Hello,
I started work on my first car, a 1986 Camaro (2.8L MPFI). I needed to replace the intake manifold gasket and my father says I need a new Ignition Coil and a ECM. I've never worked on a car before, but I come from a family of enthusiasts, so I have it in my blood. My first suprise is why my *new* standard socket set wasnt working, then my dad comes out and tells me that it is metric, (Is this something I can blame the Japanese for?, I wasted some of my money on a standard set when I should have got metric), andways I ended up using my fathers tools. I found it pretty easy to tear down the engine ot the manifold, but the distrubitor had me puzzled for abit, but I finnally got it off though, (the Chiltons book says I was supposed to line it and the engine up somehow before I removed it, is this going to come back and haunt me when I put it back together?) Also there is an attachment coming out of the exhaust manifold, I was trying to take that piece off so I could get to the Valve covers easier,and in the processI broke a bolt into, (what do I need to do about that?) Here are the pictures of my teardown:


Here is the piece I broke off


Is their anything I can do to vlean my intake up any? It looks pretty trashy as you can see from the picture



I think tomorrow I will clean of the caskets from the engine block/heads, and the manifold itself. While its apart and in the condition its in, is there any suggestions of cheap stuff I can do? or should I just bolt it all back together and go?
Also, my struts on my hood are shot (I had to use a 2 by 4 to hold my hood up, is there a way I can fix those struts, or is my only option to buy new ones?
Thanks,
mr_han_solo
P.S. Sorry about the big picture, I have no idea how to resize them down.

 

k...I have no idea about the engine questions being in the same position as ytou, trying to learn and restore my engine...but the struts I can tell you about. There is no fixing them. They are basically compressed gas cartridges...just spend the money and get brand new ones like I did. My local Canadian Tire had them in stock in the auto section...so check out your local auto shop for sure on those. And if your rear hatch is flying low too, those are the same deal..just get help to hold the glass if you do..it is damn heavy.

BTW, how much time/work did it take you to get where you are right now? Seeing my engine from the inside for the first time is really cool too, thanks.

 

Well I started this afternoon at 4:30Est., and finished work about 8est. I would have had it done faster, if I realized metric instead of standard. Also, I has some trouble with the distrubitor, but once you figure it out its easy (just take outthe bolt and retainer at the base of it on the engine block). Other than that It was a piece of cake. I now realize that my manifold has some leaves and diry ontop of it, and when i took it off it may hav went into my engine, so that has me worried. Also, that piece I broke off, I relaize that it is probably going ot have ot come off no matter what, because its going to be a pain to put it all back together with it there. But the overall teardown was alot easier than i expected, some people i've talked to said that a 305/350 would be easier than this motor to take apart. but I just lo the fast that I can "get my hands dirty" and get some expereince.
mr_han_solo

 

If you didn't mark the distributor housing and rotor's position against a stable reference point before tearing down the motor, this *WILL* haunt you when you go to put everything back together. You'll have to do your ignition timing from scratch. Fortunately, with your valve covers off, getting base timing within 20 degrees shouldn't be *that* hard.

 

Congrats on finding a fun new hobby. Broken bolts will always come back around to be a problem at one point in time or another. As you're taking things apart, a Chilton or Haynes manual may say to do something (such as mark the distributor) and until you know otherwise, it's a good idea to follow. As far as cheap stuff to do while it's apart... What's your definition of cheap?

 

As far as the broken bolts - bolt extractors are your friend there.

The timing, you will need to do from scratch. Since you have the motor 1/2 way apart, might I suggest going ahead and replacing at least the timing chain, while you are in there?

If the motor has over 130k or so, replacing the water pump is cheap insurance, as well.

If you have the $$, might replace the cam, while you're down there - and replace the valve springs, do a quick valve job (clean the valves, then use valve grinding compound to clean the seats, provided the valves aren't too worn out) and I'd polish teh heads/intake, too....

but... ah... that's just me

 

I have gotten the Haynes manual and I have gone through and marked some projects I would like to attempt soon. But since I use the car as a daily driver, any project I attempt has to be a weekend job at least till i am back at university for the summer (I can leave my car in pieces in the garage at home and pick it up next weekend), and easy enough so that I can't screw it up and won't be able to get to work on Monday. Getting as far as he did with taking apart his V6, did he break any seals that he needs to be replaced now? I am assuming so, such as the valve cover seal...basically, I am just worried I will touch something and it will blow up

 

About the hood struts, if it's not important to you to have them working right, you can use vise grips to keep the hood open. Just clamp it on the chrome just below the black part. It sure beats trying to check your oil while holding the hood up with your head if a 2x4 isn't handy.

 

Damn, IceFisherman beat me to it!

As far as that bolt; yeah, that one would be tough coming off (the base of the EGR riser where the riser meets the manifold). Might have been safer just to unscrew the EGR valve itself, but who knows; those screws could've snapped too.

The only real "cheap" thing you could do is rebuild your distributor while it's out... $60/new spark module, $15/new pickup coil.

 

in my experience a 2x4 is onhand in much more abundance than vise grips are...

 

vise grips fit in the center console a little easier than a 2x4

 

My upper and lower intake manifold pieces, since it looks like its going to be fairly har dto clean them up, think their paintable? Has anyone attempted this, and have pictures of how it turned out?

 

If you are going to paint them you will have to clean them...(or do you mean clean them up as in make them shine?) They were never shiney, not even when new. I know someone on here has painted the upper plenum, don't remember who, and the search feature is fubar'ed. I think they had a pic posted.....looked good imo. I'm in the process of grinding/polishing an extra set.

 

Ya, I think i'll paint em, but I hope the search feature gets back gong soon, so I can get some pics to see what all was painted. Anyways, I was looking through some more of my car, and I noticed my Cat was cut out!


I hope my stat dosent have any strict emission laws (alabama) but I did a google search and I couldnt figure anything out. Is there an advantage to not having one? Have I gained horsepower from it, and how much if so?
mr_han_solo

 

Actually, buy a can of brake cleaner; it might clean the outside of your intake pretty good. (That stuff's amazing!) Throw a toothbrush in the mix, too.

If you do paint it; you probably want to use engine paint; that intake's gonna get HOT in the summer!

You could always powdercoat it, too...

As for saving horsepower; depends on how bad the cat was when it was removed. The original catalytic convertors after 10 years tend to break up inside and clog the exhaust. But a new catalytic convertor will flow much better than the catalytic convertors of the 70's and 80's. So you won't lose any horsepower by putting a new stock cat (or an aftermarket high-flow cat) on.

 

If you have access to a bead blaster that will clean up the intake to look like new. Then it could be clearcoated so it would stay nicer and be easier to clean, or you could paint it. OR, you could do this...if you have plenty of time. We had over 40 hours in this intake...