Intake manifold gasket, help

[saxybill1]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and have been pleased with all the help you folks are willing to provide. Well, I now need some help. I have a rather large oil leak that appears to be coming from the intake. Would any of you have the time to provide me with a step by step (with pictures) instruction? I have a 91 Coupe. I haven't driven it since noticing the leak. Had a repair guy lined up and he suddenly backed out of this project, so I'm thinking of trying this myself. I have to warn you that I am a novice with the corvettes.
Thanks in advance. Oh, I do have a thick manual; however, I don't see where the instructions for my problem is.
Also, please indicate evrything that I will need to purchase.
Again, my thanks/
Bill

 

[Moonunit 451]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and have been pleased with all the help you folks are willing to provide. Well, I now need some help. I have a rather large oil leak that appears to be coming from the intake. Would any of you have the time to provide me with a step by step (with pictures) instruction? I have a 91 Coupe. I haven't driven it since noticing the leak. Had a repair guy lined up and he suddenly backed out of this project, so I'm thinking of trying this myself. I have to warn you that I am a novice with the corvettes.
Thanks in advance. Oh, I do have a thick manual; however, I don't see where the instructions for my problem is.
Also, please indicate evrything that I will need to purchase.
Again, my thanks/
Bill

Welcome to the forum Bill I can't give you a step by step, but I can give you some general info, and I'm sure others will chime in as needed. If you have Specific questions once you get started I'll try to help.

I would, and did take several pictures and a LOT of notes. Unfortunately, my hard drive crashed and I lost the notes. This was for a complete engine removal, and I was a rookie too not so long ago

First I took general photo's of everything before I started. I noted picture #'s and indexed them to the notes by number. For electrical connections, I color coded each end with differing colors and #'s of zip ties and noted that as well.

Certainly your TB and plenum will have to be removed, as well as your runners. In order to do this, most of the bolt ons (Alternator, A/C comp, AIR pump and various vacuum accesories and electrical connections must be removed. I'm sure that there is a section in the manual about removing the intake manifold, see what it says. I never used one during my entire rebuild, but I did have it available.

Just take your time and document what you do well, keep yourn parts orderly and well marked, I used photo's #'s, tape and a sharpie, as well as plastic baggies for groups of nuts and bolts. You get the idea.

When you are ready, get a can of THE RIGHT STUFF black gasket sealer and the proper gasket, (do not use the front and rear gasket pieces). Run a generous bead (approx 1/4") of TRS down each side where the intake will seal, and about a 1/3" bead for each end. Set thye intake down from above ligned up as near to perfect as you can get it, and then tourqe the intake per instructions.

It'll take a while to get the rest put back together, but letting the intake sit for 24 hrs. without starting the engine is a good idea.

This method, with this product, done this way is proven to give the best success, and no redo's

Good luck and feel free to ask more questions. rrubel is the one here that I kow of that has done this most recently.

 

[Moonunit 451]

This is where you gotta get to

 

[Moonunit 451]

Yours will look more like the pics in these links.

http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/VetteRebuild/SRinstall/DSCIntakeOutOriginalEngine1134-48.JPG

http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/VetteRebuild/SRinstall/DSCOriginalIntakeOut1135-49.JPG

Than this

And don't forget

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE

 

[rrubel]

If you have only a factory service manual (thick book), you do have step-by-steps, though not all laid out in one place (ie, instructions for removing TPI are on one page, instructions for the manifold are on another, etc). You might want to get a Haynes manual (NOT Chilton's), which does a decent (not fantastic) job of walking you through the steps. Then use the factory book for any time you're confused.

And Moon's "The Right Stuff" suggestion? Right on. I didn't know about it when I first put the new manifold on, but wasn't happy with how it looked (even-ness and thickness of the gasket) so I took it off again and used TRS instead. MUCH better.

And make sure you carefully remove any trace of old gasket and oil from the surfaces before reassembling. Gasket compound won't stick to oil, and gaskets don't like it either. I used a combination of Permatex Gasket Remover spray and some Acetone clone (a generic oil-based-paint thinner would work, too).

[RICHR]

 

[JonM]

TAKE PICTURES...lots of them

 

[jester]

I purchased the Fel Pro gasket set and it didn't even come with the end pieces for the intake manifold. They supplied a small tube of black RTV instead. Be sure to clean the surfaces really well. I took a tip from someone else on the CAC and used acetone to wipe down the surfaces to ensure there was nothing to interfere with the adhesion of the RTV. I did mine early this spring and have had no leaks.

 

[Moonunit 451]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and have been pleased with all the help you folks are willing to provide. Well, I now need some help. I have a rather large oil leak that appears to be coming from the intake. Would any of you have the time to provide me with a step by step (with pictures) instruction? I have a 91 Coupe. I haven't driven it since noticing the leak. Had a repair guy lined up and he suddenly backed out of this project, so I'm thinking of trying this myself. I have to warn you that I am a novice with the corvettes.
Thanks in advance. Oh, I do have a thick manual; however, I don't see where the instructions for my problem is.
Also, please indicate evrything that I will need to purchase.
Again, my thanks/
Bill

Don't ya sometimes wish that folks who post stuff looking for advice would at least come back and say BOO, or, you're

or somethin. I dunno, I was never inconsicerate that way. Course, it could be that Bill's just busy and I'm an

 

[Fabinatl]

Well...I for one am glade you posted your info. I need to redo mine in the near future also. I ordered the gaskets also and no end peices came with it nor the throttle gasket. Shouldn't the throttle assemble need a new gasket when the manifold is redone? Is there a gasket at the ends of the intake manifold? Or do you just use the RTV? I do have the Service Manuals and the Haynes Manual so I'm about ready to go. I might change out the plugs and pull/clean the radiator while I'm there. This ought to keep me busy for the weekend. Oh by the way, How long will it take a new guy to swap out the intake manifold gasket anyway?
Thanks for the info! or how many beers does it take?
Andy

 

[jester]

My gasket set came with a new TB gasket. I don't now why your's wouldn't have. You may want to pick one up, they aren't very expensive.

Only use the RTV for the ends of the manifold. Make sure both surfaces are very clean.

I can't give you a good time estimate because I did the head gaskets and replaced all of the plug wires at the same time.

Good luck.

 

[rrubel]

My FelPro gasket set did NOT come with a new TB gasket - but it came with odd end gaskets (which I didn't use). They looked more like valve cover gaskets, thick and grooved, instead of the flat smooth piece that the side gaskets were. And they had tabs to keep them in place.

I looked through my service manual and found that the bolt-on accessories DO NOT have to come off. The instructions are actually fairly short, though they do reference other steps.

1. Disconnect battery negative cable
2. Drain cooling system
3. Remove MAF, plenum, runners, fuel rail (WATCH IT - some of the runner bolts are accessed from the OPPOSITE side!)
4. Disconnect any vacuum lines and electrical connections that are in the way
5. Mark and remove distributor cap and distributor.
6. disconnect upper radiator hose at thermostat housing
7. Remove AIR pump brace
8. Disconnect EGR pipe at intake
9. Disconnect heater control line at intake
10. Remove thermostat outlet
11. Remove intake bolts and intake.

reassembly is opposite of removal.

I'd say, if you're not familiar with the job, allow at LEAST 6 hours. If you're working in a tight garage with ramps and jack stands, add another hour.

[RICHR]

 

[saxybill1]

Thanks to all that offered their advice. I am sorry for not getting back to you; however, I've been on travel until now. I did start this project last Saturday. Came upon a problem. I got most of the bolts off of the intake except for 3 of them. It seems these 3 "star" bolts (requiring a torx wrench) are stripped in the "star" area and cannot use a torx wrench to get them off. How would you folks get these bolts off?
Again, my thanks

 

[mike weyman]

weld a nut to the head and turn it out.mike

 

[rrubel]

Alternately, file a flat area on two sides and use an adjustable wrench. As long as the head of the bolt is showing, that's worked for me.

I've got some spare bolts lying around as well, if you need them. Both stock and ARP hex-head.
[RICHR]

 

[Moonunit 451]

Someone's been in there before, which ones are they? Got any pics? There are some types of vice grips that could possibly work. Did you try tapping the top of the torx with hammer to set it?

 

[jester]

I had three that wouldn't come out also. I used a Dremel tool to cut a slot in the head and then used a pneumatic chisel with a dull bit held at an angle to unscrew the bolt. Worked great. I bought replacements at a local GM dealer, but you have better offers.


Good Luck!

 

[saxybill1]

Yes indeed, I believe I'll need 3 of those bolts. Let me know how much.
Thanks

 

[rrubel]

If you can, let me know how long they are - my extra manifold bolts are in the same bag as my extra plenum bolts. I'll be happy to send the whole lot to you for a couple bucks to cover shipping. They were extras in a big bag of bolts I bought.
[RICHR]

 

[saxybill1]

I'll purchase all you have if you don't mind. Will you accept paypal? If so, I'll include extra for using paypal. Thanks

 

[saxybill1]

Ok, I finally have the 3 bolts out and am working on getting the fuel rail out. The fuel rail has 1 bolt that is causing me fits right now. I do have a question. When you use the "right stuff", do you use a gasket as well, or just use the right stuff. Also, Does the distributor need to come out, I've got the cap off right now.