I have a pretty nasty sounding exhaust leak coming from the passenger side header. I was just wondering a couple of things:

-Am I doing any damage to the car by not fixing this? I wouldnt think that it would do anything since its just an exhaust leak....

-How hard would it be to replace the gasket myself? The passenger side of the engine bay is a bit nerve-wracking to work on. Is there a specific procedure that you guys do to make it easier? I have gaskets, just no confidence at the moment....

Thats really it, any info/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Oh, and for the record I did NOT put my headers on, so you telling me to just do what I did to get the headers on would not really be all that helpful... thanks.

 

I still have shorties, but I always have best luck with just an open end of a wrench and go like 1/4 turn at a time and go back, tighten. Once again, these are mac shorties though, so it is probably much different. Alomst all I have to grab w/ a wrench though, except front and back I can usually get with a socket. HTH

 

Just replaced mine on the passenger side last night. Its really not that bad, i had to remove the alternator and the valve cover where the Canton are a bit higher and wider. Maybe 1-1.5 hours to do the install but this is like the 3rd time ive did them so.....

 

Yeah, it looks hard, but it isn't too difficult. As mentioned, pop the alternator, remove the six header bolts and let the header hang. Slide out the old gasket and slide a new one in and reposition and reinstall the header bolts. Make sure they are snug and periodically check them as they do have a tendency to back out and cause leaks.

 

I had to go back over and retighten the bolts several times. The first time it was all the bolts some needed more than others. Then each times less needed tighten until it was 1 or 2 just a tiny bit. If you have copper gaskets just get in there and check them as it could be as simple as they are really loose. Since i assume you never went back and checked them they could be very loose in some spots.