I Bough The Headers, Now I'm Putting The Things On.

Just to let you all know, I started the thread about finally buying my bassani mids. I will soon post some pictures of my progress.

I have removed everything in the way including the stock manifolds, oem exhaust studs, starter, and steering shaft. Some of the exhaust studs came out with the nuts, some did not. I used pb blaster, a torch, and a dead blow hammer to separate the front section of a bassani stainless modular x pipe that has been contently existing without antiseize for the last 6 years.

The tubular k member is a definite advantage. It has become an undeniable fact that I would not do project this without having the tubular k member. It is the advantage that will get me under the car to complete this project. After about 6 hours of work under a car that is not nearly jacked up high enough to help my cause. I have the front 2 tubes on the passenger side laid into place and loosely bolted in.

My arms, wrists, hands, neck, abs and back are killing me. This PITA makes death seem not so scary. However, I have gone too far to turn back now.

I will post some pics when I get a chance. I now know what everyone was talking about when they spoke of "at home" header installs.

I won't swear to it but this will likely be the only modular set of headers I ever install. Anyhow here's some progress pics. Got the right side on. Hope its the harder of the two sides. Going to get some new front O2 sensors while I'm in there. I am a little concerned about contact in a couple of areas but we will see how it goes.

I like a challenge and this really is a challenge. It is my second header install ever and my first on a modular. Putting long tubes on my buddies fox was much easier.

Plus the temperatures have plummeted in the past week. I started at temps in the 50s but have been low 30s to low 40s lately. That combined with the lack of a lift or taller jack stands kind of grinds my gears.

I will persevere. Got the driver's side primaries on loosely. Going to bang on the collector, plug in the O2s and put the starter back in tomorrow. I only get an hour or so in the mornings to work on it. After that, put my midpipe back in and give her a test fire. If, I like how everything sounds, I will put the stage 8 cam locks on the exhaust bolts and call her done.

I have the stabilizer bar but I got the left side on today. Just have to tighten down the primary's exhaust bolts. The lower bolt of the second primary on the driver's side is right in the armpit of the primary. I took off the oil filter, no dice. Took of the motor mount bolt that was in the way of the wrench, also no luck. Tomorrow, the motor mount comes out. Once it gets torqued its gets the cam lock is going on. The rest of the bolts, I will wait til I fire the motor and check for leaks but that one gets it right away.

Well, here is an update of my progress. I put everything back together on the motor. The primaries are torqued down.

Now I am wrestling with the mid pipe. I had it installed to the collectors but when I went back to hook up the tail pipes, the mid pipe was too far back to meet the catback. I could not bend, force forward, or finesse the damn things together. Mid pipe is about and inch maybe and 1.5" too far back. The same freaking pipe worked fine before, only thing changed is the front pipes that connect the midpipe to the collector. Now I must figure out why this is.

I know it can be the headers and. The collectors slid on and I drove them the rest of the way with a board and a drilling hammer. I haven't changed anything about the stock catback. It has to be somewhere in the new connections between the cat delete pipes and the collectors.

Any advice?

Neutral news, good news and bad news.

Neutral news, I paid to get the mid pipe modified to fit correctly . Just couldn't deal anymore, too tired and impatient.

Good news, there is no contact issues with headers .

Bad news, there are one or two leaks on the passenger side where the primaries bolt to the head . Don't know if it is the gasket or loose bolts but I did torque all the bolts the day before I fired it up. I have not heard good things about Bassani's supplied gaskets.

The job continues but the car is drive-able once again, just ticks like crazy.

Another update. After numerous times torquing and checking for leaks, I have so far been unable to correct the right front primary's leak. A little digging today yielded a new discovery. There is a contact issue with the UPR k-member. The mounting plate for the passenger side motor mount is not allowing the front primary to line up correctly.

I removed the individual primary from the collector and used a dremel and file to take some of the material out of the mounting plate. I shot the bare metal with Rustoleum and am now waiting for it to dry. Hopefully, once its back together everything will line up. Fingers crossed.

Forgot to update this for a while. The headers are on and leak free. I learned a few lessons with this job.

1) You can do this job without dropping the K member if you have a tubular K member.
2) Despite what a few internet sources have said, Bassani Mid Lengths will work with a UPR tubular K member. However, I did have to clearance the top of the motor mounting plate on the passenger side.
3) The engine must be level inside the K member. The best way to eye this out is to look at the positioning of the motor mount studs inside the slots of the K member plate. If one side is bottomed out in the slot, loosen both motor mount studs, jack the motor up on whichever side, until the studs are equally spaced in the slots and tighten them back down.
4) I used the Bassani supplied gaskets but damaged the front right primaries gasket while trying to get it installed correctly. My solution was to cut a single port gasket my original oem gasket and re-use it. (Never throw anything away until the project is complete.)
5) You can't remove a primary tube and reinstall it without loosening the mid pipe. The collector shifts forward and won't move back when you try to reinstall. The result is the bolt holes will not line up and you are fighting the entire exhaust system to try moving it back into place. I was incredibly tired while learning this lesson. It should have been more obvious.
6) This install was frustrating but now it is done and I 'm pretty happy with the results. Despite what I have posted prior, I think I could do this job again with more ease next time.

I recommend the Bassani Mids to anyone that wants headers but doesn't want or can't use long tubes. They mellowed out the sound nicely and haven't given me any clearance issues yet. The blower even runs quieter.
Next up, a smaller pulley and dyno tune. Let you all know how the numbers turn out.