So if you have pre-cats I believe you have a California emissions configuration. My stock 2000 does not have them and the related extra sensors.

As a heads up, if you have not already tackled it you are likely to have fun getting some of the bolts off the existing exhaust manifold. They are not torqued very tight but they are underneath and nearly impossible to see or to get a straight line with a socket/extension. The pre-cats may add to the access challenges, You should put a new manifold gasket on. It is a single metal gasket for both inlet and exhaust and it should only be torqued down once due to the metal matrix sealing features. The real challenge can be torquing down the manifold bolts to the required values, and it is to your advantage to do the torques and in proper sequence. The end studs are prone to breaking if over torqued and with this type of gasket specified torque values help ensure a good seal. If you don't get a good seal you risk significant idle problems. When I replaced my head I installed the head, intake and exhaust manifold as an assembly after torquing the manifold bolts on the bench. There are several tricks/lessons I learned that may be of help to you that I can write up if interested.

 

Thank you very much!! Ill make sure to hit you up during the process!

 

Before you get too far may I suggest that you place a straight edge across the header port flanges to check for flatness? A metal ruler or similar will do the trick. Or the kitchen counter top is usually pretty flat. If you can slip more than one or two sheets of paper under any gap where you can see light between the flanges and straight edge you may have problems getting a good seal. A sheet of copy paper is about 0.004". It is not as critical on the exhaust manifold as the intake manifold but the flatness will be a good judge of header quality. The metal on your header is pretty thick and the bolt torque is not high so the header likely will not bend much to conform to the head mating surface. I saw where one person had to cut the header web connecting the pipes to get a good fit and seal. That seems like too much trouble to me. Let me know what you find.

 

I had this issue with a "speed daddy" brand cheap header, I noticed it was warped and when I contacted the customer support person they said they never had any issues in the past, I asked around online and people thought it would flatten out when torqued, long story short I never could get it entirely flat and had a small leak that was very annoying, so if it's considerably warped I'd ask about returning it before going through all the work to install it.

 

I can also attest to cheap ebay headers i bought one for 145 dollars supposed to be a banks clone, i could never get it to lay flat when torqued or engine hot, or cold ended up paying the money and getting a magnaflow and love it.

 

Yeah, if you can afford to get a quality header, don't cheap out. When mine cracked, it was leaking rich fumes into the jeep so bad, it was nauseating. I had good luck with my cheapy, but when it cracks again, hopefully I'll have some money to be able to get a banks, borla, magnaflow, etc.

 

Joecam: My conservative approach on the header would be to leave well enough alone until you have a problem with the existing manifold or need to pull the head. By 2000 the head ports had been optimized for improved HP and a cast manifold matched to the head was used that should be less prone to cracking compared to the earlier designs. The amount of grief and time you will go through to switch over to the header you picked up vs. the gain you will get may not be a great trade-off. A couple of the lower bolts on the header will be very difficult to get at to tighten properly. From your photos of the header and what I recall of my installation it does not look like they left you room to access a lower bolt between cylinders 3 &4 and the pre-cats are not going to make it any easier. Sorry - you probably don't want to hear that, especially after doing such a nice job wrapping your new header. It really does look nice. However, if you decide to go ahead we are here for you.

If you want to make changes in this area maybe just do that downstream of the pre-cats?

 

 

Took it into Desoto National Forest this weekend with the gf. Was a good time! Rained a few days before so there was some mud but not a crazy amount








*not my trash*





Really like trail riding in this thing!

 

Looking good! It's got like the perfect stance too.

 

Thanks man Its the cut fenders and wannabe stubby bumper

 

When it comes to your rockers what did you go with? I was going to purchase some 2x6 tubing yesterday for $100 for X2 5' of it but decided I didn't really want to cut into my rockers. I might just go with a pre-built that bolt into my uni-body and then weld to pinch seams.

 

They were actually one of the first things I bought! They are JCR stage 3 I believe. I really shoulder have gotten a bumper, but im glad (now) that I have them and dont have to deal with them

 

Thanks I like those JCR setups. I think I will put those on my list of things to buy soon. Much more expensive then some 2x6's but it will require a lot of fabrication that I posses no skills to do. Going with the JCR will eliminate the work involved to get it right.

 

Yes! I have had zero issues other than a little rust here or there but thats an easy fix. If i could do it again i would get them powdercoated or something to prevent that. Unless youre rocking into boulders then itll be a waste