Anyone who has removed stock 5.0 HO upper intake

[5liter87]

Please help, are there more than 4 bolts?! anything that can be missed... I am having so much trouble trying to remove the upper. I've removed four bolts, and i CANNOT break the seal, so im wondering if anyone has any hints...if im missing a bolt somewhere that is hard to see, etc. I've gone so far as to use an engine crate to pull on the underneath of the upper (in the crevice between the lower intake) and instead of it coming right off, the entire motor starts lifting, and then the entire car starts lifting off the jackstands.

 

[mustangmike6996]

STOP!!!!! take off the 5.0 HO decorative plate... there are 2 more under there... and there is one people always miss DEEEEEEEEEEP in the middle of the runners i think its a torx bit...... and DONT FORCE ANYTHING... not worth your time if you break it...

 

[5liter87]

dude you're a lifesaver lol, thank you. ill be working on it early tomorrow morning

 

[justagt]

LOL

Haha, yep, took me a minute or two on that also the first time I took one off.

Watch out for the EGR spacer too, it's full of coolant.

 

[5liter87]

while im on the subject..anyone have any tips to removing the h pipe?? its REALLY REALLY jammed into the hangers.. . BTW im swapping my stock motor out for a friends 331 stroker (about 350rwhp with his setup) any other things you can thionk of to help me along the way? thanks

 

[NIKwoaC]

Please help, are there more than 4 bolts?! anything that can be missed... I am having so much trouble trying to remove the upper. I've removed four bolts, and i CANNOT break the seal, so im wondering if anyone has any hints...if im missing a bolt somewhere that is hard to see, etc. I've gone so far as to use an engine crate to pull on the underneath of the upper (in the crevice between the lower intake) and instead of it coming right off, the entire motor starts lifting, and then the entire car starts lifting off the jackstands.

AHHH! Remember: work smart, not hard. In my experience, any time you use BIG tools (sledge, crowbar, ENGINE HOIST ) for a job that doesn't usually require said tools, you're going to break things you don't want to break. My advice to you is to purchase a Chilton or Haynes manual for the car, and read before you dive in. It would have told you that the upper is held in place by 6 bolts, not 4.

 

[5liter87]

lol this is my first engine removal, a friend of mine is pulling it with me, and he has removed a few engines in his day. lol wen i told him about what you guys said, he was like "wtf im such an idiot...i remember doing that on my motor now..." thanks guys

 

[NIKwoaC]

while im on the subject..anyone have any tips to removing the h pipe?? its REALLY REALLY jammed into the hangers.. . BTW im swapping my stock motor out for a friends 331 stroker (about 350rwhp with his setup) any other things you can thionk of to help me along the way? thanks

I don't remember what the stock H-pipe looks like... But I remember using a Saws-all to remove it. If its an aftermarket unit (which you'll want for that bigger motor anyway), a little finesse should get it out easy.

Just a thought, but with the bigger motor, you should make sure the rest of your drivetrain is up to snuff.

 

[5liter87]

Oh yeah...im hoping that it (tranny, rearend) will withstand a few years (i put 3000 miles max per year on my mustang, and it MIGHT see the track once...but with street tires.) It is a bbk h pipe (for sale btw) for shorty headers, and i am upgrading to longtubes w/ x pipe. think the tranny will hold up for like 6k miles?...i DO drive hard most of the time, but never powershift or anything too crazy, hardly ever dump clutch.

 

[Saleen0679]

Also be aware that if the intake has never been off before you will have a U-shaped bar (not shown) that connects from the stud on the upper (A7) to a stud on the lower intake. At the very least the nut on the lower's stud will have to be loosened in order to move the bar out of the way to remove the upper.

 

[5liter87]

We got it off..no problem lol glad we didnt break anything. the motor is out, and h pipe was taken off, just a pain in the aRss i guess. thanks for help everybody!

 

[Mustang5L5]

I hate that U-shaped bar

 

[capri debris]

I must ask a question. When you finally got all the bolts out, how much force did it take to pop the intake off? Not much right? It probably popped right off, didn't it?When I read the first post of this thread, I actually aked my GF who doesn't know a thing about cars to come out to the garage for a minute. I pointed to the upper intake on my car and asked her this question. "If I were to remove all the bolts that hold this chunk if aluminum on the top of the engine, how hard would it be to lift it off?" Her answer was, and I quote, "You might have to jiggle it or smack it with your fist to get it loose because it's been on there for awhile." I told her she was absolutely correct... because she has COMMON SENSE!!! You don't have to be mechanically inclined to know that it would NEVER take the amount of force you were putting on that intake to know that something was wrong. You, my friend, got very lucky that nothing broke... but you know what they say... "God takes care of babies and fools."

 

[BannonJr]

Well...maybe that was a tad harsh...I mean...your right...should step back and realize..."Hey my 30lb sledge isnt moving this piece after I removed the bolts"..but I understand also, that after a while, maybe a few hours and maybe a couple beers, some tend to get excited, or anxious..and push just a tad harder...

But at any rate, he now knows there's six bolts, get a haynes, and give his buddy memory pills...so its all good...

I dont know what all I wrecked on my first engine pull....and we didnt have the nice internet forums like we do now...lol....

Good luck 5litre87, let us now how you make out!

 

[5liter87]

instead of making yourself feel better because you and you're girlfriend are better mechanics than me why don't you do something useful with your time, i.e. jumping off a bridge. And FYI, it wasn't me doing the actual work, i was watching. Thanks for all the actually useful info from everyone else. FYI the motor is completely out, no broken or evening bleeding fingers.

 

[gt40_2003wes]

u pulled a motor without blood being spilled? ur doing summin wrong.

good luck wit the 331 bro.