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FLP LONGTUBE HEADER INSTALL
Y-Pipe removal
1.) There are 2 bolts on the flange that keep that baby in there and connected to the I-pipe. Remove these. If you have an aftermarket exhaust (I have Borla’s), remove the S-pipe bend that is there. You will no longer need this piece.
2.) Now go to the Manifold/Y-pipe connections and get the bolts out. I broke all of them on the passenger side but you will not need these so no biggie. Be careful with the O2 sensors if you plan on using them again. You will also need an extender for the passenger side which I am currently trying to find.
3.) You can discard the cat and Y-pipe b/c they are not used after this. Removing the cat or messing with it is illegal so I am covering my ass here by saying these are just instructions for if someone wants to do this. I am not recommending it just instructing.
4.) Now that the Y-pipe is out, you can see some of the plugs. Remove whatever ones you can get at. I suggest that you do your plugs now if you plan on changing them and also your wires as I did.
5.) I decided to remove the alternator because I was doing the plugs and overall it is easier. I first disconnected the battery to make sure I didn’t get shocked. Release the pulley belt first and then move onto the bolts. After you get the bolts out, don’t forget to disconnect the wires to it. I believe the bolts are 12mm.
6.) Now you will need to disconnect the AIR tubes that connect to the manifolds. These are easily done with a cresent wrench. I removed the whole connection on the passenger side and took it out of the car so I would have more room. I also tested each to make sure they fit into the threads on the headers. I had heard some people having problems with this but I did not.
7.) Remove all the bolts on this side. You can get to them pretty easy from the top and they are not a problem. After the last bolt was taken out, the thing just fell to the ground. Thank God I wasn’t under there so be careful.
8.) Move to the passenger side manifold. First remove the starter. Pretty simple but you will need a long extension for the bolts. This will free up a lot of space you will need.
9.) Now remove the bolt to the EGR tube. Shouldn’t be too hard but of course this was a glitch for me and the bolt was rounded and I had my uncle who helped me, torch it off. I suggest a Dremel tool but we didn’t have one. After removed pull out the tube and it will sit there.
10.) Now remove the first bolt on the manifold closest to the front of the car. This has a spacer on it and is used with the alternator. You will need this later.
11.) Finish removing the rest of the bolts. Most from the bottom. PITA. I was able to take it out of the top though.
12.) On the passenger side, remove the dipstick tube. First you will need to get the bolt out that holds the bracket to the block. Then pull it out. It is a stubborn bastard and is easier with someone on top pulling and another person under it pushing. Be forewarned: This is a bitch to get back in later and I suggest getting a new one. I had to fabricate it after the header install because the bracket was about 2 inches away from the hole. PITA
13.) Mine fell right off but if there is any off it left on the head you will need to scrape this off.
14.) Now that you have all the plugs removed, you will now put some in. On the passenger side, I put in the #2 plug for sure. Then I thought I wouldn’t have a problem with the rest so waited until the header was loosely bolted up but I think I could have kept the #6 and #7 in and still got the header in there. #4 needs to stay out though. Keep in as many as you can. Make sure you put anti-seize on them. This way they won’t be as hard to get out the next time.
15.) On the driver’s side, I put in the #1 and #3 plugs in. Have fun with #5. LOL. I think it took me 15 min. just to get it tight. Putting the boot on it was even more of a challenge.
16.) If you are putting new wires on, now is the time to do it. This is the most open it will be so get in there and rip up your hands. Driver side is really simple and I had no problems.
17.) Passenger side on the other hand is a bitch and a half. I suggest removing the pulley adjuster under the car. There are two bolts that hold it in and they are easy to get off and back on. Remove all the old wires. PITA. Then get your new wires in there. I did one wire at a time to make sure I had them in the right spots and let the new ones hang down in the front until I had out all the old ones. If you have 8mm or bigger the wire looms on the car will not suffice too well but get them through there and make sure they have no chance of hitting the pulleys. I used a lot of those locking plastic things. Damnit I can’t think of the name of them. They are plastic and the end locks into the front part and you can tighten them. LOL. These come in very handy for keeping you wires where you want and away from the hot headers later.
18.) I put the header in from the bottom and it took some careful maneuvering. I didn’t have a problem at all with the steering although it looks like you would and some people have apparently.
19.) Line up the header with the heads. With someone on the bottom we had it in there pretty easy. I used the supplied gaskets and header bolts although some use other aftermarket. Use anti-seize on the header bolts also. They will go in nicely and loosely bolt the header on. Leave these bolts on there loose so you can tighten your plugs and get your boots on. I tightened it and then did the boots and last plugs and I regretted it.
20.) Now that you have the plugs and everything in order, tighten all the header bolts.
21.) If you removed the little coolant sensor on the head, replace that now.
22.) The AIR tube took a little fabricating to get it to fit because it was a little off. We heated it up and bent it to where we needed. Anti-seize this too.
23.) This header also goes in from the bottom.
24.) Get the EGR tube put in there first and it will keep the header up. This is a PITA and I just ended up putting the bolt in the opposite way and then using a nut on the other end to keep it attached instead of the orginal way.
25.) Line the header up and the gasket and loosely tighten the bolts. Now do all the plugs and wires so you can move it around. The wires on this side are a bitch.
26.) Now just tighten all the header bolts and then reconnect the AIR tube. This wasn’t too bad.
27.) Reinstall the dipstick tube. I used the original and this was the king of PITA for this project. I would have bought a new one if it wasn’t late at night. We had to bend it many times before the bolt lined up and then putting it into the block was hard too.
28.) This is easy. You need to reconnect the driver side and the passenger side needs an extender. Use anti-seize on these too.
Reinstall Everything from the beginning. The alternator, starter, etc.
This should cover the header install. The Y-pipe is going on tomorrow but that is pretty straight forward.
Y-Pipe Install
1.) This turned out to be a PITA too. Not too bad though. First we connected the off-road pipes to the headers using the V-flanges provided.
2.) Then we lined up the Y-pipe when it was put together so I could get a measurement of how long I needed to cut my existing exhaust pipe. This turned out to be 13" and I hack sawed right through the Borla S pipe. I might have only had a couple more inches before the bend in the pipe so I can see where it might cause some problems for some.
3.) After I had that off, I put the hacked piece of exhaust where it was before and left the clamp on loosely and proceeded to line up the Y-pipe that was put together out from underneath the car and connected it to the cat back system.
4.) Now this is where we had some trouble. The Y-pipe didn't line up exactly with the off-road pipes coming off of the headers. We adjusted it by pulling the pipes in and out and changing the angles a little. Eventually we got it where it was really close. We put the V clamp on the driver side first. We knew we were going to have to really work it to get it on because the T-bolts provided were just long enough to get through and get a nut on. And this was lining it up perfectly before hand. Now we had a little adjusting to do and we had to clamp the clamp just to get the nut started. It would be nice if FLP provided us with longer bolts that we can just tighten.
5.) The driver side was equally as hard if not harder. We had to do the same thing as the passenger side until we got the clamp on and then had the same problem with the T-bolt. PITA.
Well now that everything is on, time to take it for a test drive. Luckily it was a nice day out for winter. We took it up and down the highway and it is amazing. This is the first mod that I can actually feel the difference. The rpms just jump along with the exhaust tone that goes from nonexistent to violent with the slightest tough of the gas. I took it home and no problems at all until I had to back up the driveway to pull in. The Y-pipe is hitting the floorboard. I knew this was going to happen and heard the stories but thought I had overcome the noise. This is a painful sounding noise and I have to find some of that tubing to keep it from vibrating against my floorboard. It is only when I back up though. No problems under hard throttle in Drive.
1.) Anti-seize every bolt!! It will pay off later.
2.) Have someone help you. I could not have done this by myself. Thanks go out to my Uncle George.
3.) Put the Heat shields on the boots of plugs #5 and #6. Make sure the wires are away from the headers!!
4.) The project was an overall chore but well worth it. I love the sound and the feeling of doing it myself.
5.) This is a general install on the notes I have taken. Use these instructions at your own risk. I may have forgotten some things and you may come across them while doing the install but to each his own. Every car is different and you will have your own situations etc. Take your time and have patience because it is really needed during this install. ENJOY!!!