header install

ok first of all, taking off the old manifold is the least of your worries. The first thing you should do is go to sears and buy a good set of ratcheting box wrenches (trust me you'll be glad you had them). A good set of your basic standard sizes is like 30 bucks. If you're doing the whole exaust start from the back and work your way up to the manifold. if anything's rusted just cut it off. Save the rubber exhaust holds, sometimes you don't get new ones with your purchased exhaust. once you get down to the manifold, loosen all the bolts up and slide the headers up and out......not down through the bottomo of the car....you'll get them stuck and invent a whole new vocabulary! once you have them out stuff some rags in the exhaust ports. Get a good gasket scraper with a rubber handle and lots of extra blades. Make sure you do a good job getting the old gasket off! NOW WHATEVER GASKETS CAME WITH THE HEADERS.....THROW THEM AWAY!!!!!! Go to your local auto parts store and buy metal resealable header gaskets, there's nothing better. Ok, now get your gaskets and your headers in close to the heads, get 2 of your new bolts and put them into the 2nd to last hole of each outside header bolt hole. Screw them in hand tight and put the rest in hand tight. Follow up with repeated tightening.....you'll want to check them again after running the car for a couple hours and again after about 2 weeks. Now that you have your headers on the rest is up to you. If you have any more questions about exhaust instant message me or pm me. I've spent too much time working on exhaust, so nobody else should have to feel the pain. Good luck

i think the driver side one is easier to do from the bottom. Headers were the biggest pain in my ass ever. Oh, go get some PB Blaster and go ape on the bolts that connect the h pipe to the headers. Soak them about 3 days in advance. Soak the bolts about twice a day until you are ready for the switch. Youll thank me later on that. Oh, get a sawzall for the tailpipes. The only good thing i got out of using a hacksaw was my nice deltoids .

I had to jack my motor up to install my shorties. you may have to do the same so have a jack available with a block of wood to place on the jack. you don't want to dent you oil pan the block will help distribute the weight. if your lucky you won't have to do this. good luck and watch those nuckles keep some band aids around they're useful as well.

I think the best thing you can do is get someone to help you. I dont know how I would have ever gotten my old headers out if my brother wasn't there to help me. I think that the bolts that are the worst to get off are the drivers side one that is closest to the front of the car.(dont plan on being able to easily get a ratchet in there) And the passenger side header, the bolt closest to the firewall was a little tricky. But like 95stocker said, if you have the right tools in advance, it shouldnt be too bad.
BTW, what kind of exhaust are you going to be putting in?

What kind of exhaust are you doing, this will make a big difference. Unequal length shorties are manageable, but equal length or longtubes will be a huge PIA. What everyone else has said is right on, and if you post exactly what you are installing you will probably get a lot more specific advice.

The BBK unequal lengths are probably the easiest header option you have. Before you do anything though, disconnect the battery and remove both O2 sensors. The drivers side 02 gets in the way anyhow. Like posted above, the drivers side will be the worst, nothing you can do about it, you'll just make up some new words while you're doing it. Take off all exhaust from tailpipes and work foreward. Once you remove the old manifold, make sure you get the surface clean with a gasket scraper and some solvent to dissolve any gasket you can't get off right away. Now slide the new ones in and start bolting them up. Once you're confident you have the headers snugged up equally crawl under the car and put some anti-seize compound on the collector flange bolts (will make life much easier if you ever have to take it all apart again). Now let the midpipe hang from the rubber mounts (DO NOT CLAMP DOWN ANYTHING YET). Mate each collector with each side of the midpipe loosely, then slowly snug each side at an equal rate. Only tighten the collector flange bolts about half way. Now Start mating up your catback with your midpipe (once again, don't clamp anything down). Get everything loosely fitted from the midpipe to the tailpipes. Make sure the tailpipes are where you want them. Now start snugging everything up starting with the flange mating the back of the midpipe and the front of the catback. Once that is snug, finish up tightening the collector flange bolts. Now you can clamp down all the remaining flanges and clamps and you should have a pretty well sealed exhaust(no need for welding if you do this right the first time). After you've run the car for a week or so, get back under the hood and make sure all the header bolts are still tight. Do this to all other fittings as well if you have the time. Saves the time and frustration of trying to find replacement bolts and nuts for things that fell of cause you didn't tighten it up enough the first time. I know you're asking about getting the old manifold off, but that's the least of your worries. Hope that helps!