to anyone who ever done a h/c/i themself

[Daniel50]

wow i have a new respect to someone who does there own h/c/i swap. i just finished tearing down everything to get to the cam. i mean everything comes off!! engine bay looks empty with just a shortblock sitting there. finally got to the point where i can start putting all the new stuff back on and toss the old. and anyone thinking of doind this themself look to spend around 500 dollars on miscellanous parts and tools. something always breaks or needs replacing when you get far in the motor you never knew about. so far i needed a new power steering pump, idler, a few split hoses, vacuum lines, and a few tools.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Yeah its a fun job. I liked it, now im onto redoing my suspension and putting in a 347 lol. Your gonna love the new power.

 

[blksn955.o]

did my H/C/I swap on the mustang the day after I got out of the hospital for kidney stones...still had the stint(sp?) in from the surg. It was a great day...all of 100*. I started my fall semester 2 days later too boot. That SUCKED.

At the end of that semester I had it tore apart again due to a bad HG (defective one...it just would not seal) I had to get it together for a final as my DD died. Started at 5pm with the shortblock and had it running by 10pm. Got a B on the final. I had all the parts off already and had all the parts to go back on I was wanting to do it over winter break.

 

[MrClean302]

Doing the same thing over here minus the cam. I hope I can put it back together

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

you will really appreciate it if you do 4 head gaskets and 2 cam swaps in a month.......please don't ask me to bring back the memories.....yes i do know every size bolt............

 

[The Green GT]

yes i do know every size bolt............

Thats kinda of a good thing.

 

[Pokageek]

Yep. First time is the worst I guess. I did not enjoy it to be honest but it was a learning experience.

 

[Guero]

i did it 3 times it was fun, except were the part i put the lifters x brace on wrong and blew my bottom end 3 days later, all in all it was fun and worth the learning experiance. And me to know all the bolts. thats kinda not good though cuz my freinds says its cuz its a Ford lol

 

[BlackVert]

i never did a cam or heads, but i did have to replace my lower intake when i installed the kb. i learned alot. when i went back to na, it took like an hour to pull the kb out and put the stock intake back in.

if i ever decide to put the kb back on, it won't take nearly as long.

i am still afraid to try heads and cam, but definately the first time would be the worst.

 

[95mustang_gt]

I did mine byself as well.I tell you this,I go to school for automotive technology and i learned more from doing the h/c/i then i did sitting in class for 5hrs

 

[Pokageek]

Hmm...well actually I didn't do the cam cause that came with the shortblock..

Don't do this -
How's this for a kicker. I was heard a LOUD Metal BANG! and I THOUGHT a piston hit some valves...it really sounded like metal to metal! So.... I shut it OFF and tore the engine down to the pistons AGAIN and put it all back together with new heads again only to find out from another visiting mechanic when it happened on the 2nd go-around and he says "o' that's just a backfire thru your mac CAI (metal part) ..nothing to worry about. I nearly pooped right there. Of course all that crap went away when I figured out it wasn't running right b/c the MAF wasn't programmed properly.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Yeah the first time is extra hard becaue the nuts and bolts have been on there for freakin 100K+ they are hard to break. But the second time around is much more cake.

 

[HGFireHazard]

It reminds me of when I thought I couldn't put on a Vortech, but I did. I have yet to tear deep into the top of the engine (so far just the upper intake and taking some accessories off) but I really would like to learn how to do it. When something goes wrong I want the know-how to fix it myself. I'm tired of paying mechanics to do something I could do myself if I tried... and of course with the help of :SNSign:

 

[Guero]

yeah with the help of :SNSign:

 

[parchisi]

I just took a crapload of pictures while I was taking things apart...made life much easier putting things back together.