SEA4

?? I think I missed something.. I haven't used a wire wheel on anything. Actually, I haven't even started cleaning the gasket surface areas yet.



I was going to get some flexible brushes to clean out the insides of the intake ports on the runners and manifold as well as the upper plenum.. A machine shop will clean up all that? inside and out? That would certainly save alot of time and aggrevation~

BTW.. NICE job under your hood

CentralCoaster

A machine shop can either soak these or bead blast them, or both. Either way, it'll look miles better than you'll ever be able to do by hand.

Don't worry about the gasket surfaces, you're fine.



BEFORE



AFTER



There are also ways to remove dents in the runner tubes if you're picky about that.

cv67

Looks like its coming aling nicely..Changing gaskets on an L98 is a right of passage to ownership. Had mine off 6 times in 2 years, they ALL leak.

YoMilkMan

Good lord all these posts and no one even brought up PORTING. When i did my intake gaskets job i port the hell outta the base,runners and plenum. Made a world of differnce and it's was cheap just took time. In the long run it helped my HP, i'm still tweeking my chip for the sweet spot.

86PACER

http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox...-port/port.htm

SEA4

Here's an update for today..

I've removed everything off the front of the motor except the PS. I'm stuck on the pulley removal (I've got a different post for that)

All the brackets, TPI parts, manifold and valve covers are off at the powder coating comapny getting cleaned up.. The valve covers are getting powder coated, and everything else is getting tumbled. Once I get the stupid PS bracket off, that will go get tumbled too.

I picked up some little things at the dealer Friday.. the o-rings for the fuel delivery and return line couplers, new fuel injector clips, radiator cap and manifold bolts.

Since I'm going to pull the radiator to clean that up I'm going to get new upper and lower hoses too. I'm also going to look into replacing the oem heater hoses.. one has a couple 'T''s molded in.. Hopefully the dealer can still get them.

Here's a picture from today.. I've still got a long time to go~

Aardwolf

NAPA had high temp. plastic tee fitting in the right sizes for mine. I had a bad heater hose and saw prices of $100 for the bent hose. I used bulk heater hose and ran a new hose while doing the TB bypass a long with the tee fittings.

CentralCoaster

You don't need to remove the pulley to get the PS pump off the motor. But if you still want to, borrow the tool from kragen/autozone. It's not coming off any other way.



My 85 came stock with a metal hose tee. With the tee, you don't need any special hoses. And if you do for something else, you can use EZ coils to make any hose on the car.

SEA4

But can I free the pump and hoses from the bracket so I can get the bracket tumbled?

86PACER

The PS pump does not need to be removed. Just remove that stud that goes through the PS pump braket and threads into the head. Once that is off, the head simply lifts up and out with the PS and braket in place. I've done this job about 3 times. I just cleaned the bracket in place with degreaser. You can't really see it that much when everything is assembled to warrant the trouble.

CentralCoaster

You have to remove the pulley to seperate it from the bracket.

65Z01

Good luck with finding that one at the dealer. That one goes to your oil cooler.

I ordered one and my dealer gave me a "coupled" hose instead of a molded one...

CoolVette86

Sweet! Love these tips, I'm taking mucho notes as we speak! Good luck to SEA4 by the way, I'm sure it'll all come out sparkling!

SEA4

It's been awhile since I updated this thread, but I have made some progress.. I did get the PS steering pump out of the car and the pulley off.. sent that bracket off to get tumbled with the rest of the other stuff.

All that tumbled stuff is done now and the difference is amazing. They charged $45 for as much as they could fit in the tumbling cabinet and it took 2 times to get everything done.. for $90 dollars I am well pleased.

Here's the before and after of the intake manifold:







I've degreased everything under the hood and repainted the front of the engine block / timing cover.. I've cleaned the crossmember and steering rack, I took the radiator out and cleaned it and removed all the debris in the shroud, I've cleaned all the suspension components and brightened them up with some fine steel wool, I replaced the front shocks with new Bilsteins, I painted my front calipers silver and installed some new 13" rotors and Porterfield RS4 pads, and last night I put a new roller bearing water pump on. Tonight, the intake manifold goes back in place~

It feels good to see things starting to come back together now..under the hood is going to look 100 times better than it did.


I will say this about working on a C4.. it is EASY compared to every other car I've owned. The fact that you can pull the front tires off and stand right next to the motor on either side makes my back happy. I can't imagine doing this same job on an F body or any other full fendered car for that matter.


Well.. back to the slow and steady progress..

Rocket22

Looking for info; BYW, nice job on tackling the project. I do a bunch of work on cars, but really never had the need to "tumble" or clean a part to that degree. (I have owned a bunch of sportscars, mostly 5.0's). What does tumbling do? Can you get the same result by soaking in cleaner?

SEA4

Not sure about getting the 'same' results.. these parts are super clean and shiney..not quite polished, but certainly way better than I could have done with parts cleaner and brushes.

They cover all the gasket surfaces with 2 layers of duct tape and then some sort of really small metal pellet media is whipped around in with the parts bombarding them clean..

I didn't 'need' to do this, but for the 90 bucks (+ 60 for powdercoating my valve covers) my engine compartment is going to look better than new..

steven mack

Big heads up on intake .Turn it upside down you will see that GM made the back of the intake around the oil sending unit alot thinner than the rest of the intake. When you reinstall the intake it can be moved forward or backward slightly make sure you try to get it as far back as you can with a few bolts installed also as mentioned use Mr Gaskets right stuff gasket maker.Also use fine sand paper on the back and front of motor to clean the surfaces of all old gasket material .

SEA4

I'm getting pretty close to being done..

I took these pictures after lunch today..






Since I took these, I have run the wiring, installed the cap/rotor, hooked up the vacuum lines, reinstalled the MAF and air filter unit, and installed the little oil caps on each rocker so I can adjust them while the car is running..

I hooked up the battery, turned the key to on and checked for fuel leaks at the rail connections. Seeing (and smelling) none, I topped off the coolant and power steering fluid, said a little prayer and turned the key.

Cranked for about 4 seconds and fired right up


I adjusted the valves and let the car idle till the thermostat opened..topped off the coolant again and put the cap on.


So, that's where I'm at.. I'm going to pull the belt off, back off the alt bolt, and move the AC compressor/bracket so I can get my freshly powder coated valve covers back on without damaging them..

Then some final reassembly and I'm ready for a test drive.. car seems to run real smooth..can't wait to get on it and make sure everything is good to go!

CentralCoaster

Not bad for a first try! The intake looks great. Nothing better than a clean motor. Why did you adjust the valvetrain? New springs? I didn't see it in the post.

I noticed you got the allen bolt kit on there too.

SEA4

Why adjust..?? Because I was an idiot and 'adjusted' the loose ones after the car had been sitting for a couple weeks (completely forgetting the hydraulic lifters might loose some pressure and cause the rockers to get a little play)

No biggie.. the car runs really smooth and quiet now so it was worth it.

I just got in from getting the drivers side valve cover on and tidying up the wiring on that side.. looks AWESOME

I am so glad I took the time to take everything I could off the engine and clean/polish/powdercoat.. it really looks great now.


I'm going to do a before/after post once I get it wrapped up..