Steel IH Gaskets & Primary Port is 38mm

[KJL]

I guess if one has a lift and all the tools etc. pulling the motor would be such a big deal.

I read Marc's article regarding the cam work. If someone could tell me that the work could be done without pulling the brake booster I would give it more serious consideration.... I have done that on my 72 and damn near broke my neck trying to contort my body up into the under dash space. no thank you... I am to old and inflexible for that kind of work anymore, maybe 10 years ago when I did it the first time. May I will email Marc and ask him if it is possible.

I have phased cams before and cameras are relatively cheap, heck I am sure there is an ap for that!

You didn't mention header removal in you post. That cant be fun either.

[KJL]

Update:10-5-13
Finished cleaning up all the aluminum flecks everywhere. Even with masking and plastic, that stuff finds its way around. Removing the oil soaked paper towels I stuffed into to primary ports went as well as could be expected. I cleaned them out best I could with vacuum and small diameter hose, then gently lifted them out with pliers and using the vacuum to catch any fliers, then cleaned the bores with brake cleaner soaked paper towels. I am sure a few flecks of aluminum made there way into a couple of ports that happened to have a open valve.... I assume (hope) they should either vaporize or get blown out of the system. I think it would be a good idea to use to layers of protection. I found that because of the swirling of the aluminum bits, they found their way deep into the paper towel crevices and could not be all vacuumed out. Paper towel may not have been the best choice. Going to clean out the valley, re-torque crank case vent cover bolts, check secondary vacuum actuators, checked them individually using vacuum tester and they checked out OK. I am also going to test them via the on-board vacuum pump and solenoid actuation.

[mike100]

I'm sure I had a couple of flecks blow thru when i did mine. None got on the valve seat- that was all I was concerned about. Did mine with piston at TDC in each cylinder.

I definitely makes a mess. prep and cleaning is 30% of the job. The actual grinding was maybe 4-5 hours on mine if I recall.

[KJL]

I am going to make one more pass and make sure the bores are as clean as possible. I never would have considered doing this if the heads had been iron. I cant imagine a few tiny flakes of aluminum could harm the valve seats or cylinder bores in any way...

[KJL]

Update:

Just finished cleaning the engine and prepping the gasket surfaces. Used an engine degreaser and simply green with water bottle sprayer and a steam cleaning machine (not necessary). Looks good. Wasn't bad to start with unlike my 96 LT4, damn, there was so much gunk on the front of that engine.... there are 4 penetrations through that front cover, water pump shaft, opti spark, crank and crack pos sensor, all leaked and all were replaced. Took a week of cleaning. tight as a drum now.

Next up, replacing all the o-rings in the fuel lines, injector housings and injectors plus the two PVC tubes that plug into the valve covers. Using kit from Jerry. I believe I am using the Viton kit. Trimming the IH and plenum housing gaskets to fit my ports. I will us the old metal IH gaskets as a template for trimming the new gaskets. I will use a high tack gasket sealant around any port that comes in contact with engine fluids. As part of the work, Jerry recommended to remove the crank case vent cover bolts one at a time, apply some 234 loctite (blue) and torque to correct spec. He suggested this should be adequate and replacement of that gasket is likely not necessary. He also recommended using oil as an o-ring assembly lubricant.

[Paul Workman]

When I did my first "R&R" under the plenum, I found several bolts on the IH's, plenum, etc. to be less than recommended torque. Since then I've always used the blue Loctite on ALL such hold-down bolts** and have not had any problems with gasket leaks due to torque issues.

**RED Loctite used on the Fidanza FW and pressure plate bolts, however.

Just sayin...

P.

[KJL]

Same here. Some of the bolts were just slightly more than hand tight. Going Blue on all plenum and IH bolts including the starter.

[KJL]

I cant believe it has been sense October when I started this. My travel for work has been non stop but I finally got her back together and cranked her over yesterday. She started right up and ran very smoothly. I think air was also being pulled through the IH gasket as well. Anyway, just need to finish battery relocation. I also relocated the intake temperature sensor while i was at it.

[KJL]

Finished reassembly and it starts and runs great. No more leak either. That said, while i had it apart i removed the alternator and had it checked out because I had some battery issues and NAPA said it was good. Not good. Lights pulsate just a tiny bit. Most noticeable at idle. Unplug alternator and pulsating stops...bad voltage reg.... great. Looks like another plenum removal exercise, i don't understand how this could have passed... The guy checking it didn't seem like he know was he was doing.... should have taken it elsewhere. I haven't put Marcs chip in yet, need to get the car registered and through ridiculous emissions test. I need to get some miles on the car before I bring it. Feel like I am talking to myslf here but I can't stand it when threads are started but not really completed. After I get the car registered and the new chip installed, I am going to dyno the car with both chips and see if all the porting work and Marc's chip provided any additional HP.

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by KJL

Finished reassembly and it starts and runs great. No more leak either. That said, while i had it apart i removed the alternator and had it checked out because I had some battery issues and NAPA said it was good. Not good. Lights pulsate just a tiny bit. Most noticeable at idle. Unplug alternator and pulsating stops...bad voltage reg.... great. Looks like another plenum removal exercise, i don't understand how this could have passed... The guy checking it didn't seem like he know was he was doing.... should have taken it elsewhere. I haven't put Marcs chip in yet, need to get the car registered and through ridiculous emissions test. I need to get some miles on the car before I bring it. Feel like I am talking to myslf here but I can't stand it when threads are started but not really completed. After I get the car registered and the new chip installed, I am going to dyno the car with both chips and see if all the porting work and Marc's chip provided any additional HP.

Pull the air horn and the throttle body only you do not need to pull the plenum to remove the alternator