Stuck Trying To Get Headers Off....

[EIPtuningR32]

i just absolutely CAN NOT get those damn exhaust manifolds off! its really bugging me. i have managed to get 6/8 bolts off of one header in 2 days. any ideas on making it easier??
P.S. when i say two days, i mean 2 days. not 4 hours for two days. like morning to night.

[Danglerb]

Maybe one of these to slightly raise the motor?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=96524

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

Maybe one of these to slightly raise the motor?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=96524

isnt it a PITA to disconnect everything to get the motor out?

[SolReaver]

Not take the motor out. Just "shift it" an inch or two up. If you can get it off the mounts you can also "shift it" just a bit over. Removing mounts is also a possibility. your call. And YES, it is a ROYAL PITA. Look at the engine pull threads. I think the EX mans are on most of the time. why are we taking of the ex mans again? If you are doing a head, can you take the head with the EX man still attached? (not sure, thinking motor comes out for heads)

[Danglerb]

He thinks he has an exhaust leak, which is unlikely, but I didn't want to pick on him.

The idea with the lifting beam is that chances are the motor mounts have collapsed so that nothing needs to be disconnected to safely lift the motor maybe an inch to give you needed wiggle room.

BTW if it was me I would be putting US 85/86 tubular headers back in instead of the factory cast iron. I'm sending out a pair of mine I think this week for nice Jet Hot coating and then swapping them into my Euro.

[vandenham]

On another thread I said that I had unbolted my headers from underneath (I had to undo them to get my clutch out). In order to do this, I had the car raised about a foot so I could crawl under the car - lying under the car, I could reach my arm up to get at the nuts holding the header. Mine are the tubular headers that fill up most of the space where you are reaching and I would have expected there would be more room with the stock headers.

Maybe it is harder to work in there with stock headers. Did you have the car up on blocks when you tried to remove the bolts? You definitely have to lay underneath the car to get you arm into that tight space. Raising the engine a few inches seems like a lot of work.

Rick V

[MPDano]

Yeah, I really couldn't comment on this as mine are stock. I also had my engine out when I did remove my exhaust manifold to replace the gaskets. Like most things with these engines, it's a whole lot easier to do things on them when the engine is out. With that said, I did make a statement when I pulled one of my cam towers with engine in and it was so difficult for me I would never do it again, but someone chimes in and said it was simple for them. Since my hands are somewhat of normal size, I would think you would need one of those Oompa Loompas from Charlies Chocolate Factory to work on these engines with it in. No offense to any Oompas Loompas out there.

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

He thinks he has an exhaust leak, which is unlikely, but I didn't want to pick on him.

no i definately have a exhaust leak. i undid the bolts i could (6) on the passenger exhaust manifold and i managed to momentarily pry open a small gap between the headers and the block and thats when i realized that there arent any gaskets on the headers. (at least 2 cylinders i could see without bending or breaking anything). so i do have an exhaust leak and i do need to change the gaskets.

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by vandenham

On another thread I said that I had unbolted my headers from underneath (I had to undo them to get my clutch out). In order to do this, I had the car raised about a foot so I could crawl under the car - lying under the car, I could reach my arm up to get at the nuts holding the header. Mine are the tubular headers that fill up most of the space where you are reaching and I would have expected there would be more room with the stock headers.

Maybe it is harder to work in there with stock headers. Did you have the car up on blocks when you tried to remove the bolts? You definitely have to lay underneath the car to get you arm into that tight space. Raising the engine a few inches seems like a lot of work.

Rick V

yeah man i took your advise and jacked the car up and all that, but i physically cannot get all the bolts off... the #1 cylinder is SOOO far away, i cant reach it...

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by MPDano

Yeah, I really couldn't comment on this as mine are stock. I also had my engine out when I did remove my exhaust manifold to replace the gaskets. Like most things with these engines, it's a whole lot easier to do things on them when the engine is out. With that said, I did make a statement when I pulled one of my cam towers with engine in and it was so difficult for me I would never do it again, but someone chimes in and said it was simple for them. Since my hands are somewhat of normal size, I would think you would need one of those Oompa Loompas from Charlies Chocolate Factory to work on these engines with it in. No offense to any Oompas Loompas out there.

as to my knowledge, mine are stock as well.

[vandenham]

For the exhaust bolts at the front of the engine - my arms were not long enough either. I had the car up on jack stands and took off the front wheels. With the wheels off there was enough room to reach my arm in from the front through spacing in the suspension.

Rick V

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by vandenham

For the exhaust bolts at the front of the engine - my arms were not long enough either. I had the car up on jack stands and took off the front wheels. With the wheels off there was enough room to reach my arm in from the front through spacing in the suspension.

Rick V

so you reached around the bottom of the fender and up into the motor?

[vandenham]

Directly below the front exhaust gasket there is a small opening you can get your arm through. The opening is between the lower A suspension frame and the EGR pump. There is another hole further back from that where you can reach some of the other nuts. If you have trouble finding the spot, I'll go out and take some pictures.

Rick V.

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by vandenham

Directly below the front exhaust gasket there is a small opening you can get your arm through. The opening is between the lower A suspension frame and the EGR pump. There is another hole further back from that where you can reach some of the other nuts. If you have trouble finding the spot, I'll go out and take some pictures.

Rick V.

ohh yeah i know what your talking about. i used that hole to get the bolts off the first three runners. i CAN reach the closest bolt on the 4th one, but its soo hard to get the wrench on much more loosen it.im thinking off pulling the whole damn thing out. i have to get pretty much all new lines and hoses anyway....

[Imo000]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

He thinks he has an exhaust leak, which is unlikely, but I didn't want to pick on him.

The idea with the lifting beam is that chances are the motor mounts have collapsed so that nothing needs to be disconnected to safely lift the motor maybe an inch to give you needed wiggle room.

BTW if it was me I would be putting US 85/86 tubular headers back in instead of the factory cast iron. I'm sending out a pair of mine I think this week for nice Jet Hot coating and then swapping them into my Euro.

You do realize that the 85-86 headers are not a 100% direct bolt on, right? They need a little massaging to fit on the 16V heads.

As for the motor mounts, when they collapse they will not jump back into orignal height, even if you lift the engine. To get more clearance for the manifolds, you need to dissconect the mounts from the body and then lift the engine with the MMs still attached to it.

[Danglerb]

Originally Posted by Imo000

You do realize that the 85-86 headers are not a 100% direct bolt on, right? They need a little massaging to fit on the 16V heads.

As for the motor mounts, when they collapse they will not jump back into orignal height, even if you lift the engine. To get more clearance for the manifolds, you need to dissconect the mounts from the body and then lift the engine with the MMs still attached to it.

I didn't notice anything special fitting them to the earlier heads, but due to the change in the head layout the exhaust manifold extends straight back a bit more than two inches so the head pipes don't line up without modification.

No clue on the motor mounts, I haven't tried the lifting myself. Are you saying collapsed mounts stay stuck down even if you are lifting the motor with "a lot" of force?

[Imo000]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

I didn't notice anything special fitting them to the earlier heads, but due to the change in the head layout the exhaust manifold extends straight back a bit more than two inches so the head pipes don't line up without modification.

No clue on the motor mounts, I haven't tried the lifting myself. Are you saying collapsed mounts stay stuck down even if you are lifting the motor with "a lot" of force?

Some of the exhaust port bolt spacing are not dead on and you will have to ellongate them to fit. The passanger side collector being shorter is a totally different issue.

Yes a collapsed MM will stay collapsed, even if you lift the entire front of the car up by the oil pan. Maybe it will strech but very little.