RLx02

rough estimate anyone?

Gramma_Benz

Check with Hooley, he is an expert now....

OverDrive

When i did mine, They were like "o god, hella small space"....... But after they got into it wasn't that bad.... They quote me i think 6 hours... But it wasn't even near that.... and charge me for 3 hours

RLx02

I just talked to my master-tech buddy and he says shouldn't be more than 1.5 if you have all the right tools. But this isn't factoring the exhaust part I guess...so 1.5 for headers and maybe another 1.5 for fitting it/welding it to the exhaust. So not too bad. I was expecting around 6 or so.

Hm, time to pull the trigger on kleeman headers/ecu?

jturkel

i'd say pull the trigger on MBH headers! ....and then a tune

but yah, i believe "the book" quotes 6 hours. but my guy installed them in just under 3 hours and had never worked on an MB before and we had some fitment problems that we had to fix.

and yes, it IS quite cramped in there

RLx02

MBH headers look promising but kleeman headers and ecu reflash are cheaper than just mbh headers by a lot.

Every shop I've called has been quoting me for EIGHT hours of labor; trying to rip me off. I think I'll just go through my master-tech friend and get my hands dirty with him. We'd just have to go to a muffler shop to get it welded to the exhaust :o

performance1st

i paid 1k for kleemann header install, rewelding of downpipes to exhaust, ecu shipping to and from kleemann, as well as before and after dynos.

02C32guy

I just asked Greg at Eurocharged the same question and he said they usually charge 4-5 hours.

nrgy

I pretty much found it to be the same case up here in Seattle. 8 hours was pretty much the minimum quote I found for a header install. When I shopped around for coilover installs I was quoted between $750-$1200 @ 4 different shops too. I just can't seem to find those really good deals I keep reading about on the forums...maybe it's just the NW.

cdd

I was quoted $750 for install at an authorized Kleemann shop.

moosejaw

Coilovers dont take that long at all
I got charged 2.5 hours each axle

AMS Performance

For direct bolt on headers (such as ours), its not that bad. Most shops charge 6 only b/c that is book rate but if your shop charges by actual hours of work you can get a much better deal since its really only 3-4 hours max (after all its only 8 nuts & 2 bolts per side). A few of our customers have even installed ours in under 3 hours DIY, but that all depends on your mechanical ability and tools available to you.

If you want to do long tube headers that's a completely different story and it takes alot longer b/c custom fabrication is required (welding & etc). That's the major benefit of bolt on shorties, they are piece of cake to install. With that said, long tubes will give you better top end (but of course they cost more in both parts & labor). It all depends on which route you want to take, some prefer the easier route, others are shooting for max HP and are willing to pay the extra cash.

Hope that helps

hooleyboy

From doing both Long tube and short tube headers. Neither one of the are "fast" when it comes to installing. No matter what the car is Mustang, Corvette, Porsche, or Mercedes. it just takes time. Some long tube header installs require the top steering shaft bolt to be removed for easier access to the drivers side. While Some Mustang Long tube headers even snake some pipes around both sides of the steering shaft.

Most header installs, long and short, require some dropping or lowering of the exhaust system Where as a long tube header install will just about always require exhaust modding (cutting welding, clamping).

A thing to note if DIY'ing. Some header studs may come loose when you loosen the header/exhaust manifold bolts. This isnt a big issue.. You just have to remember to put the stud back in..

Some other things that add to the time is.. The removal of the coil packs. Removing the coil packs and not just unplugging them from the spark plug. will free up a truck load of "workable" room. It is important when reinstalling the coil packs that they are installed in the correct order.

Each coil pack has a 2 letters on the and a diagram showing what wire is A and what wire is B. Remember you have 2 spark plugs per cylinder. If that isnt confusing enough. Each coil pack has yet another reference number located on the plug end, metal terminal.

The letters stamped into the metal need to go to the corresponding letter shown on the valve cover. Example: If the plug wire is stamped with the letter "G" that coil pack needs to go to the location on the valve cover that also says "G". I cant remember off the top of my head, but some of these letters repeat themselves.

A header install may only require a small amount of hand tools. However it just takes time. Honestly Its not something I would want to do in my driveway.

RLx02

Appreciate it! Most likely we'll be spending a saturday at ft. lewis in their automotive shop

loungn14

just don't forget to let the car cool down for a few hours before install if not overnight

TruTaing

RLx02, I had my headers installed in about 2.5 hours at Mercedes Garage in Bellevue.

AMS Performance

I agree hooley, professional installation is recommended, but with bolt on shorties they can technically be done DIY (although having a lift & extra set of hands makes life much easier).

Either way RXL02, the actual cost varies quite a bit from shop to shop so the only way to find the best deal is shop around to see what each shop will charge for the install. Ask if they go by book rate or actual shop time as this can make a big difference. Hope that helps.

RLx02

Thanks,

Thats what I've been doing. I called several shops now and most of them go by the book, only a couple will charge actual labor. The rate around western washington seems to be right around 100+, which is fairly reasonable. I'm hoping to go for under 4 hours considering how trutaing said he had his v6 done in 2.5. An extra 2 cylinders shouldn't be much more and really shouldn't take more than an another hour to cut and weld the long tube kleemans in place.

MBH motorsports

I've taken my longtubes off a few times. In fact The night before famoso I had to do an emergency repair to a damaged header. I ripped the murge collector off on a dug out speed bump in a constuction zone. it was 100% my fault. So I took them off in record time.

Due to some damage to the merge collector The header had to be shortened by 2 inches. Really nothing I could do with such short time. The fix worked out flawess. Rich ar Dyno-Comp and I were abel to knock out the reinstall of the headers in under an hour. Granted though we had both done this a truck load of time from testing and testing.

I now have a C55 v.2 header soon to hit. So I'm going to be selling my long tubes that are on the car now. I was thinking about $900 for the set. If anyone is interested. They will have a ton of power even though the runners are shortened by 2 inches. Not to mention these are the headers in their currant form, that help me run an 11.55 @120mph.

RLx02

The book rate is 5.9 hours for both, if its just replacing the short tubes. However, just about every shop I called wanted at least 8 hours because of the cutting and welding involved with the long tubes.

I was going to go with Mercedes Garage in Bellevue but I ended up going with German Autowerke in Edmonds for 3 reasons.

A) They matched Mercedes Garage's price ($800) and for no extra cost are taking out my ecu, mailing it to Kleemann, and installing it. They are also rewelding some exhaust leaks I had that came from a CRAP job of removing my secondaries at a low-key muffler place.

B) Mercedes Garage is just too busy. I can never seem to reach them and/or they do not call back to answer some of my questions.

C) When I curbed my car, I had my lower control arm replaced by them and they did a good job. Furthermore, another member here with an awesome SL55 had his under drive pulleys installed there as well.

So there you have it. I will try to drop off my car there next week and have it done before next friday! I'm stoked!

I'll keep you guys informed on the progress

TruTaing

Fair enough. I will have to check this place out cuz its much closer to where I live. I was about to take my car to that "crap" place and have them remove my secondaries... haha.

RLx02

Yeah, that "place" is about the only muffler shop that will do it for you but they did a pretty crappy job. Its embarrassing to have that on my car...luckily you can't see it since its underneath. It was cheap though, like 120 i think?