Help With Last Second Header Swap

Hey guys so I finaly tracked down the exaust leak, and as is typical of XJs I I have a major crack in my header, the inside pipe at the collector has almost completly detached its self. I had not realised how bad the break was so was procrastinating fixing it, but with a long drive and a full weekend off road I wanted to attempt to get this fixed before I leave friday night.

Because I cant afford a Borla and the various reviews and research I did, I went with an APN header which by all accounts seems to hold up just as well as the Borla (havnt seen to many complaints about them cracking) and its cheap so I dont mind replacing it in a year with something better. So I called APN and asked them about the price to have it overnighted or 2 day aired. And they were nice enough to explain that the warehouse those ship from is in San Fransisco and should be here by thursday if I just go ground. So assuming they are correct and the header arrives Thursday sometime, I would really love to get this swapped in.

So heres my plea for help, if anyone who has experience with doing a header swap would be willing to help me do this on Thursday night or friday during the day, Im more than happy to spring for beer/food. I have access to a driveway with a lot of tools and possibly more help on thursday night, or Im willing to come to another location if that makes things easier. That or if someone can suggest a shop that will do the swap without breaking the bank, already counting pennies with having to order this and pay for the trip

Any help is seriously appriciated and I have a very flexible schedual and will be more than happy to return the favor of help and time. Post in this thread or PM me and I will get in touch with you if you can help.


I live in San Diego proper, right by the 805/163 merge just north of the 8.

I wish I could help,. but I have school on Thursday nights.

I changed my exhaust manifold out a little over a year ago. I used the Banks torque tube.

We did this in a garage and it took about 3 to 4 hours, if I remember correctly. I had some great guys leadng me on this and they did fantastic!

he muffler shops here in OC wanted over $500 dollars in labor alone back then. It takes them away from thier "quick money" and it is a major PITA. Even my normal muffler guy said he would charge alot.

Do a little more searchign here for ideas and short cuts on getting it done. I remember we completely removed the intake, front tires, and disconnected the sway bar so the axle would drop a little further out of the way.

Sorry, I don't have any short cuts for you myself.

Good luck!

Bah, I just put in a Borla and it was a friggin biatch!!

But yeah, I'll help ya =). I don't know what the APN is like, but actually getting a torque wrench on two of the bottom bolts was just this side of impossible so I just redneck torqued 'em (i.e., yeah, that feels like 31 ft/lbs) =) Of course, if you have more than my 20 piece ratchet set, it may not prove so difficult with yours.

I have a happy hour to attend thursday night and some errands to run Friday, but if we can get started early it should go pretty quick I'd think.

if all else fails, i can help on saturday but youll have to follow me from carlsbad to my buddies house and in return help with some other crap we have goin on!

lol, ya ill be your last resort and ive dont a couple headers one in the middle of the night after being up for 60 something hours straight so im sure this one will go much eaiser!

pm me for details

Or you can bring your junk out to Borrego Springs this weekend.
It appears as though I will be spending the weekend in the shop..
Radiator into the XJ, throwout bearing into the Mustang, steering box brace and weld in the F-250....
I'd bet I got all the tools you will need!

Rick

I am actually driving to Calico Friday night hence the last second part. SanDiegoXJ, I will PM you the details and how we can get in touch. Once I get tracking info on the header I will try to figure out whats best to get it started. Im thinking friday morning/noonish will be best since I dont know exactly when the header will arrive. Just gotta be able to drive friday night to calico hehe.

Thanks to everyone who offered their help over the weekend. Unfortunatly I drive to Calico tommorow evening so that just couldnt work out. Really big thank you to SanDiegoXJ for comming over after work and sticking it out with me through the night till we got the sucker started again. His quickness with the tools and knowledge of the header swap process really helped speed things up. Not to mention his hands can get into a lot of places my fat fingers wont reach!

Took about 8 hours start to finish to do the swap, no major issues a long the way beyond losing a bolt for the power stearing pump and one of those stupid little vacume lines snapping inside the rubber elbow. Most of that time was taken up by me while I was working on it by myself reading my manual each step of the way to make sure I didnt screw something up. And then the usual issues with bolts that are impossible to reach, much less get a torque wrench on. Though I must say, besides the PS Pump mounts and the downpipe bolts everything came out very very easily.

So again big thanks and I deffinatly owe SanDiegoXJ a lot of beer and help.

Oh yeah, the difference in the noise and perfomance is awesome, nice to be back to semi normal operations. And now im hearing all sorts of other noises since the exaust manifold isnt belching like a frat boy after a beer bong.