Im having troubles changing my exhaust manifold gaskets. A couple weeks ago i was accelerating hard and i noticed the car "missed a beat". When i slowed down i noticed it was running horribly and limped home. Later, after trying to figure out what was wrong i noticed i had an exhaust leak between the exhaust manifold and the headers. I ordered new gaskets and took all the bolts off the headers, but cant seem to get the headers off of the engine in order to put the new gaskets on...I need to move the headers probably another inch but it seems nearly impossible... is there any trick to this? plz help...

 

You can lift the eng a little to clear it.

 

I have tried to wedge the engine over by using a 2by4 but still cant seem to get the headers off the studs..... I have herd of people jacking up the engine, but am rather hesitant... dont want to cause a bigger problem than i started with...

 

Most people will double nut the studs and remove a few to allow the headers to come out. I always just do the wiggling thing. Unless the studs have been replaced with longer studs, it is tight, but they will come out.

And you are sure it is those crush seals leaking and not a cracked crossover pipe or manifold? Kind of odd for crush seals to start leaking IMHO. When you have the headers out, make sure to do a quick water test on them to check for internal cracks.