Hooker Comp Headers install advice

[Icelander]

So... short of pulling the engine, has anyone else here actually installed a pair on their A-body?

I had to pull the driver's fender (inner and outer) to get the brakes re-plumbed and took the opportunity to install the driver's side. Now I'm trying to get the passenger side on.

Did you have to fabricate a wrench to get to the #4 bolt? (It's the one with the keyhole slot.) I put the bolt in a couple of turns and then slid the header on. Got the rest of the bolts started, then went back to tighten #4 and found that it had become one with the pipe and would not move. I had to pull all the other bolts out, slide the header back up the keyway a little and start tightening. now I've got all the other bolts back in and started by a couple of threads. the #4 bolt is only accessible from underneath and I have to reach up between the engine and the header. I gave up after bouncing the 3/8 wrench off my face six or seven times. The Kama-Sutra has nothing on the positions I've had to work myself into just to get a wrench on that bolt. :-X

Please tell me that I don't need to pull the passenger fender as well...

[Icelander]

ooo! I made Chief! :D :D :D

[REED_RACING]

Kendall, Here's what needs to happen. You can't tighten all of *the bolts tight. You need to work each bolt a couple turns, so they are all being tightened evenly at the same time. I think whats happen is you tightened the bolts enough till where the #4 bolt is against the tube. Yes that one blot is a pain, but I have managed to get it tight under neath. Make sure the oil filter is off, to have more room to work with. Have fun with this one! ;D

[Icelander]

Actually, I've got #1 and #6 in a couple of threads to keep everything aligned. I have been able to tighten the #4 bolt a little, but I've got Popeye forarms so getting the wrench on the bolt is a matter of stretching myfingers and removing skin from my arm enough to get any room to move the wrench. (hence the reception of the wrench with my face six or seven times.) I'm trying to bribe my skinny-butt 16 year-old nephew to come over and help. :D

[Pontiacshack]

Hey there LUCKY, what I had to do is pull the oil filter housing off the block. I then crawled under the car and got in a very uncomfortable position with which I was able to slowly turn the bolt in. Another secret was to shorten the bolt with a hack saw, so it didn't need as many turns to bottom. It's not fun no matter how you do it, so good luck. ;)

[G6T8O]

Man... That sounds toooo much like WORK!! >:(
My stock system just keeps sounding better all the time .. :)

Bill P. 8)

[Icelander]

The right tool... Well, close enough... found it at an estate sale for a mechanic in Carnation. $.50 but it did the job without my having to cooerce my nephew under the car.

THE HEADERS ARE IN!!!!!!!! I even got the oil filter mount re-installed. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Kevin-D]

con grads Kendall.. Now I know who to call when I replace mine! ;D

[Brandon]

Way to go Kendall!!! ;D I'll be doing the same thing in a few weeks. Did you have to make any "adjustments" to the headers to make them fit? What size wrench is that? 9/16?

[Icelander]

Thanks! I was very lucky in that I bought mine used from Pontiac_Shack. They were already dented in to clear the upper a-arms. I did have to move the brake distribution block, replace and bend new hardlines and cut about .25 inch off one of the A-arm adjustment bolts. I highly recommend doing this before you install them as it's *much* easier.

Are you sold on the Hooker Competition headers? I think if I had purchased them new I'd have gone with the HO manifolds instead. No dimpling and not having to remove all the accessories hanging off the lower engine would have been a big selling point for me.

Anybody else have some feedback?

Oh! also... Buy them without any coating, do the trial fitting and then have them coated.

Drop me a note if you need more advice. If I can't help I'm sure others on this forum can! ;D

[Icelander]

I used ARP Stainless 3/8 headded bolts. Anything larger is suicide.

Thanks to Blake for pointing me in that direction.
Honest Performance in Renton.

[Brandon]

I used ARP Stainless 3/8 headded bolts. Anything larger is suicide.

Thanks to Blake for pointing me in that direction.
Honest Performance in Renton.

Thanks for the tips Kendall!! I just checked and I have a 3/8" wrench exactly like yours. It's part of the open end ignition wrench set I got from Sears.

[WideTrac]

Maybe this advice will be of use to some of you that already have or are installing Headers. This advice is mainly covering the mounting the header to head issues. I have found using the Mr. Gasket Race <Black> header gaskets to out last the cheaper white plain Jane’s, they just don’t seem to burn threw as fast and still seem to keep things sealed if one of the bolts backs off from the head. As for the bolts and getting them as tight as you can, I suggest using an 11mm 6 point modified box end wrench even though the head size of the bolt is 7/16, the 11mm fits a hell of a lot tighter and wont slip around the head of the bolt when using the open end of the wrench. Another thing you may want to try would be installing studs on the heads and then getting some self-locking nuts. I call them bent nuts or you can try Teflon locking nuts, but that would mean longer studs. The key to keeping headers from leaking is getting the bolts as tight as possible as we all know, but getting a good gasket like I mentioned earlier will help 10 fold.. Good luck I hope some of my advice will help ;)

[Icelander]

Thanks Wide-Track for the advice... I'll try and snug down the bolts again before I crank it up and then again after about 100 miles.

[Doug70455conv]

I've got Super Comps on my '70, glad to see you figured out the nuances of installing them...I had my engine in and out about 4 times when I was down in FL, so I got really good at putting them on. Buy the steel core header gaskets, then coat both sides with the bronze RTV....it never quite sets up, and it seals them really well. No leaks so far on mine, and those gaskets have almost two years of service on them.

[goatweed]

Another way bolt to use is the Stage 8 bolts, which have a special washer that will not let the header bolts loosen :D
I have used them and they work good 8)

Summit sells them

[H.O.Goat]

Any thoughts on using 6 point bolts or 12 point on the headers, advantage or disadvantage! ???

[Icelander]

I don't have any experience with them, but I would think that they would be a little easier to get a wrench on, but that you may run into problems with rounding them off when you go to tighten them. I was thinking that it might have been a little easier if I had gone with a hex-key style bolt instead but am unfamiliar with what type of hex wrenches would fit into that very small space. I would have ended up with many of the same problems.

I think Stef may have hit on the best solution, shorten the length of the bolt so that you are not fatiguing yourself running so much bolt into the head. Seems funny to say that, but once you're under the car with your arm twisted into an unnatural position and you're only getting an eighth of a turn each time, a 1.5 inch bolt seems like an eternity.

Kendall