Do you have the inevitable intake manifold leak? If so, it's worth the trouble. Take lots of pix of the hoses 'cause you'll need 'em (& the emissions control manual).
The rear manifold nuts are hard to get at & impossible to torque properly IMHO. There's an ugly oil cooler or something with a rusty metal flex line that's a screaming bitch to get off & back on. Other than that, it's a technically moderate, physically difficult job unless you're a double-jointed monkey.
But it's rewarding & you'll know your cruiser much better at the end, particularly emissions control & carb. Great opportunity to change the vac lines (mark 'em with stick-on tags that match ones on the connections. You can change one at a time that way. Make copies of the manual pages & write notes on 'em.
I used MAF's 6-2-1 ceramic coated headers on my '83 & really liked them, but the head/head gasket crapped out less than 3,000 mi later. Now they're for sale, along with the carb heater setup (put the complete stock engine from my '84 back in).
Exhaust tip from my Midas neighbor - hook things up starting in the front & work to the rear.
