Intake Manifold Install...

[Blue91GT]

Just bought a Polished Cobra upper and lower for my 91 GT. I am iffy about installing it myself as I have never done it before, and try not to mess with the fuels system as much as possible. Does anyone know of any resources/books that are out there that will outline this process to help me make the decision of DIY or not? I have the crappy Haynes manual but it is pretty vague.

 

[stykthyn]

not much to it. pull the old upper off, then pry the fuel rails/injectors out of the lower and lay it to the side. remove all the bolts from the lower. you may have to tap the intake loose with a rubber mallet. then take it out once it's loose. I always go to the hardware store and get new bolts when re-install the lower. cut the tops off four of the old bolts to make studs out of them. put the studs in the four outside corners on the block. this will hold the intake straight and not allow it to slide the gaskets around. install gaskets and sealant, drop the new lower on, then torque to the specs in your manual. the rest is plug and play from there.

 

[Blue91GT]

Thanks for the help, mods always make me nervous because once i get the car apart, I fear not being able to put it back together. As far as the harware stor goes, I bought the kit from Ford, and it came with the neccessary bolts. only thing I need is a lower gasket. Felpro makes a rubber lower manifold gasket don't they? I hear bad things about some of the cork gaskets out there. Also, should I use any kind of sealant on the gaskets and bolts?

Do you reccomend any kind of spacers? I know they make heat spacers that go between the upper and lower, is there any performance increase by doing so?

 

[jrichker]

Here's some tips...

Tools: a good torque wrench is a must have item. A razor blade scraper that holds a single edge razor blade from Home Depot or Ace hardware is another handy thing. Get a Chilton or Haynes shop manual - you'll need it for the bolt torques and patterns. The intake manifold has an especially odd pattern. You'll need access to a timing light to set the timing after you re-stab the distributor. Look in the A/C repair section for the fuel line tools. They look like little plastic top hats. You will need the 1/2" & 5/8" ones. The hat shaped section goes on facing the large part of the coupling. Then you press hard on the brim until it forces the sleeve into the coupling and releases the spring. You may need someone to pull on the line while you press on the coupling. Put some motor oil on them when you put the line back together.

The A/C Compressor comes off with lines still connected. Mark all the electrical, smog and vacuum lines with tags to help you remember where to re-connect them. If you have a digital camera, take several pictures.

Whatever you do, don't skimp on cleaning the gasket surfaces. New gaskets need to seat against bare metal and not the residue left from the old gaskets in order to seal leak free. This is the most time consuming and tiresome part of the job. Look for little things that need to be replaced like the short hose from the thermostat hosing to the water pump, damaged vacuum lines and hose clamps that are rusted or broken.

Plan on cutting the thermostat to water pump hose, or removing the thermostat housing. Also plan on removing the distributor to get clearance to remove the intake manifold. Remove #1 spark plug, stick your finger in the spark plug hole and crank. When your finger gets air moving past it, stop cranking. Turn the engine until the timing marks line up with the pointer. Now you can pull the distributor out.

My favorite trick that saves time and effort is the stay in place gasket. Be sure that you scrape (don't use a wire brush) all the old gasket material off, then clean all the surfaces with acetone or MEK.

When the surfaces are clean, use weather strip adhesive on the head to manifold surface, and on the side of the gasket that mates to the head. Follow the instructions on the tube or can and when it gets tacky, press the gasket down on the head.

Clean the area where the rubber rails mount to the block in front and in the rear with more acetone or MEK and do the same trick with the weather strip adhesive that you did to the heads.

Coat the rubber seals and the gasket area around the water passages with lots of Blue Silicone gasket sealer and put it together. Wala! no leaks, and no gaskets that shifted out of place.

Get a tube of anti-seize and coat all the bolt threads and under the bolt heads. That will help insure even torque when you tighten the manifold bolts. Plan on re-torquing them a after a weeks worth of driving

Fuel injector seal kits with 2 O rings and a pintle cap (Borg-Warner P/N 274081) are available at Pep Boys auto parts. Cost is about $2.74 per kit. The pintle caps fit either injectors with a pin sticking out the injector end or 4 with more tiny holes in the injector end. The following are listed at the Borg-Warner site ( http://www.borg-warner.com ) as being resellers of Borg-Warner parts:

http://www.partsplus.com/ or http://www.autovalue.com/ or http://www.pepboys.com/ or http://www.federatedautoparts.com/

Most of the links above have store locators for find a store in your area.

Use motor oil on the O rings when you re-assemble them & everything will slide into place. The gasoline will wash away any excess oil that gets in the wrong places and it will burn up in the combustion chamber.

Consumable items:
Upper manifold gasket
Fel Pro 1250 or equal lower manifold gasket set.
Short formed hose between thermostat hosing and intake manifold
6 ft 7/64" or 1/8" vacuum hose
2 ft 1/2" heater hose
1 1/2 ft 5/8" heater hose
Blue Silicone sealer
ARP antiseize or equal for the bolts
4 each 3/4" hose clamps (spare item in case the old ones are bad)
4 each 1/2" hose clamps (spare item)

Distributor re-installation
Putting the distributor back in is fairly simple even f you have turned the engine from the position that you removed the distributor. . Pull #1 sparkplug, put your finger in the sparkplug hole, crank the engine until you feel compression. Then line up the TDC mark on the balancer with the pointer on the engine block.

The distributor starts out with the #1 plug wire lined up at about 12:00 with you facing it. Align the rotor to about 11:00, since it will turn clockwise as it slides into place.

Align the distributor rotor up with the #1 position marked on the cap, slide the distributor down into the block, (you may have to wiggle the rotor slightly to get the gear to engage) and then note where the rotor is pointing. If it still lines up with #1 position on the cap, install the clamp and bolt. If not, pull it out and turn 1 tooth forwards or backwards and try again. Put the #1 spark plug back in and tighten it down, put the clamp on the distributor, but don't tighten it too much, as you will have to move the distributor to set the timing. Note that if it doesn't align perfectly with #1 position, you can turn the distributor until it does. The only problem is that if you are too far one way or the other, you can't turn the distributor enough to get the 10-14 degree optimum timing range.

At this point hook up all the wires, get out the timing light and start the engine. Set the timing where your car runs best. Don't forget to disconnect the SPOUT jumper connector when you set the timing, and plug it back in when you finish.

The HO firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Non HO firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8

Diagram courtesy of Tmoss & Stang&2birds

See the following website for some help from Tmoss (diagram designer) & Stang&2Birds (website host) for help on 88-95 wiring http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/

Ignition switch wiring
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/IgnitionSwitchWiring.gif

Fuel pump, alternator, ignition & A/C wiring
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/fuel-alt-links-ign-ac.gif

Computer, actuator & sensor wiring
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/88-91_5.0_EEC_Wiring_Diagram.gif

Fuse panel layout
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/MustangFuseBox.gif

Vacuum routing
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/mustangFoxFordVacuumDiagram.jpg

 

[Blue91GT]

HOLY $#%&!!! That sounds a lot more involved than stykthyn said! I appreciate your help...this is seriously detailed! You da Man, now the question of ettiquette...to do it myself...or say #$%& it and pay someone to do it??? I guess i will have to take a look at the Haynes manual again and just go from there!

 

[ttop88]

You are only a virgin once! Jump in and do it.

 

[ninety15.0]

Its really not that bad at all. If you print off everyone of jrichker's links and information and read them a couple times...you will be familiar with the parts and sequence.

Then just go out there...take it apart and put it back together. For a first timer...i would put this type of project at 4 hours taking your time. I feel like those of us who have done it a couple times could easily do it in 2.

 

[stykthyn]

It looks harder than it is. the hardest part is scraping all the old gasket material off the heads and keeping the junk you do scrape off out of the ports. take your time and all will be ok. when you remove the dizzy I always mark where the pointer is with a piece of chalk. if you are careful the dist will stab in where you made the mark and you wont have to worry about timing. you have your haynes manual that has all the torque specs and patterns. putting the new intake in is just a matter of bolting it down in the right sequence. Four hours sounds about right for a first time install. I have done it several times and can get it done now in an hour and a half if I dont have to time it. sometimes the dist jumps a tooth. once you get in there it really isnt that hard. just keep a bucket or magnet tray handy so you dont lose any bolts/screws. there are a bunch that will come off.

 

[Strype]

Dizzy was the worst part for me first time, that and the gas fumes. Don't smoke!


PS: Make SURE you kill the gas via the safety switch in the brake light housing, and crank the car over once or twice to make sure it dies. THEN you can pry the fuel rails off.

 

[Roland69]

don't forget to change the oil after doing this before you start the car....you will have coolant in you oil

 

[Blue91GT]

Ok, so I took another look at the manual, and at the car itself with instructions in hand. And i decided, after I recruited a buddy that is technically inclined to help me, to do the install myself. So I will start Saturday morning and let you guys know how it goes!

 

[SuperStang83]

The hardest part about doing any work to your car is having the guts to actually go ahead and do it. You seem like you want to, so go ahead and you will feel much better about yourself and the car when you are done.