Removing Stock Upper/Lower Intake - How hard?

[SiK91LX]

I jus took out the upper intake and just by looking @ the lower intake Looks crazy pain in the ass thing, injectors, fuel lines etc etc etc

Anyone have a special website - I never took this out before so its my first time.. Taking a quick break - Thanks Guys

 

[85-302]

me and my buddy took his off of his 86 in about 30-40 min. we just left all the injectors on the rails and left the rails on the fuel lines, then we just twisty ties it to the fender. i think a haynes is the best thing you could buy at this point. it will walk you through step by step...

 

[Michael Yount]

Drain the coolant out of the engine; remove coolant hoses from back end and front end of metal tubes; disconnect electrical connections (injectors, act sensor, coolant temp sensor, temp gauge, purge cannister - I think that's it, you already got the tps and egr when you took off the upper), unbolt the 12 bolts, disconnect the fuel lines (special plastic tool) and you should be able to pull it out. Take dizzy out if you want more room. Looks harder than it is - the electrical stuff will fall right back into place. You can take the fuel lines/injectors/regulator out with it off the car - much easier to get to stuff.

 

[stangbear427]

Why are you taking it off?

 

[SiK91LX]

Installing Edelbrock RPM Intake w/ 1.7 rockers, fuel pressure regulator, 24b injectors, 190fuel pump + 7PSI Paxton

 

[stangbear427]

Oh! A noble cause. There are more little hoses and lines on there than you might think, and some won't look like they transfer over. Take your time and swap them to the new intake one at a time, it's easy to find yourself with a spare hose when you're done and a vaccuum leak you can't find, or coolant going into something it shouldn't. Make sure to get the torque sequence right too- it's more common than most people like to admit that not torquing it fully and in proper order causes vaccuum leaks and gasket blowouts. Good luck!

 

[Michael Yount]

I bow down to Stangbear - the torque sequence on the lower is counter-intuitive. Most of us have been taught to simply "X" pattern the tightening out to the ends starting in the center. That's not correct for the lower. And there's no reason to torque to anything higher than 18-20 ft-lbs. The upper needs no more than 10 ft-lbs. Also, since you're adding boost, remember to think through your vacuum connections -- those devices are expecting to be sucked not blown (been waiting a long time to post that line ), so your kit should provide you with the proper bits and pieces to be sure that only the intake manifold gets to see 7 psi, not other stuff that won't like 7 psi.

 

[stangbear427]

God I love that guy... glad to have been able to open the window of opportunity for you. My pleasure.

SiK91LX :
Here's some stuff you may find helpfull.

p.s. it's from IATN and you're supposed to have to pay to access it so
notalking!notalking!

 

[Michael Yount]

That's the one.....where's 6?

 

[stangbear427]

Oh, and the exact torque specs if you want them:

Lower Intake Manifold to Cylinder Head
1st Step 15-20 '#
2nd Step 23-25 '#
Upper Jntake-to-Lower Intake Manifold
1st Step finger tight
2nd Step 12-18 '#

 

[stangbear427]

That's the one.....where's 6?

Sorry, somehow didn't scan. It's the one without the number.

 

[Michael Yount]

Yeah, just yankin' your chain; sik91 - I'd stay on very lowest end of the torques listed above - especially on the upper to lower. The lower casting isn't very strong, and overtorquing the upper can easily break the lower casting. As I mentioned before - 18-20 is plenty on the lower; and I've not gone beyond 10 on the upper; it's a simple seal, doesn't take much clamping force to seal it.

 

[beaver2489]

Be careful, when I took the lower intake bolts off one broke off with little effort. It was on a 145,000mi motor so there was some coolant corrosion in the block, but watch out.

 

[stangbear427]

Not a bad idea to soak everything down with Blaster the night before and let it sit over night.

 

[SiK91LX]

Thanks guys //

Three Problems ----

I just got the lower intake off, while pulling the lower intake off little rusted pieces of metal and dirt and coolant slipped right inside on top of the heads or whatever is underneath the lower intake Whats the best way to clean this mess up?

problem 3 - The lower manifold bolt thats right next to the thermostat broke off and half of it is stuck inside the thread.....How can i get this out?

Thanks Guys

 

[iluvcars]

a vaccum. thats what i did

 

[stangbear427]

Yup, vaccuum. We had a neet little one that attatched to the air compressor hose, put Paris Hilton to shame. Or are you talking about the lifter valley? Either way, suck it out. It isn't a bad idea to run a strip of 2" painters tape over the intake ports on the heads while you're farting around in there, just to keep anything else from slipping in when you're not looking. Painters tape, the blue stuff, doesn't leave any residue. Two or three layers and you're good. The screw will have to be extracted, and it isn't something I've ever personnally had to do so I won't advise you on it. I have seen guys drill them out, but if the bit walks you're in trouble. They use an awl or punch to get a positive center dent to work out from, and hardened, super sharp bits at low speed starting real small (like 1/16", working in steps to bigger ones), you should be able to get it out in peices... but I didn't tell you that. There are kits you can buy for extracting broken bolts too, but I don't know if they work when it's snapped off inside. Was that only two problems, or did I miss something?

 

[Michael Yount]

Stangbear's tape advice is sound - of course you have to clean the surface you're covering too - and I stuff shop rags in all the ports/water passages/egr passage while I'm scraping the heads -- lay a big towel in the lifter valley; after all the scraping is done I use the shop vac to get as much as I can out, and then carefully remove the towels/rags - then tape.

You could be in for a real treat on the bolt extraction. Corrosion is probably why it broke - if it was tight enough to break the bolt, the threads of the bolt have likely "become one" with the block. You may end up having to drill it out and re-tap the threads. Try what Stangbear suggested first, but you may have to get medievial on it to get it out of there. If you are successful at getting an awl or extractor into the remnants, try heating it good and hot with a propane or mapp gas bottle before you try to turn it - that often frees up the threads. Don't heat the stud itself, heat the head. The absolute worst case is the head has to come off and go to the machine shop. Hope not.

 

[88LX]

i had a question regarding this. what are the little cups that the injectors sit in? how do you pull out the injectors from the intake without damaging anything? can i buy new o rings and those cups? im thinking about getting a tmoss ported lower. thanks

 

[Michael Yount]

Not sure what you mean by 'cups'. The injector just pushes into the manifold, and the fuel rail just pushes down on top of the injectors. There are 2 bolts on either side of the lower that hold the fuel rail in place. Remove them and you can simply pull the rail off. Some injectors may come with the rail; some may stay in the intake. Yes, it's a good idea to (if they haven't been replaced in a while) to replace orings on both ends of each injector, and to be sure the ports on the manifold and fuel rail are clean before you lube the new rings and reinsert.