6-10 hours, eh?

Try 22 HOURS, AND STILL WORKING. About seven people have come and gone to help us out the last 4 days.
We don't even have the stock manifolds off yet... One bolt left on the driver's side (impossible) and 3 or 4 left on the passenger side (which will definately be more IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO, thanks to our "spacious" engine bays).

30 Hours has to be some kind of record, and at this rate we'll definately break it.

You guys that have already done this mod in the "6-10 hours install time"... What the hell is your secret? My car can't be taking up the garage another day cuz I'm not exactly on good terms with my parents that own the garage the 350 is currently stripped apart in.

Oh well. If you don't have any ideas, suggestions, or opinions, at least wish us luck.

Bryan

 

nice to see someone else in cincinnati. cant offer much insight on the headers, but just wanted to say we should meet. what headers did you get, if you ever get them on i want to check them out. drop me a line sometime. evanjlandry@hotmail.com

 

Only suggestion is take everything thats in the way off and use alot of extensions with a universal joint to get to all the bolts. If you try work around all the piping it will take a long time. Also when you put on the drivers side header you might not be able to get the wrench out on head bolt number one. If thats the case don't cut the bolt just grind the wrench to the appropriate thickness needed to pull the wrench back out. Good luck!

 

Tech write up with tips and pics here .....good luck

http://www.350zforum.com/tech/tech.aspx

 

It is actually easier to drop the tranny, and lift the motor out the top...add the headers and drop it back in....16-18 hours.

 

Is it a problem of bolts not comming loose? The are not that hard to get to with the proper tools. I used deep sockets and the rachetting wrenches that you can pickup anywhere. Some of them are easier to reach from the bottom and some easier from the top. To get to them from the top you need to drain the coolant system and remove all the tubing or it is impossible. I was able to install the Crawford headers by myself in my garage with jack stands. It took me 10 or so hours.

 

my friend and i installed my xerd long tubes in 5 and a half hours. What you need are shorty wrenches. You can buy them at most places in metric sizes. They are usually about 4-5 inches long. Other than that, ratcheting wrenches are the way to go. see my post here for more help....https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=57540

 

seriously though, if you need more help just call me anytime day or night...if i dont answer leave a message.

 

We're bolting up Nismo Headers... We're at about 25 hours now, and calling it a day because we can't get the driver's side header up past the steering column, so we need to take that off too. Can't work on it again til Friday...
Also, there are a few nuts that we can't fit on the passenger side Nismo header because a few of the pipes get in the way. Any suggestions?

zvan - what do you have on your 350z? Ever heard of Individual Concepts (car club)? We definately should meet up sometime, and you can meet some people in the club.

Peace

 

cougar......don't know if you have read any of Tere's posts either here or over at ZChicz...........but she has done almost everything to her car that can be done including a pro charger. She has a nice write up on header installation which addresses problem nuts and the tools you need.......it has pictures as well. Here is the link..........hope it helps.

http://zchickz.com/header1.htm

By the way, I am originally from Cincinnati.......still have family there.....(Western Hills area)

 

Hehe. A lot of fast imports in Western Hills. I've been to quite a few cruise-ins in that direction.

Thanks for the link, Wedge.

Bryan

 

I'm pretty mechanically inclined, I try to do all my own work, however, this is definately I'll leave to someone else.

 

Why didnt you just bring it in here????
Wright Tuning / 350EVO.com

??????

Cheers
BJ@350EVO.com

 

boy, that sure helps!

 

Heh, because I'm an idiot and thought it could be done *in ten hours* with jack stands. Anything tougher than this from now on, and I'll definately give you guys a call

 

a full complete set of tools is a must to get things done quickly... that is the one and only secret really. we had the stock headers off in no time flat on my Z... probably about 40 min after getting the cats off... unless my memory fails me.

 

I'm not overly mechanically inclined though I'll do minor stuff like installing an intake, so when I picked up some BORLA headers, I knew that this was something I wouldn't want to try myself-- especially in the middle of January in Chicago.

I went to a local Merlin Muffler shop that had done some exhaust work for me on my '02 Maxima SE to have them shoot me an estimate.

They put the Z on the rack and the guy told me it'd be the better part of a day to do the job and quoted me $500 on the install.
It sounded high to me but now I'm glad I paid it after reading what a pain it is for people trying to do it on their own.

About 7 1/2 hours after dropping it off, I picked it up and it sounds awesome paired up to my NISMO catback exhaust. I figure 7 1/2 hours of my time is worth $500--- not to mention the aggravation I saved.

 

...... It took 34 hours (a bunch of blind monkeys on acid could've done it in half that time) ......... And 20 minutes before we finished at 4:30 AM last night, it started to drop 6" of snow on the ground. You spend 34 hours busting your *** to milk 20 or so hp out of your motor (installed test pipes too) and the only thing you want to do is drive it - exactly what I couldn't do. I had to make up a whole new list of cusswords to express my hatred for this week. This has not been my week (all this car trouble, failing exams left and right, girl problems, and not enough money for alcohol)... I can't wait til the road clears up so I can take my aggression out on some ricers

Seriously - I cannot understand how anyone could possibly do this in under 16 hours in their garage.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON GETTING HEADERS, TAKE MY WARNING!!! I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever (ever times eleventy-billion) had this much trouble with an install of any part. If you can get it done cheap (and $500 is a bit pricey when I say "cheap" - but if you've got the money to do it, you'll save yourself the stress and a carton of cigarettes or so, and about a dozen trips to Autozone. Hehe), then for the love of God, have a shop do it.
If I weren't so bent on getting my car show-worthy by Spring Break Tuner Bash, I would've tossed some money at a shop and had them do it.

 

How much of the 34 hours was getting the bolts off and on? Seems like the right tools would speed it up a lot.

 

Well, I know im going to be taking my car to performance nissan to get my headers installed...