Help me plan: My first intake swap ... EVER.

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7milesout

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Guys,

I've done a lot of things to cars / bikes. Not nearly as much as some though. Mostly on motorcycles and diesel trucks. But I've never done an intake on a V8. This will be my first.

This spring or summer (after achieving 13.999 second E.T. on my current set-up), I plan to remove the original / stock / current intake on my LA 360, and replace with an Air-Gap intake. At the same time, I will install the AVS2, and a new thermostat.

I was reading a thread on here about keeping the coolant out of the oil, and I think that's not such a big deal. I'll follow the recommendations, as well as doing an oil change after running the engine for maybe 5 minutes (in an effort to "gather" the coolant).

But other things I read in that thread got my mind to thinking in the way that actual smart peoples' mind works without having to be forced (like mine). Aside from the intake manifold changing process (I think I'll be fine with that, and all the ancillary recommended steps to take in that process), what other things should I consider doing while the intake is off?

For example - I'm no lifter expert. I'm a complete rookie. I know what lifters do, but I don't know if there are "performance" lifters out there that are worth swapping out while in there. Maybe a lifter is lifter (assuming it is functioning properly). Lifters are just an example. And besides, the engine seems to run just fine, and only currently makes a skosh over 300 FWHP / ~ 260 hp at the crank. It's no monster. But runs nice.

But are there other things I should plan to update / replace / inspect / service, while replacing the intake?

Thanks for helping a rookie plan ahead.


7milesout
 
7milesout said:
I know what lifters do, but I don't know if there are "performance" lifters out there that are worth swapping out while in there.
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Unless you're doing a cam swap OR there is a bad one I would leave them alone. No reason to fiddle with them.

Intake swap is pretty straight forward. You're already aware of the coolant issue.

Only other thing(s) I can mention would be to make sure the pins on the China walls are removed if the intake doesn't have the holes for them, and to use a non hardening sealant on the intake bolts to prevent oil from wicking up the threads and pooling on the intake.

Follow the tightening/torque pattern.

Have fun.
 
Bad Sport said:
Unless you're doing a cam swap OR there is a bad one I would leave them alone. No reason to fiddle with them.

Intake swap is pretty straight forward. You're already aware of the coolant issue.

Only other thing(s) I can mention would be to make sure the pins on the China walls are removed if the intake doesn't have the holes for them, and to use a non hardening sealant on the intake bolts to prevent oil from wicking up the threads and pooling on the intake.

Follow the tightening/torque pattern.

Have fun.
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pretty much sums it up
 
Clean work area, place for bolts and parts, lay a rag in the lifter cam area as soon as you pull the intake off (dont want to drop anything in there) . Clean your bolts before using then, looks like Bad sport covered the other stuff very well, one other thing I like to do, look at this job as something to enjoy, it's not a job it's a hobby :thumbsup:
 
only other thing I can think of doing which it's off is a visual inspection of the cam lobes, just simply look down into it for anything that looks worn or damaged.
 
I appreciate the advice of using rags or the like to prevent things from falling down in critical areas. I'm bad about not forseeing those kind of issues. A clean work area … that would be nice. It's reasonably clean. The exception is, I have a smelly mongrel that sheds hair. The garage is basically her doghouse. That mongrel's hair gets into everything. I hope I can get this done quick enough that the dog hair is not an issue. How many beers does it take to get this done, so I can plan my time properly? :D

I plan on using the following items:
  • Edelbrock Intake Manifold Bolt Kit (EDL-8579), a
  • Fel-Pro Performance Intake Manifold Gasket (FEL-1213), and
  • Edelbrock Gasgacinch (EDL-9300).
I'm not familiar with the China wall pins. Gonna have to search that out and understand it.

And … what non-hardening sealant on the intake bolts is recommended?


7milesout
 
Dog hair is not a problem, mopar engines love it, I would say it's a two beer job, but make sure to have a 12 pack ready for after and if a friend visits :thumbsup:
 
7milesout said:
I'm not familiar with the China wall pins.
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They are locator pins in the center on the front and back of the block, you'll see them if they are still there.

Your intake may have holes in it on each end already, some do not. If yours doesn't just grab the little pins with a Vice Grip tool or something similar, and twist and pull, they pop out.

I usually make sure there is a rag in place just in case you lose it, so it doesn't fall in the valley..
 
The below quoted message should be ignored and the Chevy person writing the below quoted message should stop posting advice until he himself works on a MoPar.

On a small block MoPar the distributor does NOT need to be removed or even touched for a intake manifold swap.

Murray said:
Just a heads-up. If this is a small block, you will have to remove the distributer with subsequent timing issues.
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For sealing the intake bolts, I like the white Permatex thread sealant, and Permatex "Ultra" silicone for the china walls.
One more tip... sometimes it makes dropping the manifold in place a bit easier if you apply a bit of contact cement to the gasket and head surface, and glue the intake gaskets to the heads before you lower the manifold in place. This stops the gaskets from slipping down as the manifold goes on.
 
You're gaskets may be fused to the heads. Lay cardboard, paper, or whatever and tape off the lifter valley before you start scraping. Lift it out like a bag when you're done and then run a shopvac to get anything that may have gotten in there.
 
Mark the distributor location with a sharpie
 
I like to have a helper. The OEM cast iron intake weighs about 50 lbs. Aftermarket aluminum intake will be a lot lighter but you'll want to drop it into position as correctly as possible.
I remove the dowel pins and use a large bead of RTV instead of gaskets across front and rear.
So rather than have a pin that practically cut the gasket in half, I have a finger of silicone in the pin hole. I dry set the intake, mark where the bead of RTV should be with a sharpie and get a good look at how tall my bead needs to be.
 
Garry in AZ said:
For sealing the intake bolts, I like the white Permatex thread sealant, and Permatex "Ultra" silicone for the china walls.
One more tip... sometimes it makes dropping the manifold in place a bit easier if you apply a bit of contact cement to the gasket and head surface, and glue the intake gaskets to the heads before you lower the manifold in place. This stops the gaskets from slipping down as the manifold goes on.
Click to expand...

Test fir first! Then....

I like to put the intake manifold to head gasket on the head first with gaskasinch (sp) or other sealant and let it sit for a bit before screwing down the intake. In this way, the gasket does not move.
 
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7milesout said:
I appreciate the advice of using rags or the like to prevent things from falling down in critical areas. I'm bad about not forseeing those kind of issues. A clean work area … that would be nice. It's reasonably clean. The exception is, I have a smelly mongrel that sheds hair. The garage is basically her doghouse. That mongrel's hair gets into everything. I hope I can get this done quick enough that the dog hair is not an issue. How many beers does it take to get this done, so I can plan my time properly? :D

I plan on using the following items:
  • Edelbrock Intake Manifold Bolt Kit (EDL-8579), a
  • Fel-Pro Performance Intake Manifold Gasket (FEL-1213), and
  • Edelbrock Gasgacinch (EDL-9300).
I'm not familiar with the China wall pins. Gonna have to search that out and understand it.

And … what non-hardening sealant on the intake bolts is recommended?


7milesout
Click to expand...

Front and back of stock block/manifolds have steel posts at the front and rear of the block for locating the intake.
Most of us pull those out because aftermarket intakes generally don't have them, and if an aftermarket intake is set on there with those posts in place the intake will not sit all the way down where the gaskets can seal.

I like red Hi temp RTV myself, but a lot of people prefer the Great Stuff grey for this kind of job. (either works well)

I also like to put a film of the sealer around the coolant ports on both sides of the intake gasket. (just thick enough to see the color of the sealant.)

If there are metal tabs on the four corners where the heads meet the block those should be trimmed off. (I use a sharp chisel or scraper to cut them by coming straight down on them where they meet the head and block.
Here's where the towel keeps things from going down in the engine.
Clean the surfaces well then put a dab of sealer in each of the four corners and then set your intake gaskets on.
As quickly as you can within reason put a bead of sealer about 1/4 to 3/8 thick from gasket to gasket front and rear on the block. (I like about 3/8 just to be sure)
You can trim of any extra sealer that might stick out after it's cured.
Note the left front corner when you take your intake off, as your sealant will need to be in a fairly specific area in that corner.

Once your sealer is down you want to get the new intake on there ASAP.
Take your time though to let it down as straight as possible the first time so you don't wipe your sealer around and end up with a gap (especially in the back)

Check you gaskets to make sure they stayed where they need to be, and sliding those around a little to line up bolt holes won't make much difference as far as sealing goes.
Pretty much everyone likes sealer on the bolt threads to keep oil from coming up the threads and seeping out all over your new aluminum intake.
Personally I like a bead up under the bolt heads as well because oil can still come up other than just around the threads sometimes and make a mess anyway.
Any that shows after your bolts are down tight can be a pain in the butt to clean off but it's worth it to not have oil on your new intake.
A toothbrush sized wire brush works great for cleaning that off around the bolt heads.

There are varied opinions on some of this stuff, but the above has always worked very well.

memike said:
Dog hair is not a problem, mopar engines love it, I would say it's a two beer job, but make sure to have a 12 pack ready for after and if a friend visits :thumbsup:
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2! beer job?
Shoot I'd kill a 6 pack even though it is an hour job.:D
 
dukeboy_318 said:
for? dizzy doesn't have to come out
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Good luck getting the rear bolts out (or back in) without pulling the dist. out. Plus, it is so much easier to work on everything back there without the dist. in the way. But of course, to each his own.
 
69_340_GTS said:
Good luck getting the rear bolts out (or back in) without pulling the dist. out. Plus, it is so much easier to work on everything back there without the dist. in the way. But of course, to each his own.
Click to expand...
its not bad at all. Done it more than once, both in the vehicle and on a stand.
 
Just one more thing. RTV and other sealants need time to cure. The larger the amount the longer it takes to out gas / cure. Because I use fat beads of RTV, I torque it down and walk away. No fluids, etc.. until next day.
 
On the distributor you can pull the cap and mark where the rotor is pointing on the housing where the cap sits, and also a mark on the distributor base to block.
This way you can drop it back in right where it was really easy.
 
RedFish said:
Just one more thing. RTV and other sealants need time to cure. The larger the amount the longer it takes to out gas / cure. Because I use fat beads of RTV, I torque it down and walk away. No fluids, etc.. until next day.
Click to expand...

Well I never.:D
I fire em up as soon as the thermostat and housing are on, hose on and coolant filled and never had a problem.

OH, and one more thing to the OP is to look into drilling your thermostat while it's out if it isn't already.
It makes refilling with coolant and getting the air out SOOOO much easier and cleaner.
 
Oh Lord, the questions I have. I got a chuckle out of the reply about this is not a Chevy, so no need to remove the distributor! :D And I appreciate it because … I would have pulled the distributor based on that advice (and not ever having done this before).

I think I'll wait until I'm doing this to ask many questions. Maybe it will become apparent and not need to ask all the questions I have. Sounds like having a case of beer available is the safest bet. I'm very elegant, fancy and sophisticated when it comes to beer so I will probably procure a sophisticated case of Bud Light.

I will have no helper. And I'm near certain this is going to be a multi-day project for me. I get anxious and/or frustrated leaning in over an engine doing s--t I've never done before. And when things don't go as smooth as I (always) expect, it's best I stop, and take it small baby steps at a time. Maybe a well balanced rate of alcohol consumption will relax me and (seriously) help. Also I generally barely have enough tools to get the job done. I have tools, just not always the best tool for the job.

I think I'll buy a shop-vac. Never had one, but have had plenty of instances that having one would have been helpful. Any specialized tools I should consider? You guys keep talking about beads of sealant. I would imagine my "bead" to look more like inconsistently connected globs of goo. Is there some kind of applicator I should procure to make nice pretty sealant beads?


7milesout
 
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