Pontiac Owners Club UK

How on earth do you torque up the header bolts on a 400? Installation day is tomorrow and I can't see how you would get any torque wrench in the gap between the flange and the suspension arms to get the right torque on the bolts! There is no room, especially on the bolt closest to the firewall!

1 or 2 you can only get a spanner with mine
others no room as you say.
just pull them up hard, if they snap then that was too tight

if you torque up those you can get on then try them with a spanner or small wrench till they just move you can tell what it feels like

SUPERCHARGEDGTA wrote: just pull them up hard, if they snap then that was too tight

just like that

only ever torque up head bolts and that's it
or lorry wheel nuts

if its snapped you know it was to much

Well I hope not to snap any as that will mean a head off job! But thanks for the advice - I'll take it steady and use the ones I can get to with a torque wrench as a guide for the others. To be honest when it comes to car fasteners I've never really used torque wrenches before - I've just tightened them until they are tight and won't really "go" anymore without using extreme force. I assume that as long as the gaskets get crushed and the bolts are not going to come loose easily then its tight enough?!

It's never let me down before!!

works for me

Only reason I asked is because I've heard these hedman headers and gaskets tend to blow through if not torqued correctly.

not had any problems

You may have seen some fancy header bolts advertised that lock in place as they can rattle loose after a while. Not had that issue myself but if you do notice that your bolts loosen up something to consider

well what a flipping nightmare today has been. Not finished the job. Its good that i booked 2 days off work! Got the starter, oil filter housing and old headers off no problem - didnt even need to use wooden blocks, only drive on ramps, Not much height required to be honest - definitely not the 36 inches quoted in the instructions. Measured it at about 19 inches on the drive on ramps.

Getting the new headers on was awful. so much so i only got the passenger side done. Room wasnt an issue as the hedmans seem to fit really well in between the subframe and aircon box etc, but getting the bolts back in was a nightmare. The centre bolts for the middle 2 exhaust ports just would not go in. The instructions didnt mention you need to fit 1 of the bolts into place before sliding the head up into place - hence the slotted hole in the flange. Never paid attention to it until i realised my mistake. Once that was in first, getting the other bolt holes to line up was near on impossible with the hand room available. Finished for today at 8pm and back on it first things to get the drivers side on!

oh,,,and in the past it looks like somebody has drilled through the bolt holes where the casting is thin so instead of a threaded hole, you have a nut and bolt. that was unexpected and unwelcome as getting the nut on in about 1/4 inch of room hurts! hands cut up. Never again!!!

remember it well
once its done you will be glad to know they will need retightening a couple of times after it has run a while

SUPERCHARGEDGTA wrote:remember it well
once its done you will be glad to know they will need retightening a couple of times after it has run a while

I realise that and I'm not looking forward to it!

Well - headers now fitted!!

Didn't have time for the rest of the system but the hardest part is over.

What an absolute joy it was that the hedmans fitted really well with no need for denting any tubes etc.They fit even better than the old hedman 3 branch headers with plenty of subframe and suspension clearance. Today's hard tasks was to refit the oil filter housing and starter motor! The drivers side header was on within 45 minutes, trying to wire up the starter solenoid with both hands twisted and doubled back on themselves was however testing! As was getting the oil filter adapter bolts back in! Never again !!!!

Strange thing to note is that with fully open headers the starter motor turns the engine over ALOT faster than it did before is that normal???

gave it a long run tonight in the garage, burnt off most of the header paint that i can see, and the wrap finally stopped smoking. still cant get me head around the fact the starter turns the motor over lightning quick?

amazing how much they smoke isn't it? thought it was on fire after the first drive up the road
the wrap will smoke again when you give it a hard drive, took several runs before it stopped completely

Yes it's a lot of smoke! Looks a bit like steam as well as if there's a lot of moisture within the wrap.

Can't really tell a difference in heat yet though - I can't really hold the tubes still. Maybe I'm expecting too much? Time will tell when I get it out on the road on a hot summers day (hoping )