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© 1998 Brian F. Schreurs
Even we have a disclaimer.

We called Summit and got a set of new house-brand headers (#SUM-G9040) at a very reasonable price. We also thought about what else should be replaced while the headers are off, and went to NAPA to buy new engine mounts (Balkamp pieces) and a new (rebuilt) starter (Rayloc #RAY 44-4619). Their replacement is covered in Replacing the Engine Mounts and Replacing the Starter. At the last minute we decided to also throw in spark plugs (Champion #405).

Start by disconnecting the battery. You don't want to get zapped by any of the high-voltage connections.

They may look like normal old headers, but in fact they were probably more rust than metal.

Use masking tape to label each spark plug wire. Don't trust your intuition on this one -- be a geek and label them.

Remove the spark plug wires at the spark plugs. Leave them connected to the distributor. You can lay them across the intake manifold where they'll be out of the way.

Remove the spark plugs. If they look like they're reusable, keep them. Ours were in pretty tough shape so they went in the garbage can.

Jack up the car.

Have a look at the suspension. Note how the center link passes through the headers! What a nutty design. But this is standard for Mopar headers, so get used to it.

Didn't think you'd be doing any suspension work today? If it's a Mopar, think again.

To remove the center link, start by pulling all of the cotter pins off the nuts on the underside of the link, then remove the nuts.

Use a pickle fork to separate the tie rod ends from the center link. Don't be afraid to pound the sucker.

Use the same formula to disengage the pitman arm.

Do it again for the idler arm. In our case, the idler arm refused to let go. This is not a problem; unbolt the idler arm from the chassis and remove it and the center link as a unit. You could probably also do this with the pitman arm if you really had to.

In any case, by now you should have removed the center link entirely. The header instructions indicate that you can merely push it aside, but we strongly recommend completely removing it. Trust us, in the long run it's easier.

Drain the oil and remove the filter. The filter will interfere with the passenger-side header.

Find the engine insulators (mounts), one on the driver and passenger sides. There is a long bolt passing through each one -- on the driver-side, the bolt head is toward the back of the car and on the passenger-side it is toward the front of the car. Remove these bolts so you can lift the engine.

Collectors come apart nicely enough.

Unbolt the header collectors from the exhaust pipes. Don't worry about the collector bolts -- the header kit comes with new ones.

Remove the passenger-side header. It should come out fairly easily, once you get all the header bolts loose. You'll need to slip it out from underneath.

Move to the driver-side and undo all the electrical wiring to the starter. Loop the wires around something to keep them out of harm's way.

Go topside and remove all of the header bolts. Have someone hold the header while you get back under the car and...

...unbolt the starter! Watch out, it's heavy. Don't let it crack your head open. It'll take some work, moving the starter and the headers around, to get the starter out. For more detail, see Replacing the Starter.

Use a hydraulic jack to lift the engine a few inches. Put a board on the jack's foot and push on the oil pan. The board prevents the jack from crushing the pan. Lift the engine as far as it will go, but keep an eye on the distributor's clearance.

At last, the driver-side header escapes.

Remove the driver-side header through the bottom. It'll fit -- barely. Keep trying.

If you intend to replace your engine mounts, now is the time. See Replacing the Engine Mounts.

Clean the heck out of every surface you normally can't reach.

Install the passenger-side header at the engine.

Wiggle the driver-side header into position but don't attach it yet.

Bolt the starter in.

Check out that mangled old thing next to the shiny new Summit piece.

Slowly lower the engine to its insulators; keep an eye on the unattached driver-side header to be sure you don't crush it. Clearances are tight.

Thread the long driver-side insulator bolt back in. It may be necessary to slightly raise the engine to get it aligned right.

Finally! Bolt up the driver-side header to the engine.

Reattach the starter's wiring.

Thread the long passenger-side insulator back in. This one also may require a slight lift to the engine.

Replace the center link. If the idler arm came off with the center link, put it in its approximate location but don't bolt it in until the pitman arm and tie rod ends are reattached to the center link.

Install new cotter pins -- never reuse old ones.

Install a new oil filter.

Connect the header collectors with the exhaust pipes. There is an impressive collection of flanges and gaskets which must be lined up. The proper sandwich is, from front to back: Collector flange; metal gasket; paper gasket; collector adapter; exhaust flange. The bolt heads go to the back of the car and the lock washers go with the nuts. It may be necessary to loosen the exhaust pipes to get enough slack for assembly.

The new ones are in! The black paint turns grey quicky, which is still better than the rusty predecessors.

Drop the car.

Add oil.

Replace the spark plugs.

Attach the spark plug wires, per the tags you made earlier.

Connect the battery.

Go get cleaned up.

Start the car and get it out of the garage! The paint is going to get cured as soon as the headers heat up (pretty quick) and you don't want those nasty fumes in your garage. It's going to look like the car's on fire, but that's normal. Just stand back and let it do its thing.

When the smoke clears, take it for a drive! Preferably to an alignment shop. It's probably a little off from taking out the center link.

The Paradise Garage Charger feels great! With the new headers in place, it's much quieter; it's not as stinky; and it feels slightly faster. The engine looks better from the cleaning, and we learned that a suspension project is in the car's future. It's great when a project comes together.