Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty
When I did mine. I removed the O2 sensors first so that I wouldn't have to fight with the manifold/cats on the ground moving around. I did what you did. Remove the manifold and cats as one unit.
The right side took about 45 minutes from removing the old and installing the new.
The left side took awhile. My heat shield did not want to come out. That took most of my time. By the time I finished up the left side. My hands looked and felt like they went 15 rounds with a pisssed off alley cat. With all of the screw ends, bolt ends and bracket corners on that side. I had about 4 hrs total on this side. With breaks (for band aides and drinks) pushed it to about 6 hrs.
Did you start it up without the exhaust hooked up? Lets just say that one neighbor called the cops on me. 
The red JetHot coating looks good. 
Hopefully you get that valve cover fixed. |
Interestingly, the heat shield came right out for us. We had taken it off, and just kind of moved it enough to get access to the bolts, slid it the rest of the way out when we removed the cat + header combo.
As for the O2 sensor... we started the removal with everything still connected/in-place. Our error was in using a cheaply made O2 sensor removal socket, the walls of which were thin enough to permit to flex as we torqued it, meaning it did not maintain a firm grip on the O2 hex. We thought it was turning the hex; instead it was stripping it off. Bummer, but already replaced.
I laughed at your description of the pissed off alley cat - sounds accurate. Both myself and the Craigster were pretty beat up by the end.
I did not dare starting the car without the exhaust, we were in a small room with excellent acoustic qualities, and I've already lost enough hearing playing in dive bars
but that's pretty funny.
Thanks for stopping in, Rusty! I really appreciate you taking the time to talk me through fixes for the valve cover!