damn hooker headers steel want clear any suggestion

ok iam swapping a 91 efi 5.0 into my maverick with a aod tranny and i can not get my damn hooker header on got passanger side on but driver side is not going on should i take off my steering box thing or is there a trick i took both motor mount bolts out and tryed from bottom but nothing

 

Is the steering box what's keeping it from going in?

 

Some headers you may have to slide in when dropping the engine in, espedially on the drivers side.

 

yes i think so but dont know how hard taken the box out is

 

Problem is you need it back in. I have taken mine out and it wasn't too hard.
When I installed my Black Jacks I had to grind and smooth a corner a little.

 

Generally when installing the hooker 6901s'...Raise engine up a few inches on drivers side...Header goes in from bottom...set engine back down...Raise passenger side of engine a few inches...Passenger header will slip in from top. Then the fun begins...Getting all the header bolts in and tightened down...

 

ok so i dont need to take out steering box

 

I usually put the passenger side in from the bottom. Then go to the drivers side and lift the engine a couple of inches. I keep the passenger side motor mount bolt in. Also you need to have the car jacked up as high as safely possible.

 

Not usually no...But consider the age of these flexi fliers, and the use they have seen. Sometimes the components are no longer where they used to be...Things move...flex...settle etc...

 

When I grinded and smoothed out that corner of my gear box I made sure not to take too much off. You don't want to make a hole. I also made a dimple in the tube with a big Snap On pry bar. There was clearance and now that I wraped the headers the cloth material just barely touches at that corner. I'm sure a hole in the wrap will develop but too many other areas to worry about something that hasn't happened yet..
Headers can be a pain. I remember having the engine lifted and having to let it down inch by inch and moving the header around between each drop.
I love the sound of having the headers but I may go with shorties next go around. Unless I shave out the towers all together.

 

Pretty typical of the Hookers hitting the steering box, but dont think its ever stopped them from going in. Definitely raise the motor. You can use a floor jack with some wood between it and the oil pan.

Then once they are in look how close the collector flange will be to your AOD trans pan. I had Hedman headers with my AOD and the drivers side almost touched the pan. I heated the headers up and bent the whole lower end outwards away from the transmission.

 

I noticed that with both headers on trying to slide it into place it would hit this bolt on the passenger side. I shaved the bolt down some, removed passenger side header dropped motor in and installed the passenger side header from the bottom. Only cussed a couple of times.

 

I took a swazaw to that bolt and shaved it flush with the nut..

 

I had to raise the car too high for a floor jack to go under the pan. It was cake to use the engine hoist once the car was raised. I sent the boom all the way out too so that the leg was further away from where I was crawling under. Being that I wasn't taking the engine out I figured it should work and it did.

 

To get my 6901s in I have to raise the engine a few inches and install the driver's side first. If I install the passenger side first I can't get enough clearance at the steering box to get that side in. Both sides install from the bottom.