Removal of 1 header tips?

[SteelGreyM]

Hi all... so apparently I didn't tighten down my cylinder 1 header pipe. All 3 nuts loosened and fell off on a recent drive. I need to remove just the 1 header closer to the front of the engine enough to change out the gaskets. Can this be done? Please dont tell me I need to remove both of them. I have aftermarket status gruppe headers for reference.

[Tbonem3]

No, you can't remove just one header flange. But why would you? Just put new nuts on.

[SandeepM3]

It may be possible to pull it away enough to slip a gasket on with the other attached. But possibly not as well. It will be tight.

[repoman89]

I did this too … just cranked them down a little more and didn’t replace the gaskets. All has been well for years now

[heinzboehmer]

Not a tip for header removal, more of a general working on cars tip to prevent this sort of thing in the future. Get a paint pen and get into the habit of using it to mark every nut/bolt that you torque down. It makes it so much harder to forget to torque something, as you've got a visual aid to tell you what you have and haven't torqued.

[SteelGreyM]

Thanks for responses. I am not removing just 1 header flanger flange but the whole header. Wondering if possible to pull the header far away enough from the car without removing the second header. Also... I tried putting new nuts on and calling it a day but I think the gasket is completely blown out. still sounds like crap. Im not sure how they got loose... I triple checked every single nut when assembling this engine... now im nervous lol

[Tbonem3]

You meant bank 1 not cyl 1? In that case, I *think* you'll be able to do what you want. They may touch, you may even need to persuade it, but I think it should. You may even need to loosen the joint at sect 2.

[SteelGreyM]

Yup! Bank1. Will I need to use my hoist? Hoping I can access everything from the top but I don’t think that’s happening

[Flat-Six]

IIRC on bank one, you can get to all nuts from above.

[SteelGreyM]

Header is de -attached. That was easy af. Just need to get your forearms dirty.

All can be reached with a ratchet, 3 inch extension, swivel, and 11mm wrench.

Be sure to also disconnect both the headers from the sec 1 as you will not be able to swivel them out of the way without doing so.

Took about an hour to disconnect them. Changed the gaskets. Now bolting it all back up. Much easier than I expected.

[Tbonem3]

Comes down to toolset. The greater variety of tools, the better chance of getting to all 24 from up top, though I still like to go under for several of them.

I use:

mainly 3/8" drive w & w/o swivel
1/4" drive w & w/o swivel for the tightest spots
11mm open end wrench (one side fixed, one side ratcheting)
11mm offset box wrench - this one is great for the first few cyl and the one with the hardline in the way (in between 4 & 5 iirc)

[mrgizmo04]

getting to all 24

T, you recently do a valve adjustment? 😜

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[Tbonem3]

Yes