BBK LT header install

zenboy99

Founding Member
May 12, 2002
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Madison, WI
This weekend I'll be putting on BBK long tube headers, a Pypes X pipe, and a Magnaflow exhaust. I have a set of stage 8 locking header bolts, Fel-pro gaskets and O2 sensor wire extenders.

I've heard some people have to jack up the engine and others don't. How does each header go in, driver side/passenger side, through the top or bottom? Any tips for the install would be appreciated.
 
they didn't come with instructions??

for me i had to put both headers in from the top and i had to undo the motor mounts for both sides. I also had to take off the starter and undo the steering shaft. the instructions say to put the drivers side from underneath but i couldn't get the car high enough to angle it in there. I ended up taking the upper intake off and taking off the valve cover and bending the A/C line out of the way to get the drivers side in from the top. if you have a tubular k member you should have alot more room though.

good luck!
 
mootang said:
they didn't come with instructions??

for me i had to put both headers in from the top and i had to undo the motor mounts for both sides. I also had to take off the starter and undo the steering shaft. the instructions say to put the drivers side from underneath but i couldn't get the car high enough to angle it in there. I ended up taking the upper intake off and taking off the valve cover and bending the A/C line out of the way to get the drivers side in from the top. if you have a tubular k member you should have alot more room though.

good luck!

Holy chit you did all that for LT install? You got screwed!

I just did mine last weekend. The driver side is easy undo the steering arm swing it out of the way shove the manifold in bolt the steering arm back in THEN bolt up the manifold.

The passenger side is a bit harder drop it in from the top. I used a tow strap to pull on the intake which tweaked the engine enough to clear the valve cover to let me drop the manifold in.

Good luck be patient. Took me about a month to get my LT install done lol. See my site for the details. I can put them in/out quick now thou about a hour to do both sides since I've taken them in and out about 4 times total!(headache ugg)
 
It actually wasn't that bad. I've taken my upper intake and valvecovers off more times than i can count. it only took me 5 minutes to take both off.

on the other hand i'm probably a dumbass and was just doing it wrong but i just couldn't get them to go in from the bottom.
 
I unhooked the steering shaft, removed the starter, removed the intake tube & smog pipes, and jacked the engine up a couple of inches. Driver side header went in from the bottom (A/C line prevented going from the top, but going from below was easier anyway). Passenger side header went in from the top.

I spent about 15 minutes doing the driver side header -- 14 minutes of which was putting in the bolts and locking them.

The passenger side header took a few hours to coax in (would've be easier with another pair of eyes and hands to help guide from below). Bolting the starter back in takes a little patience, you have a lot less clearance with the longtubes.

I bent the bracket for the oil dipstick tube rather than bending the tube itself, and it bolts up without hitting any of the primaries. I had to get a little creative with the AIR pipe on the passenger side, because bolting it up to the stock location caused the rubber hose to rest against a primary. And one of my passenger side primaries touches the A/C line bracket (hasn't damaged anything, though, knock on wood).

Have fun.

Dave
 
I didnt unhook the steering or the starter. I didnt have a upper intake on at the time, nor were the front accessories(in the middle of a rebuild) but i did have the heads on. I just unhooked the motor mounts. and jacked the engine up and they slid right in on both sides.

One thing i did figure out is to leave one motor mount loose, but still connected, so that u can jack the engine up and it will raise, but when that side runs out of "looseness" it will swing the motor and angle it that way, thus giving you more room to work with.

I hope that makes since. Kinda just using it has an anchor but you have to loosen it a little or else it wont raise very much.

Good luck.
 
when u are..

when u guys are jacking up the motor... were are u doing it from?? Are you using a cherry picker...

Keeping one of the motor mount bolts on but loose is a good idea.. I assume u are unbolting the bottom bolts and thats it?

I got my Driverside Longtube installed by unbolting the steering shaft.. and sliding the longtube up from the bottom..

Now if I can just get the other side done.. :D

Oh yeh and I've got MAC longtubes... they are the old style so they fit much better then the newer style.. :nice:
 
I had the same question, where do you jack up the motor?

I didn't get a chance to do this swap this last weekend since BBK didn't get my stuff to me on time.

I ditched my smog stuff so I don't have to worry about those pipes.