Gotcha. Yes you can do that.

Take a look at post 55559.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/wh...940/index3704/

 

Thanks for a great (albeit old) thread. After spending the past several hours of my life going back and forth on which header to purchase and so forth, this one is the best compilation of info. I am preparing to do the install myself on my '99. Thank ye!

 

Good luck. Hopefully you won't need to massage the tube to much to clear the intake. I had to beat one side into compliance but not much. I did grind a little on the manifold and after about half a dozen hard hits with the hammer made it clear the manifold. The bolts on the underside are not fun. Again, good luck.

 

OK, so here I am, having trouble installing the intake manifold on a 99...thought we had it, front pin was in, we heard the "ping" is we thought everything seated, test start...VROOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM wide open. Go back in thinking, oh, it must be us, improper install. 2nd try, 3rd try, somethings hitting...holding us up...

So, it appears that we have a grinder/basher combo model and have to grind on the intake some and bash in the exhaust some.
My question is, where do I grind/bash and how much? Did anyone perhaps take a photo after they got it to fix? Silly me, of course not, when it went into place on both pins every one went for bolts, right?

So, can anyone that had to grind/bash give me some estimate of how much we are talking, 1/16 on manifold, 1/4 dent in header? I can pretty much reach under and feel where they are hitting so I guess that's where to grind, I just want to be conservative and not blow it.

 

I installed the APN header on my '99 XJ a couple years back, and it does include some trial and error getting it to fit. I bashed the header and grinded the intake, but after I had it successfully installed, I think I came to the conclusion that bashing the header wasn't really needed so much as the grinding of the intake. There are 2 or 3 points that need clearance, none of them include large amounts of material being removed really. The annoying parts is the trial and error of assembling and disassembling multiple times in order to get it right. One trick I used is to put some gear marking paint or prussian blue (or any similar thick, sticky paint or grease) on the areas of the header that you know are making contact with the intake, then attempt an install, then check to see where the paint transfered from the header to the intake. Then grind away at those points. Rinse, and repeat until the damn thing fits.

I would also suggest using some copper gasket dressing on the gasket to fill in any tiny gaps.

 

I’m having the same issue with my 99 but only on the tube for cylinder 6.