pcgamer4life

Well it's a 94 z28, and I'm installing pacesetter longtubes. Passenger side went it like a charm, just pulled valve covers, alternator and starter, and it went right in.

Driver's side, however, is presenting more of a problem. I've searched and searched, and found loads of people that say to do it from the bottom.... but I'm wondering if it can be done with ease from the top.

The steering knuckle is disconnected, valve cover is off, and two rocker arms/pushrods are off (cylinder 7). The header is down in the hole where it needs to be, but the last bit of the flange is stuck on the inner lip of the head, and we can't get the collector to swing towards the driver's side enough to get it out of the head or line up to the head. Honestly, I'm at a loss... doing it from the bottom is pretty rough, since I'm on a poorly poured asphalt driveway with a tiny jack, no level surface, and no comfort... not to mention it's rainy. Please help!

Pontiac_97

i got mine in from the bottom. it literally slid right into place.

6SpdLT1Z

I'd always do a header install from the bottom.

Green96Z

Do it from the bottom. It might be hard where you are, but it seriously takes seconds. I didn't have to remove the oil filter, and I'm pretty sure I could've done it even with the steering linkage in there (although I removed it).

SS RRR

And it takes milliseconds to end up with a crushed skull.

Green96Z

The price of horsepower? j/k

LJM97Z

The drivers side is the easiest, it should fall right into place "from the bottom", sounds like you don't have the car high enough, you really need to lift the car right & rest it high on jack stands, you didn't have to take the VCs off, they don't pose a problem, but you will need to be VERY careful not to damage the Temp sender unit, most will take it out, but i slid the header right past it & walla, i even installed these headers with no help, just me, fairly simple i'de say, just time consumeing.

JP95ZM6

You are this far into it from the top, would disconnecting the DS engine mount and jacking the engine up a bit to roll it help?

Pontiac_97

could possibly help. i dont know. seems like a lot of work for the easier side of the two. do it from the bottom. find a way to get your car safely high in the air. bottom of the front tire needs to be about 8-10in off the ground

2000GTP

Unless you undo the motor mount, it will be near impossible to get it in from the top. It goes in pretty easy from the bottom, but as you noticed, the car has to be pretty high up in the air.

pcgamer4life

It's not safe to get my car that high in the air where I'm at. As for jacking up the motor, what's the best way to go about it? I've read that without undoing the motor mount could give you the clearance that you need. And where should I place the jack? Pulling the through bolt out isn't going to be a big deal, I suppose, I'd just rather not have to do it if it can be avoided.

As for driver's side being easiest... psh. I pulled the valve cover on the passenger side and it literally fell right into place. Five minutes tops. Another question, the air pipe that ran to each stock manifold... what's the best way to get that out? It wraps up under the timing cover it seems and is wedge beneath the engine and kmember... can't get a sawzall down there to cut it... don't have a good pair of tin snips. Hacksaw? Is there a bolt holding it on?

LJM97Z

Are you going to be eliminateing the Air pipes, if not, you don't need to take it all out, just the fittings on the manifolds, disconnect the hoses & slide them off, don't get me wrong (not at all trying to be a smartazz) but i don't understand what the hassle is with these PS LT installs that i keep hearing, the "header install" itself is a breeze, most of the other stuff is a PITA , you don't need to loosen or lift the engine at all on these cars with the Pacesetters, you just need to find a way to safely lift that car up, you really should have prepared yourself for this & found steady flat ground before starting the project, i'm new to these F bodies, the biggest PITA that i found with the whole install was that stupid ORY pipe, that sucker was a challange along with getting the stock manifolds off, other then that, it all went fairly easy.

Bottom line, if you need to re-position the car so you can jack it up on all 4 stands, this will make the job a whole lot easier.

I set my rear stands on the rearend houseing, the front ones i placed right where the body bolts are on the frame just behind the lower control arms, then just keep jacking the car up F&R 2-3 notches at a time on the jacks untill its up there, then you'll find that the drivers side headers will FALL right in place, hell you don't even need to take the oil filter off like some claim, just be careful with the temp sender that you don't break it. here is a few pix so you can see how high it should be.

billymz28

i went in from top on mine just removed the steering knuckle and pried over on the motor a hair and they just droped in. no problems

pcgamer4life

Yeah, I deleted air and egr and everything, so I want to get that pipe out of the way, it's oogly. I'll try prying the motor over. If I have to jack it up though, where's the best place to do it?

The $6 Man

I installed mine a few weeks ago through the top. I didn't have to undo the steering linkage, I opted to take out the motor mount bolt and jack the engine. Really wasn't that bad.