Finally.

After staring at my Strup headers for about a month and getting them coated, I finally sucked it up and installed them with the help of my younger brother.

It took me a hour on Monday, basically removing everything: tower bar, intake, cats, and heat sheilds. Today we started around 11:00 am and finished up at about 9:00 PM including clean up and about 2 one hour breaks.

It sucked very badly, but it wasnt really hard, just a serious PITA.

We did not have to unbolt the stearing shaft, nor drain any fluids. I did however have a stud strip out the hole in the block on the drivers side in the very back. So I have 5 bolts holding on the one header but, no leaks as of yet. I plan on fixing it when my hands and fingers regain all feeling.

So, all you need is about every variation of 14 mm wrenches and socket extension you can find and your all set.

So save your money and be glad you dont have a V-8.

 

Srtup makes a great set of headers. Hope you are satisfied with them.

 

Oh you tease! I was hoping that there was going to be pics of the install process in this post.

But...great job on getting them installed! How do you like them?

-J

 

Ah bonding time with the younger brother Ain't that Great

Seriously though, my speed shop took 2 days to get my Crawford's on. Glad they did it and not me.

Lou

 

Welcome to the DIY header club

It took me 2 days for the install, obvoiusly I took a lot of brakes LOL and installed some HFCs /plus brackets while I was down there. I ended up following the Nismo instructions, so maybe I didn't need to do evrything they said, but the install did go really smooth.

It took a full day for my hands to recover...

Zquicksilver

 

Congratulations. Worthwhile performance addition.

 

Nice! Do you have a pre-header dyno? If so, will you be getting a post-header dyno+tune? I'm guessing since you have a UTEC, you'll be able to get some good #'s compared to those with no piggyback.

 

No, unfortunatly no pre anyhting dyno. It will be getting tunned on Monday though so we'll see how everything does.

 

Congrats...
-Subscribing for pics-

 

Cool, keep us informed. Curious how much you gain from these! Good luck w/ the tune.

 

AHH, cool. i always wondered how difficult it is to install headers on a Z. I had to pull the whole engine out of the bay on my Stang. Only to find out they sent the wrong ones so i said screw it!

Besides the wrenches and jackstands and jack, anything else needed for the install?

Does anyone know what kind of gains you can gain from JUST headers and maybe a catback??

 

I have to commend anyone who DIY headers. Congratulations, and now you just saved yourself $300-$400 for another mod!

 

I feel ya on your strup install. I went to my father in laws hot rod shop assuming that the easy access to poroper tools would help. HA. I was there fron 1300 - 2200. Its not hard, just tight quarters which makes certain bolts go in and out VERY slowly.

 

Ok, I got my Utec tunned yesterday and I'm pretty happy with the results.

It made 254.75 HP and 242 TQ.

Mods are pop charger, 5/16th spacer, Strup headers, UTR high flow cats, Nismo exhaust.

I mainly was concerned with the AF ratio since I track my car frequently so it was kept to a safe 12.2-12.5 range. So I'm sure a couple more HP could of been made if we would of leaned it out more, but it feels great and very smooth. I was defeinetly happy with the TQ numbers. Sorry about the lack of a scanner, if I go over to my parents house sometime I'll have to use theirs.

I do plan on getting a lightened crank pulley and MREV2 soon, so the numbers should go up.

 

Nice job with the install. I installed a set of Strup headers about 2 months ago with the help of a few good buddies. It took us a while, but the gains are definately there. If you do encouter problems with running lean like I did, you could install a Walbro fuel pump, as that has seemed to cure my problem (but I just read you have a utec). Post up the dyno sheet! Happy modding.

-Acree

 

I installed my Strup headers and test pipes in my garage with the help of a fellow Z owner, took us 13 hours straight.........lol. PITA, but worth it.

 

Congratulations. Photos always appreciated.

 

I am about to undergo this process in my basement. I'm going with Strup and APS tests, and custom true dual with HKS Hi-Power Ti cans. My Utec has yet to be tuned so i'll see what i get after a tune.

 

Welcome to the club. Anybody who does their own header install and finishes with at least 70% of their skin left on their hands can tackle just about anything on these cars.

It took my stepson and I a total 16 hours over two days in my carport to do the install, taking several breaks and also installing a Stillen engine damper, which added 3-4 hours to the total time.

 

Not to sound like an ***, but from what I've seen, no one who has done header install themselves has ever done a decent writeup.

I personally have no idea what kinds of things must be unbolted or moved out of the way to access all the bolts/studs. If anyone wants to elaborate, that would be great.

All I ever hear is "it took a long time" ... understandable, but not a very thorough explanation.

*edit* found this website, not bad
http://www.zchickz.com/header1.htm