This how-to is based off of my experience when I installed Dynatech long tube headers, high flow cats, mid pipes and the Bassani cat back exhaust system. I can’t really offer an accurate time frame as to how long the install took as I did it over a three-day period in my garage as time allowed. I tried to capture any tips, tricks and pitfalls that I encountered so I could share them here. I performed this entire install by myself so if you can have a friend help it will make it that much easier.

A big “THANKS” to all of you that have posted info on how to install headers and the Bassani cat back. The info was very helpful and I have included some of it here. What I have put together may seem a little cheesy but hopefully it will help novices like myself that need a visual aid along with the written instructions.

BOLTS/NUTS/SCREWS - WRENCHES/SOCKETS SIZES NEEDED
The wrenches/sockets listed below is what I used:
·Negative battery terminal nut – 8 mm regular socket (1/4” drive)
·Fender well splash guard screws – 7/32” regular socket (1/4” drive)
·Stock manifold collector nuts – 15 mm deep socket (3/8” drive)
·Stock manifold exhaust nuts – 13 mm deep socket (1/4” drive)
·Stock manifold exhaust studs – 5 mm regular socket (1/4” drive)
·Exhaust hanger clamp located on transmission cross member – 13 mm regular socket (see Photo #5)
·Bolt that is securing the ground wire and wire loom retainer to the frame – 10 mm regular socket (see Photo #13)
·Transmission dipstick tube bracket bolt – 8 mm regular socket (1/4” drive)
·Oil dipstick tube bracket bolt – 8 mm regular socket (1/4” drive)
·EGR nut - 11/4” wrench
·Dynatech header bolts – *10 mm swivel socket (1/4” drive)
·Dynatech header collector flange nuts – *15 mm offset box wrench
·Dynatech header band clamp nuts – 9/16” deep socket (3/8” drive). Need back up on bolt head
·OEM clamp bolt (located on transmission support cross member-see Photo #5) that supports driver side mid pipe hanger on OEM exhaust – 13 mm regular socket (3/8” drive)
·Dynatech driver side mid-pipe support bolt nut – 19 mm deep socket (3/8” drive). Need back up wrench on back up nut but don’t remember nut size
·Bassani band clamp nuts – 15 mm deep socket (3/8” drive) I used a telescoping ratchet that provided the leverage needed to properly tighten clamps. You may need a ½” drive ratchet for leverage
·Bassani single hanger bracket bolts and nuts – 14 mm regular socket (3/8” drive). Need back up on bolt head
·Bassani Double hanger bracket bolts and nuts – 13 mm regular socket (3/8” drive). Need back up on bolt head
·Bassani flanged muffler clamp bolts and nuts – 14 mm deep socket (3/8” drive). Need back up on bolt head until snug. Once snug, the bolt head stopped turning

* These tools are a MUST HAVE! With a Ό” drive 10 mm swivel socket, 6” extension and ratchet, you can access every bolt on the passenger side header from the wheel well. This will save time and frustration. You will need the 15 mm offset box end wrench to access the nuts on the header collector flanges as they are a bit recessed. So add these tools to your tool collection prior to beginning your install.

I don’t know the size of the nuts on the clamps of the stock exhaust. I had my OEM mufflers cut off and Magnaflow mufflers installed not long after I got my truck. Also I do not know the size of the O2 sensors. I used a crescent wrench that worked fine but I recommend using a wrench that fits the O2 sensors.

Other items needed include:
·Push in fasteners to replace the fasteners you have to rip out when removing the fender well splash guards. These can be purchased at Auto Zone. Manufacturer is “Dorman” and part number is 799-135. They are inexpensive (couple of dollars);
·A pair of toenail clippers to remove one of the locators off of the O2 extension male connectors;
·High temp anti-seize stick or tube;
·An oxy/acetylene cutting torch rig or a sawzall to remove the old exhaust if it’s welded on as mine was;
·4-2½” heavy-duty muffler “C” clamps for the Bassani cat back.

 

PREPARATION FOR REMOVAL OF OEM EXHAUST
1.Disconnect negative battery terminal.
2.If you don’t have access to a lift, set emergency brake, raise truck and support with jack stands. I used rhino ramps for the rear wheels and jack stands for the front of the truck.
3.Remove wheels and fender well splash guards.
4.Spray all bolts and nuts that will be removed with WD40, then let set at least a couple of hours.

REMOVE OEM EXHAUST & PREPARE FOR INSTALLATION OF HEADERS
5.Disconnect rear O2 sensors from the electrical connectors. The connections are at the tail of the transmission on top. Label the electrical connectors with a sharpie marker so you know which side is which. The passenger side rear sensor connector is a little tough to access so disconnect the connector in identified in photo #1 and this will allow better access to the O2 sensor connector. Take a flat head screwdriver and gently separate the connector from the bracket (see Photo #2) and you can now easily unplug the connector.

 

6.Remove rear O2 sensors from the bungs. I used a crescent wrench but I recommend using the proper size wrench. When removing the O2 sensors, be careful not to damage the sensors and don’t forget to label the connectors.




7.Remove center hanger bolt and top portion of hanger clamp. The bolt head size is 13 mm.

 

8.If you want to save your current exhaust system you will have to remove the cross member that supports the transmission. Remove the cross member now if you want to save the exhaust. Then loosen the muffler clamps and remove the cat back portion of the exhaust. If you are going to scrap the exhaust or if it is welded in as mine was then cut out the back portion of the exhaust system using a sawzall or oxy/acetylene cutting torch.

 

9.Now move up to the front portion of the exhaust system and disconnect the front O2 sensor connectors. The connectors are located between the firewall and the engine as shown in Photos #8 and #9. These can be a PITA to get to. I did manage to get hold of the driver side connector and separate it but I could not get hold of the passenger side connector. I took a long flat head screwdriver, pushed in on the locking clip and gently separated the connectors.

 

10.Unbolt the remaining exhaust components (which should be two cats on each side) from the stock exhaust manifolds using a 15 mm deep socket. Once the nuts are removed, the cats will slide out. Use caution when lowering to the ground so as not to damage the O2 sensor. Once it’s on the ground you can easily remove the sensor from each set of cats. Prior to removing sensors, mark the connectors with a sharpie so you don’t get them mixed up. Also be careful not to damage the sensors when removing them. My passenger side front sensor was extremely hard to remove. It was basically welded into the bung from heat.


11.There is a hole in the frame on the passenger side and driver side. It’s next to the motor mount. If you lose a bolt/nut/screw/washer/socket in one of these holes then more than likely it is gone. You can spend hours trying to fish it out with a telescoping magnet and still not be successful. I learned the hard way so cover or plug these holes now.

 

12.Now you should only have the stock exhaust manifolds left to remove. Let’s start with the passenger side since that is where I began. Disconnect the electrical connector running to front brakes and tie the wires back out of the way. Remove the bolt (bolt is 10 mm) that is securing a ground wire and wire loom retainer to the frame.


13.Remove the passenger side stock exhaust manifold. Remove all of the bottom nuts first followed by three of the nuts on top. Leave the nut second from the front on top tight until all others are removed. The nut size is 13 mm. Once you have all but the one nut removed, remove the bottom stud on the very back. This is so you can remove the manifold when you remove the last nut. The stud is 5 mm. After you remove the stud, break loose the last nut securing the manifold. Support the manifold with one hand while removing the nut. Once the last nut is removed, ease the manifold out. Now you have easy access to the remaining studs as seen in Photo #14. Remove the remaining studs. Unbolt the transmission dipstick tube and remove it. Plug the hole to prevent debris from falling into the transmission. I used a bolt to plug the hole and it worked just fine (see Photo #15).

 

14.Once you have completed Step #13, clean the surface area around the exhaust ports. I also recommend you flush out the boltholes with WD40 to remove metal shavings left over from removing the studs. It makes working with the header bolts much easier. I laid an old thick beach towel under the heads to catch any shavings washed out as you can see in Photo #16. As you can see in Photo #17 there was some metal shavings up in the boltholes.

 

15.Now move to the driver side and perform Steps #12 - #14. There are a few differences from the passenger side such as you will need to unbolt the EGR tube that is attached to the exhaust manifold prior to removing the manifold. You will need an 11/4” wrench to break the nut loose. Make sure you break the nut loose before loosening any of the nuts on the exhaust manifold. There is no need to remove any of the studs, as the exhaust manifold will come right out with all studs in place. After the manifold is out, remove the studs. Remove the bolt (bolt head is 8 mm) securing the oil dipstick tube to the head. Now remove the dipstick tube. Removing the dipstick tube is a PITA. Just be patient and keep working it and it will come out.

Here is a tip for removing the oil dipstick tube: Make sure the 2 studs adjacent to the dipstick tube are removed from the head; trust me, again I learned the hard way. Grab the tube with your right hand as low down on the tube as you can get. Grab the top of the tube with your left hand. While pulling up with your right hand wiggle the tube back and forth with your left hand. If you can find something to leverage your right arm against you can pull that much harder. But you have to be careful not to snap the tube off in the engine. Again, after the tube is removed, you need to cover the hole to prevent debris from falling into the oil pan. I used an old clean rag and it worked great. Below are some photos that may add some value here.

 

 

16.Prepare O2 extension male connectors and OEM male connectors for use.

 

17.Now that locators are cut off of extension male connectors go ahead and install the O2 sensor extensions. After they are connected, tie them back out of the way.

 

18.On the passenger side there is a push in retainer that is pushed through the firewall from inside the cab. The end of the retainer is sticking down and impeding the heat shield. This retainer needs to be cut so the heat shield can be pulled up as far as it will go. I did get the header in place without first cutting the retainer and pulling the heat shield up but if I had done this first it would have been even easier to get the header in place.

Another reason to cut off the retainer and pull the heat shield up is if you don’t the heat shield will be resting on the header. That will lead to problems down the road so just cut it off and pull the heat shield up. I used a sharp serrated knife to cut the end of the retainer off. See Photo #27 to get an idea of where this retainer is located. Photo #28 shows the header fully installed and the final result of cutting off the retainer and pulling up heat shield. Once the heat shield is adjusted, you are ready to begin installing your headers.

 

INSTALLATION OF HEADERS, HIGH FLOW CATS AND MID PIPES
19.Before we get started, let me share some information that may be of some value. Do not try to install the passenger side header through the fender well. I worked to get the header in through the fender well for almost two hours although I new immediately that it would not go without removing items such as A/C lines and miscellaneous hoses. I did this to document any pitfalls that prevent the header from being installed through the fender well.

First off the collector flange on the Dynatech header is too big to get past the heat shield. The bolts that fasten the collector flange to the high flow cats are already installed in the collector flange, which is a good and bad thing, and the bolts are pressed in. The bad is that this compounds the problem of installing the header through the fender well but the good is that the bolts are secure and they don’t need a back up when flanging the header collector up to the high flow cat. Secondly there is a bracket on the frame that prevents the header from being manipulated into place from the fender well. Third there is a bolt protruding through the top of the fender well that clashes with the header and prevents it from being manipulated into place. I have no doubt that the header will go in through the fender well if you remove the items I noted above but this just creates more work in my opinion.

After about 2 hours of working with the passenger side header I decided I had enough info documented and decided it was time to try going in through the bottom. My initial thought was there is no way this is going in through the bottom (frustration setting in). But I just fed the header up through the opening and starting twisting and turning the header and sure enough it slid right into position. I was stunned because it took less than 5 minutes. What a sense of relief it was when it went in place, especially knowing that the passenger side is the hardest side to install. The big highlight is that I did not have to remove anything, nor jack up the motor. It’s absolutely amazing as to how easy the header went in from the bottom on the passenger side.

Here are two tips that will make installing the header from the bottom a little easier: (1). Make sure the retainer in Photo #27 is cut off and the heat shield is pulled up as close to the firewall as you can get without damaging the shield. Plus you do not want the heat shield resting on the header as this could eventually wear a hole in the header, (2). Make sure that the bolt securing the ground wire and wire loom retainer to the frame is removed (see Photo #13).

Additional tips. These tips apply to both the passenger and driver side: (3). Use the header bolts they are very easy to work with, (4). Use the Dynatech supplied gaskets. They are SS and are great quality. Install them dry they do not require any sealant and seal wonderfully, (5). Apply high temp anti-seize to all of the header bolts and install them while there is nothing in the way. Screw them in almost all the way. This will reduce the chance of cross threading and give the bolthole a good coating of high temp anti-seize. Plus when you install the headers, most of the accessible bolts should be handy to where you can screw the bolts in by hand while you support the weight of the header with the other hand. This is very important to reduce the chance of cross threading, when starting a bolt keep the weight of the headers off of the bolt until you have a good 3-4 full turns on the bolt, (6). Do not snug any of the header bolts down until all bolts are in and again have a good 3-4 full turns on them.

I will try to add more tips as we go forward.

Below I have inlcuded some photos showing the pitfalls I ran into during my 2-hour ordeal of trying to manipulate the header into place from the fender well on the passenger side.