Exhaust Manifold/Intake Manifold mPi, continued.

yeah, the mating surface is definately flat. It looks like the exhaust manifold has "shrank"? I don't know but the "width" from front to back certianly is way off (about a quarter of a bolt width) and I cannot affect it (pull it out) to make it work. Also, many of the other hole are off too so I've been grinding out to make them work. I think some exhaust manifolds may have a metal bar going across to ensure this doesn't happen.

Since you're coming this way I'll give you a couple of tips I found along the way.

1. A breaker bar and my old favorite the pipe wrench have been invalueable. I used the pipe wrench to grab the harmonic balancer while trying to get the securing bolt off.

1. When pulling the balancer, put some kind of protector/washer at the end of the crank so the balancer puller doesn't press into the threads of the crank. I didn't do this and almost lost the thread to put the bolt back in. Luckily I have a tap and die set where I could start the thread again.

2. If you can get a digital camera to take pics of how it was in detail that would help immensely.

If I come across more I post but again, the breaker bar is your best friend.

thanks,

Whoops, that's

Hey, Thanks for the advice. I did as you mentioned. I have a Titanium grinding tip for my drill so I grinded it out. I took a lot of as it was not that hole only and I have a little more to do to make some of the bottom, center bolt holes to work but I think this will do it. I canceled the order and am going to finish it up today.

Thanks for the advice,

bill

jeff-i actually have lots of room.....i'm doing a body off frame rebuild so all i have sitting on the frame is the drivetrain! thanks for the advice though! removing the fenders makes a whole world of difference! i just received the mpi kit this week and i'm waiting to have time to pull the engine and drive it over to the machine shop.

Pull the engine and drive it to the machine shop?

If you are taking the motor to the machine shop to have the kit installed, do it yourself. There is nothing to it, and if you arfe able to do a frame-up restoration, you can certainly handle what is essentially a swap of the intake manifold.

My kit came with a booklet of helpful hints. HINT #1, read the hints first, not last.

Align the center holes, and cut from the ends. Leave the center most holes alone, and enlarge the end holes.

If I recall correctly, the two ends were studs that held the manifolds in place until the remaining bolts could be installed. I think I bought a set of either 10 or 12 bolts and manifold washers, maybe 10 bolts and 12 washers and 2 nuts. At any rate, I replaced the mounting hardware. Two of the mounts (one at each end) were studs that remained in the block whent he manifolds were removed. I don't remember having any half-holes, but it wouldn't have surprised me. I also did not use my exhaust manifold with the MPFI, I installed a Borla header at that time. My header was not flat on the mating surface and required extensive sanding to remove several thousandths of material so the mating surfaces would actually mate. After the machine work, the header went on without a gasket, and has not leaked.

i'm actually taking the engine to the shop to get it rebuilt! the install looks pretty easy, like you said, a swap of the intake manifold. i've been doing a lot of reading up on other people's installs and it shouldn't be too difficult...