Rio, 95GTeee, and anyone else who's can help, please do!!!

[stunner6910]

The time has come, I'm finally gonna get my intake this friday. It's coming and as soon as it lands in my hands I want to not be scared of the installation. I went ahead and asked at a shop how much they would charge me and they quoted $150 which is not in my budget. That seemed kind of steep but they're only charging me $80 for the gears with warranty so it's odd. Just in you're wondering, this guy does know what he's doing, he's got several 12 second GM.(that's another reason why i want to do my intake, he's a GM guy, not very familiar with FORD)

To get to the point, please give me all the tips you have in installing the intake. I will have to remove the fuel rails, is there a trick to that without damaging anything? I got a couple of part numbers from RIO which will help but how about the vacuum lines, or anything else. The distributor is very frightning but I think I can manage. Just anything that will help me out, even maybe a detailed explanation will be great. I'm gonna be doing this on my own so it'll be pretty hard.
Thanx

 

[stangboy]

http://forums.stangnet.net/showthread.php?t=334773

Just scroll down to the part for intake installation. Its very detailed w/ pics...you can't go wrong. It really came in handy for me with all the vacuum lines and stuff.

 

[stunner6910]

that's so bad ass, thanx man, i'll print it out and take it home

 

[donjohn]

I was looking over that fact sheet the other day and it looks to be some good information, pics included. I'd think like the autozone/kragen harmon guide would have it as well right?

Also there was just a discussion about how much RTV to use on the intake so i'll see if i can find that. Some said just 4 dabs in each corner (dime to quarter sized) if you do it right and others said use half the tube.

 

[95GTeee]

I agree ... that thread was VERY handy when I did mine too! If you happen to damage any of the injector caps or O-rings while disassembling the injectors ... dont worry!! Go to a NAPA store and get part #2-12085 ... its a repair kit for the injector caps and some o-rings!!! Return it if ya dont need them. I had to get three kits when i did mine, and I was SO gentle! I think you probably still have my numbers, if you dont, PM me and I'll send em to ya again. Feel free to gimme a call and I will do what I can to walk you through it since everything is still fresh in my mind. Get the new FelPro gasket kit and a tube of the Black RTV. Send me a PM with your email address and I can send ya some pics on how I did the vacuum lines. Dont sweat the distributor in/uninstall! it'll be FINE! Much easier than you will think. I'll walk ya through that on the phone if ya want. Let me know how else I can help. Good luck!! You'll be happy when its done and satisfied you did it yourself. Just takes time!

 

[94TURBO5 O]

Since the Cobra should come with intake bolts you should take 4 of your stock intake bolts and cut the hex top off of them and the notch them for a flat head screwdriver. When you go to install the lower put one bolt in each corner and you can lower the lower intake down more precisely and not disturb the gaskets.

 

[Quick5pnt0]

I'd say that the distributor is probably one of the easier things to do in an install like this. The hardest thing you'll find is trying to remember where and how everything (wires/vaccum lines/nuts/bolts/etc) goes...LOL

With the distributor just do this... Get some "white out" and mark the bottom of the distributor where it goes in the block in a manner so you can tell which way the actual distributor (not the rotor) is pointing. THEN mark which way the rotor is pointing in relation to the distributor. After that all you have to do is line those two marks up and you're good to go. Just make sure you don't turn the motor and it will work.
IF you the motor happens to turn (or the marks you made get screwed up) then do this.....
Take the #1 spark plug out and turn the motor over until you feel air pressure coming out of the hole. You can put your finger over the hole and should actually feel the pressure pissing out. Once you feel that continue to turn the motor over until the 0 degree mark lines up on the harmonic balancer. Then all you have to do is put the distributor in with the rotor lining up so it points at the #1 spark plug wire on the cap.
Then just set the timing.

It sounds alot more confusing than it really is.
I hope that helps a little, good luck with it, and let us know how it goes!

 

[yellow5.0cobra]

$150 is veryyyyy cheap for an intake install...

he is only charging you 2hrs of labor, when in fact it will take about 4 hours for your first time.

 

[95GTeee]

Honestly ... i was thinking the same thing about the price, it is cheap! It's nice to do it yourself, but if you're in a hurry and just want the job done - $150 aint bad! You will learn a lot about your motor though if ya do it yourself.

94SC50 brought up a GREAT tip - I used 4 studs I had to line up the lower as I lowered it onto the block. Kinda makes it go on exactly right the first time and doesnt smear around the gaskets or RTV. DO THAT!

 

[Killercanary]

There is no reason to pay someone to install an intake. Anyone can do it. The only special tools required are the fuel line disconnects. Good luck and use RTV on the block between each head and not the cork gasket that comes with the intake gaskets. Make it at least on 1/8" thick as the bottom of the intake normally doesn't sit flush on the block in that spot.

 

[302fordracer]

$150 is veryyyyy cheap for an intake install...

he is only charging you 2hrs of labor, when in fact it will take about 4 hours for your first time.

yeah no joke!!!! the best I can find around here is $400....but I don't know I might still just do it myself

 

[95GTeee]

I never even used the fuel line disconnects ... I used bungee cords and just held them outta the way along with other hoses.

Also ... if you are gonna do (or have been thinking about doing) the smog/air pump delete, this would be a great time to clean all that up and get it out of the way. You can also get to the bolts behind the heads really easy without the upper in the way!

 

[yellow5.0cobra]

i personally say, cough up the $150.

it will save you the timing headache if your not familiar with it.

lets add stuff up... gaskets are $20, RTV is $6, so far thats $26... now lets add in the frustration how many hours of your day it will COST YOU.

$150 is CHEAP and i would jump on it in a hearbeat if you think the guy is OK enough to do the job(aka, did it before).

 

[94TURBO5 O]

i personally say, cough up the $150.

it will save you the timing headache if your not familiar with it.

lets add stuff up... gaskets are $20, RTV is $6, so far thats $26... now lets add in the frustration how many hours of your day it will COST YOU.

$150 is CHEAP and i would jump on it in a hearbeat if you think the guy is OK enough to do the job(aka, did it before).

Ditto that is pretty cheap if you are going to get a quality job from someone you think will do it right. I would almost pay that much just to be able to have it done w/o the headache also and I know what I'm doing!

 

[hillie16]

I never even used the fuel line disconnects ... I used bungee cords and just held them outta the way along with other hoses.

Ditto, I just kinda layed the fuel rails off to the side.

 

[SN95StangMan]

I went ahead and asked at a shop how much they would charge me and they quoted $150 which is not in my budget. That seemed kind of steep but they're only charging me $80 for the gears with warranty so it's odd.
Thanx

$150 is pretty cheap for an intake install, but $80 for a gear install is crackhead pricing. I think I should drive to Texas just to take advantage of those deals.

 

[stunner6910]

thanx for the replies and yep, everything down here is cheaper than anywhere else(i think). i would really like to do it myself since this is my career choice. I want to open up my own performance shop here in south texas as soon as possible after i graduate from the university(1 year). i just want to get all the experience i can so my business can grow.

the guy did mention about the special tool to remove the gas lines but if 95GTeee and Hillie 16 didn't have to disconnect them, i guess i can do the same thing. but if i really need it, does anyone know where i can get it. 95GTeee, trust me, if there's no problem with me calling, I will call if I stump into something during the process. A friend of mine who is pretty familiar with these things offered to help me so that gives me a little more confidence. So 1/8 of RTV lining is just the right amount? 94SC50, good advice and i will do that.

If this thread dies today, I will bring it back to life when I'm having a hard time.

95GTeee, i have your number and my e-mail is [email protected] if you want to send me some pics.

thanx to all of you

 

[hillie16]

Any auto store (Advanced Auto, Auto Zone) will have them.

 

[yellow5.0cobra]

yea they either sell it in a UNIVERSAL TOOL(they tend to be thick) or they sell it in a pack of individual pieces.

both cost about $10.

You got a LONGGGGGGGG WAY TO GO before opening up a performance shop.


Hopefully somehow you can learn most of the stuff in a year... but without hands on you wont.

so i applaud you for attempting this out of knowledge and now penny saving.

 

[stunner6910]

You got a LONGGGGGGGG WAY TO GO before opening up a performance shop.

yeah, i know what you mean, i went back and read what i had put and was laughing. i know it'll take more than a year to learn everything i have to but i'm getting there. there are 2 advance auto parts stores opening up in a couple of weeks and i want to get assistant manager trainee. i think i have a pretty good chance since i'm majoring in management and will be graduating in a year and know the VERY BASIC components of sport cars. after i get it , then we'll see what happens, i could probably open up my own store, but that's in the future.

Back on Topic,
well, it's getting pretty difficult not to take my car to a shop. a ford specialist i know and trust told me he would do it, and i qoute "If you're just doing the upper and lower, give me 50 uhhh 75 bucks and a couple of hours and it's a deal." I was hell yeah!!!!!!! Guys I'm sorry, I knew I said I wanted to do this but $75 to have it professionally installed ain't bad at all. I trust this guy more than I do the other since this guy installed gears in my old stang and also worked on my brother in law's mustang and his shop in nicer . FYI, this guy has several coupes running in the 10s, so I trust him. The only reason I'm taking my car to get the gears done with the other guy is that it's $40 cheaper.

PS: He also said I could hang around while he does it so I can check it out