out what you wanted to do. Can you tell I don't like mechanics?

 

That's a Lamo excuse for being lazy... and RK Sporto's are good quality... most of thier stuff is excellent quality. Have your Mechanic install the headers and take care of the rest of the issue later when you have more cash... it will probably cost you 70 bucks to get it welded right.

 

It definitely sounds like he is avoiding it and by calling the headers "flimsy", he is just trying to make you feel better about not having them installed in the first place. RK Sport is a good brand and are respected in many other make/model communities other than f-bodies. Also, you will want to get those headers installed soon because it is kind of pointless to have free flowing heads and cam held back by a restrictive stock exhaust.

 

You have to be smarter than the headers to install them! I have them, put them on myself, and it wasnt that tough. RK Sport does not have the offroad pipe anymore, or so they told me, so I took the flange that they supply with the headers and welded it to a piece of 3" pipe stock on one end and cut the pipe down to the correct length and clamped it to my catback. I bought the pipe at Autozone and if you figure it all out, I am sure you can take the pipe and flange to any exhaust shop and have them weld it and then finish it off yourself. As for the headers, they are a real b to put the plugs in on the pass side, the other side is really close to a plastic shield on the main underhood harness, and good luck with the dipstick. It took me an entire day to install them, but all said and done, it made a good improvement and I am happy with them.

 

Sometime spark plugs will not fit with headers and AFR's

 

Well today we were just about ready to send the headers back calling them a manufacturers defect. The drivers side collector was going right into the oil pan and the headers were right up against the steering. So finally we found out that the removable piece goes around the other side of the steering. and after doing that it clears the oil pan better. So as of right now it looks like there is nothing wrong with the headers and they will fit. May just be a little off but he said he can work with that. Amazing what u can accomplish if u actually TRY.

I'm just praying I dont have a spun bearing after this, im worried because the engines been sitting there uncovered for a couple weeks and looks kind of dirty. like the heads and stuff. Plus with the heads off he left it uncovered for a couple days.

 

This guy is just sad.

Get the hell away from this bozo and start learning how to do this stuff yourself. Imagine the tool set you could've had with what you're paying him! Plus all the FREE consultation you'd get from this site just about any time of the day or night.

If I can go from figuring out how to install a cold air, cat back, changing plugs, etc, to swapping torque converters, cams, short blocks.. Anyone can.

 

Wow... I'd be taking pictures of all of this...sounds like this guy isn't fit to work on a hotwheels car... let alone a real one.

 

He put the stocks back on B4 talking to you----Are you sure he even tried the swap or just told you he did? I'd be questioning whether he even removed the manifolds in the first place.

 

Learn to work on your car yourself. That is IF you want it done right.