The good news is it looks a considerable amount easier than the coolant crossover gasket I did on my Northstar.

It's not terribly bad. I have done a ton of them, and can generally get them done in ~2.5 hours. Book time is 6 hours or so.

I suggest you get the premium FelPro set. The steel with rubber... the plastic intake gaskets are worthless. You absolutely MUST torque the lower intake manifold. The gaskets are delicate, and the torque is very light. If you get the FelPro gaskets they will have the torque listings on the instructions included.

Also, carefully clean all the old gasket material from the plenum surface. Remove the plastic retainers on the lower manifold from this surface as well. The ends of the plenum have a propensity to crack if the surface contact is not perfectly smooth. I can't tell you how many times I have had a shadetree and even a professional's work come to me with odd screaming noises when it is cold, or misfires, or lean codes and found the plenum cracked.

Be careful of the pushrods. You will have to remove them to pull the intake gasket. They are 2 different lengths. The intake pushrods are shorter. Put the longer exhaust pushrod in an intake spot and you will have a pretzel. I have a cardboard box I have punched holes in and place rags inside it (to absorb the oil from the pushrods). Just mark the box "front of engine" on the appropriate side and it will be simple and mindless to reinstall the pushrods correctly/

Thanks, it looks like its easier to pry the rockers up and slip the pushrods out rather than some people (maybe the book) listing to pull the coils/etc and unbolt the rockers and do it that way.

Nice to know FelPro puts the torque spec on the package, something like 115 in-lb and then 18ft-lb if I remember right. Do they put the torque sequence on there too?

I'll have to borrow someones garage/shop for this one, don't want to open up the engine in the parking lot here. I'll do a lot in a parking lot, but since I don't have to I won't open it up out here in the middle of the world.

It doesn't look to bad, but the father in law already 'fixed' it once. If I remember correctly he just retorqued the bolts when he pulled it off and found them loose, so the gasket must be shot. One of the bolts was loose when I pulled the throttle body off to see what was up and I tightened it back up to the torque spec of my calibrated finger.

I suggest pulling the coil pack and removing the valve cover. The valve covers actually go over the top of the intake. On cars, I remove the alternator, coil pack and module assembly on the bracket (2 13mm nuts on the back side and 2 10mm bolts on the plenum, and I mean the hex size, not the actual bolt/nut size). If I am doing it on a van, I will leave the rear valve cover on as long as it is not leaking, and twist the intake out of the hole. I have a ratcheting flex head wrench that I can fit under the valve cover to loosen the rockers (as my tool will not fit in there with the VC on) to remove the pushrods. Honestly, with a car it only takes about 5 minutes more to remove the rear valve cover and all peripherals. On Vans, this adds at least 45 minutes to an hour depending on the van's overhang. I actually have a tool that allows me to pry the rockers up to get the pushrods out. If you don't have the proper tool, doing so with a prybar sounds like a busted up finger to me.

Here is the Lisle tool at Sears: http://www.sears.com...=32-192219361-2

It is the same tool I use. I got mine at NAPA. The store manager owed me a favor, and this tool was part of the payment

Yeah, I think it is 28 in lbs, 115 in lbs and 216 in lbs (or 18 ft lbs ). The sequence is basically start with the 4 inner bolts and move around in a clockwise pattern. Do the 2 inner angled bolts next then the 2 outers.

Sounds good to me. I was planning on buying that rocker pry tool for this job when I get to it. I do love how GM seems to make everything 10mm and 13mm inside the engine bay.

ok poll time, i have a date tonight, me and this hot girl, we have been out a number of times,and my hair is just long enough to do the biggest douchebag hairstyle the faux-hawk,

should i do it tonight or not, and yes i havent shaved in a few days so i have a scruffy mini beard and stash going

I took my family out for dinner tonight. My son and his wife's birthday. While we were there we saw a cute couple come in together. They both had faux-hawks. So yeah, if "her" name is Chuck, then perhaps the faux-hawk will get you laid.

well we are going out to a bar, that is frequented by gay people, but she is female and im staright, but hell i might get a few drinks bought for me, so still its 50/50

Hell, don't even have a go fast toy to fix crap on either, just a slow f'ing pickup and an almost as anemic car. I did see a Mark VII on craigslist the other day with heads, cam, intake, and full exhaust that seemed pretty snazzy for a highway cruiser that tempted me.

I thought you didn't want to fix your own cars anymore?

I don't either. I hate working on my own shit. That is why all my cars are Buicks (with 3800 Buick engines) and my truck is a Nissan.

I don't mind it as much if the car is worth a damn. I've been impressed with newer Buicks, and that 3800 seems to be about as bullet proof as the 4.3L was.

I always felt I should have tried speed skating as a kid as I am already built like one. Too bad the weather holds out longer here and I enjoy soccer too much.

Strong legs, eh ?

You see the soccer pictures I posted a month ago?

Yep, yep

Looking at pictures of Aaron's legs, and coworker walks by: "WTF?"

Chick's dig the massive quads.

MOAR squats. Poweeeerrrr

I don't lift legs much at all.

I never work out my legs.

:-D

Wash my clothes, bitch!!!

Hello...

If the Mark is clean, grab it.

I do love how GM seems to make everything 10mm and 13mm inside the engine bay.

Don't forget you 15mm and 18 for motor mounts.

If the Mark is clean, grab it.

X2, but don't put too much stock in the heads cam and intake. Unless they switched over to the C+ heads and intakes, it's only a 20-30 HP gain and that's if it's tuned right. The 4V is pretty efficient though. My Cobra would get 32 on the highway doing 80 with 4:10 rears.

I still want to do a Prius with a Boss 9 or mountain motor.

And my G-body with a TT Coyote and T56.

It's been so long since I've seen anything with a Nightshade that I often forget all about them

Shots shots shots shots shots shots shots shots shots EVERYBODY

damn I'm barley tipsy after 9 shots

Shots shots shots shots shots shots shots shots shots EVERYBODY

damn I'm barley tipsy after 9 shots

Light weight.

If the Mark is clean, grab it.

X2, but don't put too much stock in the heads cam and intake. Unless they switched over to the C+ heads and intakes, it's only a 20-30 HP gain and that's if it's tuned right. The 4V is pretty efficient though. My Cobra would get 32 on the highway doing 80 with 4:10 rears.

32mpg ?!?!

WOW, I want one

My Camry does that now, you want THAT?

Aside from the rust and clear issues, it's actually a good car. Slow as shit though.

My Camry does that now, you want THAT?

I want a something that can get that when driving easy and have the power to drive like a hoon

My intrigue (olds) is on its way out. i doubt i'll hit the 250k mile mark but im surprised its over 200k. It was pretty good first car. Got fired from my first job for doing a burnout in the parking lot

gonna miss it, but i'm ready for something new.

My Camry does that now, you want THAT?

I want a something that can get that when driving easy and have the power to drive like a hoon

My friend's dad owns a used car business. Took a buick with the supercharged 3.8l for a drive one night. I think it was sold for 5-6 grand. decent hp/$ ratio