Removing the Headers

[Brightonuk]

I am looking to wrap the headers and was hoping removal would not be to involved

Do I need to remove the steering shaft completely to get the headers off or can I just release the shaft at the steering knuckle and rotate the headers in the engine bay and slide them off the end?

 

 

 

[Sooty]

You will struggle to get the wrap tight enough with the headers on the engine even with the steering column out and the manifold studs loosened. Unless the wrap is really tight it will unravel. IIRC the wrap needs to go on wet so that when dried out a little shrinkage tightens the bind further.

Take the headers off is my recommendation.

[John Vine]

I think you'll do a better job with the headers off -- at least, that's what I found with my S3 R400D.  And I could remove them with the steering column in place, although it took a lot of fiddling. 

Whether you'll be able to, I don't know.  Is that a Zetec?

JV

[Wrightpayne]

I used thermo tec brand on mine which you spray paint to firm it up once bound on.

I used Sealey self build 8mm jubilee clips (JC97) to finish off the wrap. They are quite compact.

I vote for taking them off - you'll have a much neater outcome. A bit like taping bicycle handle bars!

[7 wonders of the world]

Mark all round the primaries where they exit the sideskin first to with a marker so you know where and what angle to stop the wrap.

[Wrightpayne]

7WOW - good thinking Batman!

[Brightonuk]

Yes Zetec

 I do not know how to get the headers off do I have to totally remove the steering column?

I was hoping to release it from the knuckle where it meets the front axle and hopefully I can slide the headers off but I do not know if I have enough wiggle room or do I need to remove the column completely 

[Wrightpayne]

From the pic the headers (primaries in Blighty) look separate? I'd remove the exhaust and collector then see if the headers will come out one at a time. With my K series there is a sequence to get them in / out. Its a bit like a puzzle :-)

 

[Brightonuk]

From the pic the headers (primaries in Blighty) look separate? 

Dhu!!! Man I looked at these so many times and totally missed they had be cut.

 Thanks Mate  saved me from doing sh#t I did not know how to do then kicking myself for not seeing the obvious 

 

[Drumster]

A bit late to this thread, but as another Zetec owner I would simply remove the primaries one by one and bolt them to a piece of wood held in a vice, this makes wrapping them a doddle. I've never liked the stainless steel cable ties and have used decent stainless steel jubilee clips instead. I also used the opportunity to polish the primaries.

For the wrap I used Titanium Exhaust Wrap from DEI Performance (2 of 2" x 15' rolls), although I used gloves this stuff doesn't need to be wetted. I also used a die stamp set to number the primaries, makes putting them back in order a simple task 

At least I didn't have a steering column to worry about