Exhaust System: Removal

I have a terrible exhaust leak at the headers so I decided that I should just refurb the whole system. My plan is to get some new headers and send out the rear exhaust for a new coating. The first challenge was to get the headers off. I don't think these headers have ever been removed and I am deathly afraid of breaking off an old bolt in the head. If I did, I would have to remove the whole engine....and I didn't want to do that. I spent about 3 weeks soaking and working on the bolts. I started with normal penetrants then on the advice of some pantera forum members, I created a 50/50 mix of Acetone and ATF fluid. I finally got all the header bolts off and the rear exhaust system. Not only did I have one exhaust leak, I had around four in total! You can see the leaks where the heads are charred.

I prepped the rear exhaust and sent it off to Jet Hot for coating in black. I have also ordered a set of headers from Hall with black coating as well. I'll cover install in the next entry.

Steering Rack Rebuild

After I got the news from GTE that my steering rack was in bad shape, I decided to send the rack out for a total rebuild. I sent the rack off to Pantera Performance. The rack came back looking brand new. See pics below:

Old Rack Out

New Rack Back!

I am now ready to get the rack aligned. One thing I did discover is that my right front (NEW) tire has a slow leak. I don't think it is the tire though...I think it is most likely something wrong with the rim/valve stem that is leaking. Will have to dig more with GTE when they do the alignment.