[RyzRT]

7400 , low I know but I work way too much to support the wife's shopping habits

I have over 56K miles on mine, bought it used in 2017, put at least 25K on it since then, all year driving weather down here in South Carolina, and I do take advantage of it!

 

[John Doe]

Hey John Doe, I'm not Ry and I'm sure he will have a better answer maybe when he gets a chance. But I'll add my 2 cents, when we put the long tubes on mine they had to pull the motor mounts loose and rock the engine up one side at a time to get those bolts in. Other wise it was impossible for them to get them tight.

..

Hey John Doe, I'm not Ry and I'm sure he will have a better answer maybe when he gets a chance. But I'll add my 2 cents, when we put the long tubes on mine they had to pull the motor mounts loose and rock the engine up one side at a time to get those bolts in. Other wise it was impossible for them to get them tight.

Cool, I appreciate it. Any tips for doing so? I've rebuilt far too many 2 stroke bike engines but have yet to pull this one apart so I'm not too confident in my knowledge yet

 

[John Doe]

O'Reilys has two brake bleeder wrenchs in their specialty tools section, they have it in SAE and Metric, you want the Metric and get more than one of them, the wrench is made by Performance Tools it is 8mm on one end and 10mm on the other you'll be using the 10mm end.

You'll have to bend the end of the wrench so it can reach the top header bolts, once it has the proper bend it can get right on the bolts, with one hand assisting to keep it solidly on the bolt, and the other hand doing the pulling and tightening, it is a slow tedious process but you can do it.

I bought I think 3 of the wrenches because I actually broke one of them, but not bending it, from not keeping the wrench on the bolt proper, the 2nd one did not break and I still have the 3rd unbent, it is important to keep the wrench solid on the bolt or you can damage the wrench head, but on the Passenger side you have to loosen the wire cable bundle and use long nylon wire ties to pull the wire bundle up enough so you can get your hand between the fender inner wall and the engine.

Bending the wrench is tedious and it has to be bent to give you the access you need you can experiment on the drivers side getting the bend in the wrench neck right, which is the easiest side to work on after you remove the air intake box, and unbolt the coolant reservoir and pull it up out of the way.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...ol-bleeder-wrench/w80620/4614526?q=Performance+Tool+Bleeder+Wrench+Metric&pos=0

This is what the brake bleeder wrench looks like it already has a forged neck bend, you will bend about 1 inch above the forged bend to increase the wrenches ability to reach the bolt head, the wrench handle is almost 10 inches long which aids you in applying pressure to tighten the bolt.

Tip: Tighten the top 2 header bolts as tight as you can get them before you actually torque the rest of the header bolts, have all the other header bolts snugged up but not torqued, until the top bolts are tight using the wrench.

I truly hope this helps you, and by the way there are other auto parts stores that carry similar specialty wrenches, but the one from O'Reilys will cold bend without breaking. I used a ball peen hammer probably 20oz weight with the wrench across a sledge hammer head to bend the wrench where I needed it bent. If you have enough common sense to get this far with your header changing, you will get this done, you just have to get creative to tighten those last bolts, you can do it!

Ry, this isn't the first time I've relied on your experience, you're a great asset to these forums!

I check that out tomorrow and update with progress. Thanks man

 

[RyzRT]

Ry, this isn't the first time I've relied on your experience, you're a great asset to these forums!

I check that out tomorrow and update with progress. Thanks man

I'm trying to find the wrench I bent to take a before and after picture side by side of how it is bent, I have one that has not been bent. So far I have not laid my hands on the one that's bent, I'm bad about putting something somewhere for safe keeping and forgetting where I put it. Ry

 

[John Doe]

I'm trying to find the wrench I bent to take a before and after picture side by side of how it is bent, I have one that has not been bent. So far I have not laid my hands on the one that's bent, I'm bad about putting something somewhere for safe keeping and forgetting where I put it. Ry

You're not alone with that, everytime I break out my toolbox at least one socket goes missing along with losing my keys about daily

 

[RyzRT]

@John Doe

Actually the best wrench I had was a 10mm wrench Honda VFR 700 Valve Adjusting wrench HONDA 07908-MB00100 which I had in my tool box from my motorcycling days, that was the wrench I had actually used on the drivers side. Which I had bent perfectly for the drivers side, on the passenger side it needed to be bent a little more, but I was tired and the hammer slipped off the end and actually hit the wrench tip itself and broke it clean off. That is why I ended with the brake bleeder wrench from O'Reilys.

After your post and looking for the brake bleeder wrench that I bent, I found the Honda wrench I had broken, and discovered it's part # stamped in the wrench handle was still available today, so I bought myself 2 of them just in case I have to do more header work.

In case you are interested? Ry

Best Price I found.
https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~valve~adj~wrench~07908-mb00100.html

This is what the wrench actually looks like.
Honda 07908-MB00100 - VALVE ADJ WRENCH | Boats.net

 

[John Doe]

@John Doe

Actually the best wrench I had was a 10mm wrench Honda VFR 700 Valve Adjusting wrench HONDA 07908-MB00100 which I had in my tool box from my motorcycling days, that was the wrench I had actually used on the drivers side. Which I had bent perfectly for the drivers side, on the passenger side it needed to be bent a little more, but I was tired and the hammer slipped off the end and actually hit the wrench tip itself and broke it clean off. That is why I ended with the brake bleeder wrench from O'Reilys.

After your post and looking for the brake bleeder wrench that I bent, I found the Honda wrench I had broken, and discovered it's part # stamped in the wrench handle was still available today, so I bought myself 2 of them just in case I have to do more header work.

In case you are interested? Ry

Best Price I found.
https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~valve~adj~wrench~07908-mb00100.html

This is what the wrench actually looks like.
Honda 07908-MB00100 - VALVE ADJ WRENCH | Boats.net

I can definitely see how that'd help. I'm sure some local store has something like that in stock.

Did you also jack the engine and move it as needed? Not a fan of putting it at an angle like that on any axis but I haven't heard anything negative or destructive about it yet

 

[RyzRT]

Did you also jack the engine and move it as needed? Not a fan of putting it at an angle like that on any axis but I haven't heard anything negative or destructive about it yet

No, I changed mine with the engine mounted, I did not unbolt the motor mounts at all.

Honestly it is not as bad to do as it looks to be, just looking at it is intimidating, but what's that they say about eating an elephant, you do it one bite at a time. Whoever came up with that original example is sick, but the point is, you go a step at a time. The hardest thing starting out is removing the aluminum heat shields on the stock exhaust manifolds, but you are not going to be able to reuse those, so get them out the best you can, I bent the heck out of mine to get them out. Once they are out of the way it gets a lot easier, because then you can see everything you need to get to.

 

[John Doe]

No, I changed mine with the engine mounted, I did not unbolt the motor mounts at all.

Honestly it is not as bad to do as it looks to be, just looking at it is intimidating, but what's that they say about eating an elephant, you do it one bite at a time. Whoever came up with that original example is sick, but the point is, you go a step at a time. The hardest thing starting out is removing the aluminum heat shields on the stock exhaust manifolds, but you are not going to be able to reuse those, so get them out the best you can, I bent the heck out of mine to get them out. Once they are out of the way it gets a lot easier, because then you can see everything you need to get to.

Ok I'm re-attacking this thread. I am convinced that it is physically impossible to get ALL the bolts on and torqued (for me, i know others have been successful), especially the top 2. I spent another 12 hours to get to them and could not get it for the life of me even with taking off motor mounts and jacking up the engine even after getting the dipstick and alternator brace out of there. All I ended up doing was idiotically making the exhaust leak worse.

Ry, I got a very versatile socket wrench for this, 18 inch handle and three joints not including the extensions, and there was still no way, but somehow getting a breaker bar in there to pop off the motor mounts is no trouble at all 🙄 Im gonna get some adjustable, combo, and ratchet wrenches to attempt with. I'm hoping the low profile in comparison to ratchets with all kinds of sockets.

I'm losing my mind with this along with my heart since I shocked the hell out of myself and about crapped my pants by forgetting to disconnect the battery and hitting the starter with the cats/mid pipes, a whole lot of sparks and jolts is what doing that will get you 😂

If I can't get it today from the bottom, I'm just gonna pull the heads off to get to the top ones. Got quoted for 500 bucks just to tighten and get the last 3 bolts in (2 on pass, 1 on driver) from an exhaust shop 🙄 I'm saving up for doing ported heads, cam, and stroking in preparation for a procharger way down the road, so there's no way I'm spending that money when I know its possible to get this done albeit a massive PITA.

If anyone else has any method in which they got the top bolts in and torqued, no matter how unique or crazy it may be, please let me know.

 

[John Doe]

Ok I'm re-attacking this thread. I am convinced that it is physically impossible to get ALL the bolts on and torqued (for me, i know others have been successful), especially the top 2. I spent another 12 hours to get to them and could not get it for the life of me even with taking off motor mounts and jacking up the engine even after getting the dipstick and alternator brace out of there. All I ended up doing was idiotically making the exhaust leak worse.

Ry, I got a very versatile socket wrench for this, 18 inch handle and three joints not including the extensions, and there was still no way, but somehow getting a breaker bar in there to pop off the motor mounts is no trouble at all 🙄 Im gonna get some adjustable, combo, and ratchet wrenches to attempt with. I'm hoping the low profile in comparison to ratchets with all kinds of sockets.

I'm losing my mind with this along with my heart since I shocked the hell out of myself and about crapped my pants by forgetting to disconnect the battery and hitting the starter with the cats/mid pipes, a whole lot of sparks and jolts is what doing that will get you 😂

If I can't get it today from the bottom, I'm just gonna pull the heads off to get to the top ones. Got quoted for 500 bucks just to tighten and get the last 3 bolts in (2 on pass, 1 on driver) from an exhaust shop 🙄 I'm saving up for doing ported heads, cam, and stroking in preparation for a procharger way down the road, so there's no way I'm spending that money when I know its possible to get this done albeit a massive PITA.

If anyone else has any method in which they got the top bolts in and torqued, no matter how unique or crazy it may be, please let me know.

Oh, and I'm even honestly thinking about just completely pulling the engine to replace my clutch at the same time and I think that would be a good opportunity for 2 birds and 1 stone.

 

[RyzRT]

Getting the Honda wrench and bending it is so much cheaper.

 

[John Doe]

Getting the Honda wrench and bending it is so much cheaper.

Yeah I don't doubt that, I was arrogant and got ahead of myself and thought a extended and versatile ratchet would do just as well but I'm gonna do exactly what you did today when I put the car up on the lift.

 

[RyzRT]

Using the wrench you will not be torquing it but you can get close enough to seal it with no leaks! I tried the 3 jointed handle ratchet wrench myself it did not work and kept slipping off the bolt risking damaging the bolt head. First off you need to do this not frustrated, walk away from it, and re-approach it later very calm. Once you get the wrench bent to the proper angle to reach the bolts the rest is just getting your hand in there to pull or push the wrench handle, trust me you can do it.

 

[TheOldGuy]

This is a picture of the Honda wrench.

You can see why it works by its design. i do no have one but I made one by welding a very short socket to a metal stub and then welding another 10" long, 3/8" diameter rod to the stub. Works just like the Honda wrench in the picture. I don't have it to show you because it is in the club tool box for others to use. If you go crazy, i can mail it to you.
-John

 

[RyzRT]

This is how I bent the wrench to reach the bolts, since it worked so well I bought 2 more of them to have just in case I decided to swap to long tubes later.

 

[TheOldGuy]

View attachment 257126

This is how I bent the wrench to reach the bolts, since it worked so well I bought 2 more of them to have just in case I decided to swap to long tubes later.

😆Yes... I forgot about having to bend my handle.
-John

 

[RyzRT]

😆Yes... I forgot about having to bend my handle.
-John

John, If I had a welder I would have done exactly what you did, at one point I was so frustrated, digging through my toolbox looking for any possible solution I finally laid my eyes on the old Honda wrench from my motorcycling days, which eventually solved the problem. The handle extra curve was more for the passenger side, the hardest side to get done, I have big fat hands that made things worse as you know, you have to be sure the tool is fully seated on the bolt head so you don't damage it.

I pulled the coil pack just above the bolts and pulled it back out of the way with nylon wire ties, I also removed the armor off the wire bundle and used wire ties to pull the bundle of wires up as far as I safely could to get my hand down there.
It is not easy for sure but is so satisfying when you finally get them tight. Ry

 

[Maxedwell]

I see this is a few months old so my advice might be too late. However, as a person who has had 2 recent cars with headers installed on them (but NOT a Challenger) I can tell you that the extra money I spent for copper gaskets on my daily driver - the 3d set of gaskets for this car - seem to work the best. No leakage. Hope this helps!

 

[mike t]

as bad as getting to the top 2 bolts was , it wasn't as bad as putting the retainers and clips on the stage 8 lockers! really need to be calm and a couple of mixed drinks didn't hurt , ya can't see what your doing all the time so I just got comfortable and let my fingers do what my eyes couldn't see. the clips were a @#$#$@%&&** < insert your favorite curse word here.

 

[Grimm Vance]

I just want to say that all of the advice I have gotten on this thread has helped me tremendously and will definitely be used in the future (by myself and others doing the same project). I however had to cancel my order for headers since another upgrade opportunity had presented itself that I'd rather have and they hadn't shipped the headers to me after almost 4 months.