I finally Had the time to install the Klee headers and as usual there was other issues that were found had to be corrected. I pulled the ign coils & plug wires to made easier access to the OEM exhaust manifolds. There it was staring me in the face , the valve cover to baffle seam oil leak. So off they came , Clean & scrape out the old sealant , Off the the powder coaters , for a GSA gray color. Next came the power Sawzall . I cut each exhaust pipe after the 2nd bend , from the exit of the primary Cat. . To make easier access to the sides of the engine , I removed the front wheel & plastic inter fender panels. Now I have most a straight shot to remove the exhaust pipe flange bolts . There was some small heat shields to be remove but nothing major. I also cut the top stud on the shocks off & capped them with a red plastic cap. Just gives more wiggle room. So then I removed the ECU and sent it out to Klee They programmed it for the added exhaust flow & so I could run the engine without the primary cats , Get no CEL and so it shows readiness on the OBD -2 .

Now when I removed the very restrictive OEM exh manifold every stud backed out with the loc-nut still on it. So I cleaned & tapped all the heads , wear the studs were , cleaned the studs. loc-tite them back in place with Green loctite . The OEM manifolds outlet is a small 42mm / 1-11/16ths". and the new Klee headers outlets are 59mm / 2-3/8ths" The headers went in with no fitment issues , The down pipes that were supplied fit well , just had to cut for lengthI then was off to the custom exh shop with the pipes and had adaptors to go from the down pipes to the smaller OEM metric exh pipes . I left in the rear cats , stock muffler & tail pipe. I did use all new lock nuts & Flange gaskets, All the o2 sensors are in place. All The heat shields were install. There is more to come . Just waiting on the Valve covers. and 2" x1" exh pipe band clamps
Cheers _PTEngineering

 

As usual your builds are top notch and documented like an engineering text!
Can't wait for your driving impressions.

 

would these be considered mid length ? , they look good I definitely need to find my w163 ml500 a set of headers . I’m also searching for ml55 camshafts or any AMG camshafts that are more aggressive than stock & are drop in ready .

 

I’d consider them “shorty” headers as long tubes would extend from the flange all the way down under the footwell where the tubes would merge into the collector. And that’s probably fine unless you’re building an all out race car. My 1230 HP Camaro has 2” primary long tubes, but I ran the OEM shorty headers at 700+ HP with no issue. The biggest restriction will be the OEM cats so upgrading those along with the shorty headers will be great in my opinion.

 

they look beautiful ! , I want ml55 amg cams or most aggressive drop in AMG cams . LTH would be nice but i would settle for shortys alone because they require no tune correct ?

 

Shorty headers typically will not require a tune since they usually bolt up to the stock catted down pipes, or bolt up to down pipes that use a cat in the OEM location.

 

Beautiful, I would love to hear to outcome of this project. This is exactly what I hope to do with my ML55.