scfou

iTrader: (3)

I need to find someone to install some IMF headers on my 98 sc400 vvti soon, and I mean soon! Anybody willing to take on this project as a side job maybe? I'm in San Mateo, CA but can meet you if it's not too far. I have a good few years of experience working on SC's so can also help out at the same time. LMK... PM me..

tpham86

iTrader: (1)

nobody wants to help. just sell them to me =)

Durrby

iTrader: (3)

Let me tell you it's gonna be a PITA. The passenger side will bolt right up given you delete the cat but with the driver side you have to cut the stock flange and turn it about 90 degrees and add a few inches on new piping. I think it was like 3"-4" shy of lining up. And because I deleted the cats I now have a permanent CEL. Unless I get like an o2 sensor simulator or something.

The shop that installed mine charged me 10 1/2hrs labor not including the new manifold gaskets & egr delete plate they made. You will need a lift and the shop loosened the mounts and jacked the motor up for clearance. They were all scraped up when they were finished haha.

scfou

iTrader: (3)

Ah haha.. and to make matters worse, I only paid $450 to have them shipped to my door too. Funny cause when I first bought the sc400 about 6 mo. ago, I said to myself that I would wait and see if I get lucky off of Ebay for these headers, and coincidently, I was looking to pay right around $400.

scfou

iTrader: (3)

Man that really sucks. I was hoping to pay just a few hundred bucks for someone to install these, and at the same time take a bunch of step by step photos to encourage others to do the headers too. I've also heard you can do the headers from under the hood but requires jacking up the engine a few inches. Wonder if that would be easier?

KC95SC400

iTrader: (3)

I put mine in myself, been over a year now I think. I got mine when they were still EK Tuning.

I am a Toyota Tech and it took me about 10 hours on a lift with all of the right tools. It's a PITA.

I had actually partially dropped the subframe. Thinking about it now, it might have been easier from under the hood with the motor raised up. But, I don't think simply "jacking" the motor up would be enough. I was thinking more along the lines of "pulling" the motor out a bit with a cherry picker.

GL!

KC

ScottURnot

iTrader: (33)

Its not quite as bad as they say, dont get me wrong, its not easy but quite doable.

scfou

iTrader: (3)

Kc I know you didn't use the ek manifold gaskets did you? I have them, well, from IMF now that the company changed names. Their manifold gaskets look nothing like toyota ones. I'm sticking with factory ones because down the line I would hate to have to replace them due to possible exhaust leaks. I've also heard that stainless steel headers have a high possibility of exhaust leaks due to extreme heat which causes warpage.

scfou

iTrader: (3)

Kc I just ran to my garage to look under my hood, and you know I think it looks possible to just raise up a little bit of the motor, just enough so that the headers will fit right in. I think it would be easier while tightening the bolts too. What exactly is required to lift up the the engine a tad bit? What mounts do I losen or remove? If I can some how jack up the motor without a hoist, I don't see why I can't do the install myself.

OneJay

iTrader: (14)

If you still don't have them in by the 3rd or so, i can give you a hand. Thats when I get back from break.

To lift the motor, look on each side of the block, and there is a mount on each side attached to the subframe, you can loosen them either from the top or the bottom, and then loosen the transmission mount underneath the car too. Then just jack it up from the oil pan. Put an old floormat or something between the jack and the oil pan though.

scfou

iTrader: (3)

Wow, it doesn't seem too difficult at all. I think this way is much easier and should probably take half the day instead of a full day from underneath the car.

KC95SC400

iTrader: (3)

For the motor mounts, take off the 19's on the bottoms of the mounts that go through the cradle. You will not be able to get to the top bolt of the drivers side mount once the header is installed.

I'm still not convinced it'll be "easy" for you but good luck. In my case, I had the supercharger on before the headers and would have had to remove it to have any hope of getting to the drivers side bolts.

Some things to consider:

If your jacking up the motor, keep in mind that you will be putting stress on things that may or may not break. Radiator hoses, power steering lines, ac lines, wiring, heater hoses just to name a few. If your car is older / high mileage, you could run into a few problems from putting stress on these and other parts.

I very much doubt you'll be able to remove the manifold / install the header from the engine bay. You may be able to unbolt the manifold and re-bolt the header from the engnie bay but you will very likely still need to pull everything out from underneath.

BTW, I used Toyota / Lexus manifold gaskets. And, be aware that you may have to modify the cat back sections of exhaust, where they bolt to the headers. Mine did not fit. You should probably already have a header back system re-design plan in mind anyway.

KC