Performer Intake

[Dave L.]

I recieved my Performer 2101 intake from Summit today. I was thinking of clear coating it before installation. Any suggestions on a good clear coat and or process I should look into?

Dave

 

[MidShark]

Dave, just about every intake I've seen that was clearcoated ended up discoloring. It just seems to "burn" into a greenish or brownish color. There might be a product out there that doesn't do that, but I haven't seen it. I bought an Edelbrock aluminum intake for my Camaro that had been clearcoated, and had turned green, and carefully beadblasted it. It looked like brand new, and still does after being on the car for three years. I'd just bolt it on and enjoy!
Dick

 

[oldace84]

I clear coated a manifold on my '69 and it turned yellow after it heated up....
So I don't clear coat anymore...
tony

 

[Chas]

DONT!

just keep it polished and be happy.....it will never fade if you keep it polished......maybe detailingdude can suggest a proper polish.

 

[Dave L.]

Thanks Guys. I am just going to install it and forget the clearcoating. I am glad I asked.

Dave

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Dave,

Post some pictures of the project for us contemplating doing it ourselves but are a little nervous.

Bonb

 

[Dave L.]

Will do Bob. I pulled the intake last weekend. I will shoot some pics and post. Here is what I have so far....
Intake removal

In a nutshell....... disconnect battery..drain radiator..remove upper rad hose..disconnect and mark all vacum hoses..pull off the distributor cap and mark the location of the rotor..remove distr. clamp and pull out the distributor..remove carb feed line and brake booster vacum pipe(at the back of the carb)..remove carb linkage..remove the carb(it makes it easier to get at those 4 center bolts on the manifold)..remove intake. One person job until you lift off the intake.I'd have a helper with a cast iron manifold so as not to drop it on your car!
I work slow and it took me about 2.5 hours to get it off.

Dave

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Great Dave. Thanks.

I've got to do a better job of taking pictures as I proceed both for posting and for putting things back together. Right now I've got the passenger window and regulator out and did not do a very good job of taking pictures. Now I'm trying to remeber where all those little parts go.

 

[Dave L.]

prep work-performer installation

Today I prepped the mating surface for installation of my Edelbrock 2101 Performer intake manifold.
One of the things you should do before removing your distributor is mark all the spark plug wires. I will be installing a new AC-Delco cap-rotor.

 

[Dave L.]

The next thing I did was to get a clean rag and cut 14 4x4"squares.
I carefully put these down inside the the 7 openings in each of the cylinder heads. This will keep dust and dirt from getting inside the cylinder head passages. I then laid a cloth in the intake valley to collect any debris from removing the old intake gaskets from the cylinder head. I scaped the old gaskets off. I then used my electric drill with wire brush end to remove the remaining old gasket material. I used my shop vac to vacum out all the dust and debris from the intake valley. My engine has 110,000 miles on it. You can tell the previous owners took good care of the engine oil maintenence. I had no sludge or deposits in the intake valley at all! I am now ready to remove the pieces of cloth in the cylinder heads an install manifold..........stay tuned........

Dave

 

[Big "O"]

Burglar, sometimes placing tape on the spark plug wires makes it difficult to completely take all the tape residue off afterwards. An alternative is to set your crank to the specified timing mark then remove the distributor. The #1 wire will always start off at the OEM setting on the cap. If you look down through the hole where the distributor hole (with flashlight) you'll see a standard screwdriver type gear that you can turn to align the rotor to point to the OEM specified location of the #1 wire. Then all you have to do is follow the firing order sequence starting clockwise.

Tip: when reinstalling your manifold, instead of using the front and rear seals, use a thick bead permatex. The permatex will seat better when you torque down the manifold.

 

[Dave L.]

Thanks for the tip BigO. I feel it easier just to mark the rotor location and just pull the dist. rather than trying to find TDC. The location of the dist. housing to the intake should also be noted. If I was going to replace the cam however,I would do it your way.
I agree,using sealant on the ends of the manifold is the ONLY way to go. I am going to install my manifold in the next week or 2.
I'll post some more pic's on my progress.
Another thing I should add. After removing the dist.,DON'T turn the engine over!

Dave

 

[Dave L.]

I had some time this weekend to continue the installation of my new 2101 manifold. I had already removed the old manifold and thoroughly cleaned off the old gaskets from the cylinder heads and block. I removed the rags I inserted in all the ports in the cylinder head and used my shop vac to suck out any particles of dirt in the lifter valley and cylinder head ports. I next used a little paint thinner on a clean rag and wiped down the gasket surfaces to remove any oil film. Then using permatex #2 (nonhardening) I coated the cylinder head surfaces and installed the gaskets making sure the ribbed side faces up. I then used some short 3/8" bolts and washers(tightened finger tight) to hold down the gaskets and let them sit for a couple of hours.

 

[Dave L.]

After a couple of hours,I put 1/4" bead of high temp silicone type sealer (GM# 12345739) on the ends of the block,front and rear leading up about 3/4" up the gaskets. I then put a smaller bead(about 1/8")around the 4 water jacket openings in each corner.
Edelbrock recommends doing the latter on thier intakes.

 

[Dave L.]

Next,I carefully set the intake in place making sure all the bolt holes lined up. I bought a nice set of intake bolts from Summit when I got my manifold. They have a 3/8" head and come with washers which you should use with any aluminum intake I put a little thread sealer on each bolt. I then ran all the bolts in and using the factory tightening sequence,progressivly torqued them to 30 ft lbs.

 

[Dave L.]

Here is how it looked after installation. I just have the carb resting on the manifold.

 

[Dave L.]

I encountered 2 problems with this installation. #1. the bolt hole in the #12 tightening position(rf corner) is slightly stripped. I am going to have to do a helicoil repair.

 

[Dave L.]

#2 problem and one that most of you will encounter when doing this type of manifold installation. The carb sits about 3/4 - 1" taller in the front. The fuel line will need to be modified. I am going to contact Classic Tube to see if they can help me out. Steel line is very difficult to bend. I may send my original to them as guide to make a new one that will enter the filter nut at the proper angle. I'll let you know how I make out on the fuel line deal and the helicoil repair.

Thanks for watching................Dave

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Looks good Dave.

Can you replace the metal line with the braided steel that I see all the time?

Bob

 

[Dave L.]

Bob - is that flexible? sounds like an option.I am open for ideas.


Dave