just wondering how hard it really is to install the cattman headers? it seems kinda hard to get to the rear mani especially sense it has that EGR BS to deal with. Is there a howto somwhere that shows step by step or best technique to installing them? y pipe is easy but it seems you need like 10 ft long arms if youre going to get to the header bolts and im sure there tourqued on like a biotch. Just need some advice from anyone who has done the install themselves. Thanks -Ryan

 

It won't be as bad if you take your time, and have lots of patience.
The instructions said to remove the engine cradle, and rear engine mount bracket. There is a few things that make that easier, but a few other things that will make it more complicated to work from the bottom.
If you go from the bottom you might have some trouble with the bolts holding the heat shield, and the EGR pipe that goes into the rear manifold. Some of those bolts on the heat shield can be easy removed just by hand, but some might need a bit more torque. You also might need to move the EGR pipe just a bit in order to put the headers in.
When I installed mine. I removed the intake manifold, and everything was pretty easy until I had to remove the rear heat shield. There was just no space for it to come out easily. After a couple of hours I finally reshaped the same thing and it was out.
I guess if you remove both the engine cradle, and intake manifold would be the easiest way to remove and install the rear section. It might take a bit longer, but you might not have to deal with so many little issues

 

I put mine on with the motor out of the car, so install was a breez. Recently removed the cattman headers and put the stock manifolds back on with some help from local guys Dave and Steve. I was able to do the whole thing with just the intake manifold removed and working from the top and bottom. The front is cake, the rear is not too bad except for one hard to get to bolt and the two EGR nuts that have to be removed. It just takes some patients. I did not have to deal with removing the rear heat shield since it was already removed from the install but I can imagine that is a PITA. The whole thing could be done in one day (one long day) with the right tools and some help.

 

Optimus--nice Avatar pic!

Joosdawg: I put mine on with the engine in the car, and ran into similar issues also. The front is a cinch, all you need to do is remove the air intake assembly and the rad fans. The rear however is a major PITA. If you don't remove the cradle from underneath (likely need air tools to do this) then you probably will have to remove the intake manifold from the top. Doing this gets you pretty good access to most of the heat shield/header bolts, and the rest you can get ok from underneath.

As has been said though, the major problems are the heat shield and possibly EGR tube fitment. I just couldn't get my heat shield out without mangling it a bit into a slightly different shape. But this is no big deal as you don't need to reinstall it. The biggest problem I had was getting the EGR to fit correctly. The bung on the header wasn't quite at the right angle, so in the end it required removing the steel tube running from the header to the EGR valve and heating and bending it slightly with a torch. Only then could I get the rear header to line up properly.

As far as torquing goes, I didn't find any of the manifold bolts too bad (and I didn't have air tools, just ratchets, extensions etc) however I would definitely suggest soaking all of them in rust penetrant and letting it sit for a good while before hand. You don't want to snap a stud off. I had a couple that came out (rather than the nut) but it was ok as I separated them later and just screwed the stud back in since it wasn't broken.

I think taking the cradle off as recommended would make it easier to do the rear; however, I didn't do this so I can't comment too much. Either way I'd suggest planning for a weekend to do this (2-day install) unless you're extremely well equipped and experienced and a friend to help wouldn't hurt either (second set of hands makes it much easier). Even for an experienced mechanic with a full shop setup it's still a 5-6 hr install. And you know things never quite go smoothly without problems...

 

thanks for the awsome info guys!!! great great stuff, somone really needs to do a picture by picture for the install (i think i might) currently im pissed at my holey exhaust and am changing my stock y out for a stone racing and custom maxima testpipe. sense i sold my cattman y i missed it so much the power left the high end pickup left highway driving went down the tubes! of course the SMR y pipe is a temporary setup until i get the cattman headers but i obviously am not going to tackle that install in this cold! even in my uncles heated garage the floor itself is not heated so its still like an icecube. so ill prolly buy the headers in march or around then and install as soon as the temp hits like 60 65 so i can at least be comfortable doing it. again thanks for the awsome info guys. Mike are you gonna be at the track this spring if we make some meets? you missed out all the fun times lastyear -Ryan

 

I have lots of pics from my install http://gallery.azmaximas.org/view_al...eaders-install

 

nice just what i wanted to see thanks!!!