Well, the cat's out of the bag, so I can finally talk about it now.
https://bangshift.com/general-news/project-cars/bangshift-power-laggin-project-truck-update-we-finally-add-some-power-with-a-full-hooker-exhaust/
A while back, I talked about replacing the stock exhaust. Well, I did just that. But since the OEM stuff is NLA, I got my hands on a complete Hooker system from the engine to the tailpipes!
Let's start with the headers. Ended up getting some Hooker Competition Classics:
These things are seriously nice. This is my first set of Hookers (so many jokes, I know) and they are really well made. Flanges are nice and thick and laser straight, and the welds are nice. Tubes are nice and thick, too.
And for the rest:
Hooker Competition header back kit with Hooker Competition turbo mufflers. This is the only kit on the market that's specifically made for this truck (long wheelbase, 4WD, LA series V8). It's a 2.25" kit with mandrel bent pipes, and it comes with just about everything you need to bolt it on. The mufflers are sold separately, but they recommend the ones I got here.
I posted a while back about marinating the manifold bolts in penetrating oil. Well, I never stopped. I kept doing this for months, and it worked! Every single bolt came out without breaking. Color me shocked.
Only one I had trouble with was this one, and of course, that stud has the cooling passage behind it. As soon as I could see the stud turning, I got out the drain pan. I had to drain coolant anyway because I had to replace the lower radiator hose anyway.
With the manifolds off, you can see the smog holes that need to be plugged.
A better look. These are the smaller ones, so the 1/4" tap and plugs would work.
I found the plugs at the local hardware store.
Doing it in the truck wasn't bad at all. I did run into a problem while tapping. The Hammer Store tap and die set I started with ended up not being up to task. Shocker. I wore out the tap in short order, so I went to the hardware store and grabbed an Irwin set. Got three taps done and SNAP! The "good" tap broke off in the smog hole. D'oh! Upon further inspection, it was in deep enough and wasn't going anywhere, so I ground down the protruding parts and left it in there. Easier than drilling it out, and it just has to be filled with something, so I called it good. Went to Lowes and bought 3 more taps just in case more of them snapped, but I didn't have any further issues. Just go slow and make sure all the carbon is cleaned out of those holes!
As an extra precaution, I used some JB Weld on each hole to seal in the plugs. After getting everything flush, I let it cure for 24 hours before bolting on the headers.
The old stuff was a mess. The passenger side manifold air tube was mostly snapped off at the manifold, causing a huge leak, and the gaskets were smoked.
It was also leaking here, where the Wire Nut Bandit stuffed this metal mesh in there.
And the Y-Pipe had holes! I didn't know those were even there until it was on the ground.
Headers fit GREAT. I've never had a set of headers go in this easy. No frame notching, no BFH pipe smashing, just had to bend the transmission dipstick tube a little.
Learning a lesson from my Trans Am, I wrapped the starter cables with heat shielding.
Since I have the mini Magnum starter, it fits with plenty of clearance, but the OEM massive starter would definitely have trouble fitting here. I had to install it from the top, but that's mainly because of the transmission cooler lines were in the way. If I re-route those, it will fit in the way it should from the bottom.
As I was removing the rest of the exhaust, the head pipe folded in half. That also had holes in it. Yikes.
Speaking of head pipes, the new kit comes with three: one for the driver's side and two for the passenger's side. The reason for the two passenger side pipes: one for 2WD and one for 4WD. I used the one that fit best and kept routing the pipes. The driver's side pipe is WILD. Scoots out from the transmission crossmember, goes UNDER the frame rail, across the transfer case tailshaft, and over to the passenger side. All of this is to get around the gas tank. Weird, but it works!
Only thing I had to change was adding a small spacer to help the muffler clear the driveshaft. A small adapter from the parts store did the trick.
Mufflers fit vertically between the frame and driveshaft. They tuck right up and in there perfectly.
Tailpipes are similarly funky, but they work and exit where they should.
Oh, and I got that spare mounted on the truck! And peep the vintage-style Hooker sticker. It's perfect.
Only real thing that fought me during the process was removing the oil filter.
I put this on a couple months back. Somehow, it fused solid to the mounting pad. And yes, I oiled the gasket and threads! Had to cut the thing off in chunks. I couldn't believe it. This took hours of time to remove.
All in all, it took me about 4-5 days to get all of this done, working part time after the day job to get it done. Biggest time wasters were plugging the smog holes and getting that dumb oil filter off. I used a Ryobi One e-ratchet on a lot of the clamps which greatly helped cut down wrenching time. In the end, it was well worth it. Surprisingly, it's much quieter than the old exhaust most of the time. Not having gaping holes in the system will do that! It's nice and quiet at idle and rowdy when you want it to be.
I'll be dropping a more in-depth video tomorrow on my new fledgling YouTube channel. I have done a couple long drives with it since the install, and I really like the system. Sounds good, smoothed out the power band, and it's one less thing I have to worry about. I have a lot more work to do, and a few more future surprises in store that I can't talk about yet (I know I know, sorry, bound to embargo stuff), but I really like where the truck build is going. 
