Intake Manifold Leak Repair

Here are the two cars lined up, ready for an install party, hehe. Next to it is a picture of the engine bay before work began.

On the left, the throttle body is removed, and on the right, you can see the fuel rail removed.

After much laboring, the 12 intake bolts are out, and the intake is gently pried off the block and heads. On the right you can see the valley exposed. The hardest part of this process, in my opinion, is disconnecting the fuel lines. You CANNOT remove the fuel rail without doing this, even though it may seem that way. Buy the metal fuel line tool, the sizes are 3/8" feed, and 5/16" return. The plastic tools suck and bend and break.

On the left a closeup of the lifter valley, and on the right scraping the old gasket. You can also see the assembled fuel rail and one of the intake gaskets. I took this opportunity to pressure clean the intake manifold. You want to make sure that you scrape ALL of the old gasket material off, and use a quality sealant when you reapply the manifold. I used Ultra Copper 700 RTV, a very thick bead along the front and back continuing up the heads 1/2" on each side. Use a pencil broken in half and inserted in the two left hand front and rearmost bolt holes to help locate the intake over the bolt holes correctly the first time.

(The above image was borrowed from Kelly Drown's Guide, since I neglected to take a picture of this stage: http://www.projecttransam.com/projects2.asp)

Regrettably, in the failing sunlight, and our haste to get the job done, I did not take any more pictures. Basically, the assembly is the reverse of the disassembly. The intake manifold bolts get torqued from inside out, alternating left to right, to 36 ft/lbs of torque, with a torque wrench. If you can't reach a few bolts, don't worry, just torque them down by feel. 36 ft/lbs is not incredibly tight. Wait until after this is done to reattach the fuel rail, if at all possible, it makes this whole process easier.

Word to the wise: Always let the engine sit for at least 12-24 hours after doing this repair to let the RTV cure. After starting and running for a few minutes, and checking for vacuum leaks, it would get a good idea to change the oil to get rid of any dust and debris that might've floated into the lifter valley.