it would seem that i have a rear seal leak - where the manifold meets the rest of the engine... i've looked through the chiltons and haynes, and it tells you how to do it, but not really in depth... so my question, is can someone step my through this? i've taken everything off of a carbed car down to the manifold, but never the manifold... however, i'm doing this on a 88 tpi car...i assume i just start taking bolts off the tpi stuff, but is there anything i should know? what seals/gaskets should i replace?
should i drain any fluids?
basically i just need a step by step method of exactly how to do this.. any articles or methods would be very helpful...
thanks

 

Drain the coolant.

Disconnect battery.

Mark the position of the rotor AND the base of distributor. Disconnect distributor wires, remove hold down bolt and pull dist out. Make sure nothing falls down the hole. Plug it with a clean rag or something.

Disconnect fuel lines.

Disconnect any wires, linkages, hoses and cables connected to intake/TPI. Make a mental note where everything goes.

Take off the plentum, and runners. Again, make sure nothing enters the openings.
My 87 TPI bolts had TORX heads (kinda like allen heads) which need a special bit. Actually I had to use a air hammer/chisel to loosen the bolts after the heads stripped out. Not sure if they're all that way or not.

Remove any brackets bolted to the intake.

Unbolt and remove the intake.

Lay an old towel inside the intake valley to help keep out all the gasket bits generated in next step.

Clean up all the mating surfaces.

Install intake gaskets. A lot of mechanics throw away the new front and rear seals (supplied in kit) since they tend to slip out of position during installation of manifold. In place of the front and rear gaskets they'll apply a real thick bead of Permatex gasket sealer. The blue stuff works pretty well. Surfaces must be clean and dry!! I do my final cleaning with 70% alcohol to remove any oil/anti-freeze residue.

Take your time installing the intake-to-head gaskets. A lot of times they look right, but they're actually upside down or fliped around.

Install manifold and all the other stuff you removed/disconnected.

Re-install the distributor with base and rotor in the same position as before. (if the eng was turned over with distributor out, you'll have to start from scratch)

Now would be a good time to replace any coolant hoses that are getting old. Same goes for thermostat.

Refill coolant, reconnect battery.

Start eng.

Verify oil press is OK immediately after start-up. (Oil pump drive shafts have been known to slip out and fall down into oil pan when dist is removed)

Set ignition timing.

Check for leaks.

Change oil to get the debris out that fell inside eng.

It's been a while since I replaced one.
What did I forget??

 

ok so stuff i need to purchase,
intake manifold gasket set (any specific material/brand to get?)
atv sealant (i've got the black stuff, hitemp, resists oil, this alright?)
alcohol (to ease the pain of car work ;-) and clean surfaces)
is a razor blade/scraper not really a good idea for removing the gunk? how easy is it to damage the metal that i'll be cleaning?
coolant (for refill)
oil/filter (for oil change)
anything else? i've got a full set of torx bits, from t9 to t40, oughta be good for that... precisely how do you mark your distrib so that it goes in correctly after you've taken it out?

so should i use the front and rear gaskets, or just do a real good job iwht permatex? which is preferred? anytrhing else i should permatex? i.e. the side intake manifold gaskets

will there be any pressure in the fuel lines? do i need to have a jar ready to catch the 4 gallons that will syphon out?



thanks for that in depth description... that beats out the last 4 books i've tried to look this up in...

 

I can not stress this enough, Plug that damn hole!!! Because if you don't then something will fall into it. Not might, will. You would think I would learn to do to that after a dropped the hold down bolt down there twice. Your 4 hour intake removal will turn into a 2 day oil pan removal.

 

I like the Felpro gaskets.

I've always used Permatex red or blue. Don't know abt the black stuff. It will definately have to be oil resistant.

The razor blade scraper will work, but will be a major pain to use if the gasket it really stuck on there.
A good gasket scraper will make the job a lot easier.

You'll have a hard time hurting the block and heads with a scraper.
Use care with the intake though. It's not quite as tough.

For the distributor; scratch a line across the junction where the distributor shaft and intake come together. Where the hold-down bolt is. A big screwdriver (or maybe your new gasket scraper)
works good for this. Make it a good scratch. One you'll be able to see.

With the cap off, eyeball the rotor and line it up with something close-by. Hold a straight edge up to it and line it up on something if you need to.
During re-installation of dist, when the dist gear meshes with the cam gear, the rotor will turn a little. You will have to misalign the rotor slightly so as the dist seats , it will line up. It may take a couple of trys.

If the dist won't go all the way down (don't force it) the oil pump drive shaft is probably not aligned with the bottom end of your dist shaft. Simply insert a big/long screwdriver down to oil pump shaft and turn it slightly in the same direction the rotor turns when pulling dist back out. Repeat dist install attempts and pump drive shaft rotating untill it drops in. If everything lined up, install dist hold-down bolt and finger. Tighten till dist can barely be turned by hand. You'll finish tightening after ign timing check.

The last time I tried to use the front and rear seals they both slipped. I loosened the intake, repositioned the seals and they slipped again,, and again. By then I had Permatex all over myself, my tools, and the eng. Finally said to hell with the seals. Laid down a good bead of sealant and slapped the intake on.
If you prep the surfaces good, it won't leak.

I'll put a very thin layer of sealant on the heads for the intake gaskets,mainly to hold them in place while I'm dropping the intake in.

If you can find the fuel pump fuse, you can pull it with the eng running and get rid of the line press. There's also a connector back by the fuel tank on drivers' side you could unhook, but it's a pain to get to, or just wrap a rag around the connections and
barely crack it open. Let it leak out slowly.
There could be 40-50 lbs of fuel line press. even if it has sat for a while. Make sure eng is cool before doing this!
Probably wanna do this outside. Gasoline fumes in your garage is not a good thing.

My fuel didn't siphon out, then again my tank was nearly empty.

 

man, i was a little worried about doing this my first time by my self, but you make it seem like there's nothing to it (other than the distrib of course) this sounds like a fun weekend project... i'll keep you guys posted...