Any tips for removing exhaust manifold studs?

[moooosestang]

Don't buy your gaskets from rockauto! They took the slow boat from west palm beach to gainesville, fl. i swear it took 5 days to get here via dhl/usps. when installing the drivers side, be sure to screw in the lower rear bolt almost all the way. i made the mistake of starting that one then going to the top center nuts, come back and i was smooshing that bbk bolt into the pipe! had to loosen the upper bolts to take the pressure off. Mistakes were made, but nothing broke. Still can't get my steering shaft back in. it really takes two people unless there's a trick i don't know about. Unless it's lined up perfectly it will not go in to the upper collar you push from inside the car. Car is ever so slightly louder on a cold start, very slight. has a deeper tone at idle, makes more of a thump, thump, almost sounds like a cam. I bet these make power on my supercharged car.

 

[3V Johnny]

Hope you are happy with them. Long-term that is one of my mods for the exact same reasons. I want the look under the hood of a much nicer looking manifold / header, and I have no need for the gains or the extra loudness as my exhaust with the GT500KR axle-backs and stock midpipe is exactly what I wanted.

It's always brought up whenever someone shows shorties lol.

 

[moooosestang]

Hope you are happy with them. Long-term that is one of my mods for the exact same reasons. I want the look under the hood of a much nicer looking manifold / header, and I have no need for the gains or the extra loudness as my exhaust with the GT500KR axle-backs and stock midpipe is exactly what I wanted.

It's always brought up whenever someone shows shorties lol.

They do look nice and i'm happy they don't cause louder cold starts, slightly louder maybe. since relocating the battery and removing all the ac pipes i can really see the iron manifolds. I don't have any need for the gains. I'm at the edge of traction in most gears with the whipple, a 3.25 inch pulley and 4.10 gears and that's with 305/35r19 drag radials. I bet they make some low to mid range power though. warm idle sounds like they flow better.

 

[moooosestang]

I always spray my exhaust gaskets with a little copper seal on both sides... old hotter trick!

I should have taken your advice. It sounds like i have a small exhaust leak on the drivers side, but only on a cold start for about 20 seconds. I'll make a new post with a video tomorrow. i'm still trying to pinpoint the leak. It could be at the collector. i ordered some copper seal, but i might order another set of steel gaskets and sandwich two together using that spray if it is indeed on the flange. The oem gaskets are paper thin. I've been reading about the flanges warping on all these shorty headers after a few miles, that sucks. I've all ready retorqued all the nuts 3 times and they were all still tight the 3rd time.

 

[JC SSP]

Retorque the header bolts starting from the inside working your way outward. See if that helps.

 

[moooosestang]

Retorque the header bolts starting from the inside working your way outward. See if that helps.

Now when you say retorque, do you mean loosen then tighten or just retighten them all? I retighten them twice now and feel like they aren't getting any tighter. It's really hard to tell how much torque i'm putting on them using a 13mm and 10mm wrench.

 

[JC SSP]

Retightening them… no specific torque valve. Sorry that’s a general term for tightening them again.

Get a regular rubber hose (e.g., 3/8 hose) and use it as a stethoscope to listen for a leak.

 

[moooosestang]

Retightening them… no specific torque valve. Sorry that’s a general term for tightening them again.

Get a regular rubber hose (e.g., 3/8 hose) and use it as a stethoscope to listen for a leak.

I tried this with a short piece of pvc pipe, but the noise subsides so fast. even when the tick had stopped i could still hear ticking when placing the pvc on the collector. i'm guessing i'm just hearing the ehaust valves opening and closing. I'll make a video this afternoon and try some flexible hose.

 

[gbstang]

The whole argument of long tube headers being too loud compared to shorties is ignorant at best.. I have Kooks long tube stainless headers on my Marauder, people see them and think its loud until I start it up and they are shocked at how quiet it is... It is supercharged (not that it matters) but the determining factor on how "loud" your car will be is a few things, mostly the material thickness of the tubing and the mufflers.. Get tuned exhaust, if you are just throwing $hit on there because its popular or you like the "Chrome" feel,,well get ready to be disappointed. Do your research...

When removing your exhaust studs or bolts, soak them and let that penetrant get in there. If you force them out you will gaul out the holes and have to use helicoils to fix them--sucks. If you have ever used a tap and dye, the same actions apply to a stuck stud or nut, loosen a little then tighten, loosen a little more and tighten until you have actually broken the corrosion adhesion inside the nut.

 

[moooosestang]

The whole argument of long tube headers being too loud compared to shorties is ignorant at best.. I have Kooks long tube stainless headers on my Marauder, people see them and think its loud until I start it up and they are shocked at how quiet it is... It is supercharged (not that it matters) but the determining factor on how "loud" your car will be is a few things, mostly the material thickness of the tubing and the mufflers.. Get tuned exhaust, if you are just throwing $hit on there because its popular or you like the "Chrome" feel,,well get ready to be disappointed. Do your research...

When removing your exhaust studs or bolts, soak them and let that penetrant get in there. If you force them out you will gaul out the holes and have to use helicoils to fix them--sucks. If you have ever used a tap and dye, the same actions apply to a stuck stud or nut, loosen a little then tighten, loosen a little more and tighten until you have actually broken the corrosion adhesion inside the nut.

All long tubes use aftermarket high flow cats. i've yet to hear any that weren't significantly louder than stock. Sure i could put my stock mufflers back on, but who wants to do that?

 

[gbstang]

All long tubes use aftermarket high flow cats. i've yet to hear any that weren't significantly louder than stock. Sure i could put my stock mufflers back on, but who wants to do that?

As I have said, Long tubes vs short tube headers, vs stock.. Read what I have said--again to understand "Why" it is that way..

 

[Forty61]

All long tubes use aftermarket high flow cats. i've yet to hear any that weren't significantly louder than stock. Sure i could put my stock mufflers back on, but who wants to do that?

I have LTs, no cats and stock mufflers. It is noticeably louder than stock, with the MAC mufflers I had before it was almost intolerable.

 

[JC SSP]

Yeah if I remember correctly, MAC are baffled mufflers like Flowmaster... very loud.

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

All long tubes use aftermarket high flow cats. i've yet to hear any that weren't significantly louder than stock. Sure i could put my stock mufflers back on, but who wants to do that?

The header primary length makes little to no difference to the loudness of the exhaust. That mainly depends on the choice of cats and mufflers. Since LT headers are accompanied by either a high-flow catted midpipe or an off-road midpipe, they'll inevitably be louder even with stock mufflers.
Shorty headers need not be louder than stock because you have the option of reusing the stock cats as well as the stock mufflers behind them.

 

[gbstang]

Like I said, it all comes down to the material used, pipe thickness in the exhaust (not the headers) Dia. and the mufflers.. Those two things determine the loudness...