86 Turbo Crossover pipe hell

Talk and Tech about turbocharged 924/944/968 cars
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Belgian951
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Tom wrote: Tue Oct 03, 2023 2:58 pm hmmm... if I'm doing metric right, .5cm is 5mm? 5mm is darn close by exhaust pipe flange standards. :) If I am understanding that correctly, then you just need to muscle it into position with a screwdriver or whatever it takes.

That's quite a find on the one-piece crossover!
Yes, that's correct. Ok I'm going to try again this Saturday and I'll definitely report back. :thumbup:

It was indeed a lucky Ebay find, suggested to me by a member on another forum. I was doubting whether to buy it since it was quite expensive, but I believe I did the right thing after rechecking the redone welds on my two other pipes. Both pipes have fresh cracks in the new welds so welding definitely isn't easy to do I believe.
1986 944 Turbo Garnet Rot Metallic

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Cruise98
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Try using an alignment punch. It is basically just a long punch and is used to align holes between two pieces.

I would not tighten any of the nuts until all of them are installed. You need all the wiggle room you can get.

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Belgian951
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Thanks. I had my brother take some photos of the misalignment. What do you all think?
xover1.jpeg
xover1.jpeg (187.58 KiB) Viewed 1311 times
xover2.jpeg
xover2.jpeg (147.61 KiB) Viewed 1311 times
1986 944 Turbo Garnet Rot Metallic

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ealoken
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Loosen them on the head, and sqrew all places inn,turn by turn.

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Belgian951
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ealoken wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 3:49 am Loosen them on the head, and sqrew all places inn,turn by turn.
Exhaust headers are loose. Do you think it's safe to pry them this much together?
1986 944 Turbo Garnet Rot Metallic

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Tom
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Belgian951 wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 5:04 am
ealoken wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 3:49 am Loosen them on the head, and sqrew all places inn,turn by turn.
Exhaust headers are loose. Do you think it's safe to pry them this much together?
From those pictures, they look close enough to pry over with a screwdriver safely. Pictures can be deceiving so use your best judgment, but that looks pretty typical...

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RUG8RB8
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You must have a set of quality tapered punches to make this happen. A generous amount of antiseize on your bolts and nuts will assist as well. You will have to play around with order of install as you will learn certain ones need to be started and other holes left open.

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gpr8er
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Belgian951 wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 1:32 am Thanks. I had my brother take some photos of the misalignment. What do you all think?
xover1.jpeg
xover2.jpeg
The headers are most likely warped also a normal occurrence with these cars. That looks very doable. As others have said get a line up punch. Also FWIW I removed the studs in the head at the exhaust ports and used the same allen heads that are used for the intake manifold works really nice and when/if you need to R&R the headers you don't have to fight them to get around the studs. BTW when "we" say leave it loose that means only a few threads on the fastener.

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Belgian951
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RUG8RB8 wrote: Fri Oct 06, 2023 4:06 pm You must have a set of quality tapered punches to make this happen. A generous amount of antiseize on your bolts and nuts will assist as well. You will have to play around with order of install as you will learn certain ones need to be started and other holes left open.
Thanks. I have bought 2 tapered punches, they'll arrive this evening. :thumbup:
Dumb question: do I have to hammer these punches at a sideways angle?
gpr8er wrote: Fri Oct 06, 2023 4:24 pm
Belgian951 wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 1:32 am Thanks. I had my brother take some photos of the misalignment. What do you all think?
xover1.jpeg
xover2.jpeg
The headers are most likely warped also a normal occurrence with these cars. That looks very doable. As others have said get a line up punch. Also FWIW I removed the studs in the head at the exhaust ports and used the same allen heads that are used for the intake manifold works really nice and when/if you need to R&R the headers you don't have to fight them to get around the studs. BTW when "we" say leave it loose that means only a few threads on the fastener.
I wouldn't be surprised if these headers are warped or otherwise damaged. I noticed the PO did a poor welding job on one of them, so I just hope they are leak free... But if I ever replace them, I'll be sure to change the studs to the bolts. That's a good tip. Thank you!
1986 944 Turbo Garnet Rot Metallic

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gpr8er
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Belgian951 wrote: Sat Oct 07, 2023 2:17 am
RUG8RB8 wrote: Fri Oct 06, 2023 4:06 pm You must have a set of quality tapered punches to make this happen. A generous amount of antiseize on your bolts and nuts will assist as well. You will have to play around with order of install as you will learn certain ones need to be started and other holes left open.
Thanks. I have bought 2 tapered punches, they'll arrive this evening. :thumbup:
Dumb question: do I have to hammer these punches at a sideways angle?
gpr8er wrote: Fri Oct 06, 2023 4:24 pm
Belgian951 wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 1:32 am Thanks. I had my brother take some photos of the misalignment. What do you all think?
xover1.jpeg
xover2.jpeg
The headers are most likely warped also a normal occurrence with these cars. That looks very doable. As others have said get a line up punch. Also FWIW I removed the studs in the head at the exhaust ports and used the same allen heads that are used for the intake manifold works really nice and when/if you need to R&R the headers you don't have to fight them to get around the studs. BTW when "we" say leave it loose that means only a few threads on the fastener.
I wouldn't be surprised if these headers are warped or otherwise damaged. I noticed the PO did a poor welding job on one of them, so I just hope they are leak free... But if I ever replace them, I'll be sure to change the studs to the bolts. That's a good tip. Thank you!
No, you don't hammer in the punch. Get everything end to end rattle loose and start prying the best spot where you can get the punch in across 2 holes. Get a bolt in and keep going. It's going to fight you and will take some time

https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Proto-J1 ... 163&sr=1-6

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