Let me start by saying when the industry moved past Stromberg 97 carbs, they left me behind.

I'm starting a major project to change out the injectors on my '89 roadster. I have the rebuilt Bosch injectors from Jon - I have watched the video, taken notes and have the hard copy of the procedure steps.

The car is on blocks, the distributor shield is removed as is the hose from the MAF to the plenum. I've made sure there is no fuel pressure in the rail.

Now to remove the electrical plugs from the injectors. Looking at the clips gives me no clue as to how they are removed. Will someone explain in one-syllable words the proper procedure (preferably with photos?).

I'm old, but I can learn. I used to be able to jerk the engine out of my 1956 Porsche in 20 minutes and have it on the bench for a valve adjustment. I should be able to change injectors, but the instructions lack some basic skills - like how to get the elec. plug off without busting it.

Also, I hate it when instructions use abbreviations and acronyms like MAF, IAC, TPS, AND TB. Hey, guys . . . Let's use plain English, huh?
In the same way, a sentence like, "Disconnect the two water lines to the TB and consider a TB doing a bypass!", is totally cryptic and makes no sense whatsoever. Sorry, I just get frustrated sometimes.

I'm serious about asking for a bit of help. Don't mean to be critical and will appreciate any advice I can get.

TIA,

 

Not sure if this is the correct way or not, but it worked for me. I took a small flat blade screwdriver and slipped it under the wire clip where it goes across the injector from one side to the other (think it is on the back side of the injector). Then gave it a little twist as I gently pulled up on the connector and they popped off.

Just a side note, my Great Grandfather bought 12 lots in Gig Harbor in about 1916 for $120 total. Sold them for about $1800 in 1925. 30 years ago I know that on one of the lots there was a house valued at $200,000. Damn...he should have held onto the lots!

 

facing the injector, press on the wire clip fore and aft while pulling upwards on the body of the connector. Do not pull up on the wires, or you may damage them. If Jon sold you Bosch yellows I can reprogram your memcal for this undersized injector.

 

So, the clip snaps loose by going up?

Never mind! I just toddled out to the shop and tried it - it worked and the plug came off. I was trying to rotate the darn thing.

Thank you, sir.

 

You got it! Excellent. They just snap back on when you push down on them.

 

Did Jon tell you to lube the o rings with Palmolive dish soap? He told me just that and he specified Palmolive.

 

To tell the truth, the injectors have been sitting in the passenger seat for a year. I've been trying to get my (ASE certified mechanic) son to come over for all that time to help me out. I can't take the good weather any more, so I decided to do it myself.

I don't remember discussing anything with Jon when I bought them, just ordered the injectors from him. The instructions may say something about lube, but I wasn't going to burn that bridge until I got to it. The video said to use Vaseline. I used to use brake fluid on anything that looked like rubber. I have Dawn dish soap handy, but could certainly pick up a bottle of Palmolive, if it's important.

 

Those clips are just small wires that fit in a groove on the inj body. If you pull it outward..or even OFF, (won't hurt anything...can be easily put back on) the plug lifts off the inj solenoid. You CAN buy new plugs IF any of these get damaged or broken. The new ones are sold at O'Reilly auto parts and other fine parts stores nation wide. Solder in the harness...good as new.

Doing this one step at a time seems appropriate. If its an 89, TPI, then you will need to loosen the runners or remove. This takes a torx set of bits, a good collection of extensions and wobblers for 1/4" drive. There are a couple bolts that are a bitc# to get to..
Plenum (square section of 3 piece intake) is easy. Watch the vac hose in the rear corner.

Start by:
removing throttle body (TB) 4 bolts. Look for allen replacements.
remove the cables on the TB.
Pull the elec plug in for the Throttle Position Sensor and the Idle control Motor below that. Pull any Vac lines . Set TB aside.

remove 8 plenum bolts. Brake booster vac line and small vac lines opposite side rear.
Lift up and out. IF this is the 1st time this intake has been taken apart the plenum will be almost welded in place. you will have to pry and wrestle it. Use caution...its aluminum. Gasket scraping WILL be required.

Once plenum is off, study the runner bolt pattern. One is turn backwards on each side. This is why you need good extensions and small drivers to access that bolt. Again,. think about allens as replacements...

At this point some guys just loosen the runner lower bolts and lean the runners back. This does give enough room to lift the fuel rails up and out BUT its tight and you may now have leaks in the lower runner gaskets....so I pull 'em off and do it right. By stripping evetything off you can also do some cleaning on the intake manifold base. Change out some old vac lines...general preventive maint stuff.

next, fuel lines. Use back-up wrench on the lines. They will twist too easy. Have some form of a plug ready. Sometimes fuel will siphon from the tank...I also take the lines off at the tank to prevent this.

Rail bolts...4.

Lift off each side and pull each side inj up together.


If I have missed a step....someone please step in !

I recall the first time I did this...it was a little intimidating at first. Now its a Saturday afternoon and a back-ache. Not a big deal after the 1st time.

Re-assembly takes a bit longer but you are doing more too....and going slower because you test as you go to avoid leaks.

happy to advise the assembly when time comes...

 

I've always had better luck rubbing on it with vasoline vs soap.

 

You only need to remove the passenger side runner to get the fuelrail off. Drivers side may stay.

 

Got it. My neer-do-well son is a commercial parts manager for an Autozone, so parts shouldn't be a problem. I really shouldn't badmouth him, he's working 60 hours/week and raising an 18 year-old, so he's got his own problems. Besides, it's a two-hour drive down to my place and another two-hours back home. He has replaced the brakes on both our Chrysler 300C and my Sonoma peekup, so it's not like he's ignoring me. I think I'll save him for replacing the brakes on the motorhome. That'll give him a backache!

Got a good collection of tools. No problem there.

Car had a top end overhaul resulting from a blown head gasket less than 2,000 miles ago. I expect the rubber and gaskets to be in good shape. (I'll be replacing the gaskets, of course, but they should come apart without a jackhammer.)

I keep a golf tee handy for that problem.

I will take you up on that. Thanks for the step-by-step.

 

The fuel lines are metal. The old golf tee works on rubber hoses for carbs but in this case you will need a rubber cap to push over the feed line.

When I got my 85, it was a whole new automotive world for me after using carbs for so many years. Back the things were easy. If you had spark and fuel it would run. Now there are so many sensors, wires and hoses you can get lost easily.

As you take things apart, be sure to label everything including bolts, wires hoses. AND be sure to use anti-seize on all the bolts that go into aluminum.

 

You can get the fuel rails off without removing the runners if you take them apart. Just a matter of removing some Torx bolts.

Jon sent me a full set of fuel rail O-rings with the injectors, so I assume you already have these.

 

Hi

Check the link below, a service manual is the most important thing to have. With it you should be able to sort out most issues that can pop up over time.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-CORVETTE-SHOP-MANUAL-SHOP-BOOK-ORIGINAL-/161057840656?pt=Motors_Manuals_Literature&hash=item257fcb9e10

 

Update - I have gotten as far as removing the plenum. Fortunately, it lifted out easily once the top plenum bolts were removed. My first job this morning was to go to Home Depot and buy a good, 4-bulb, fluorescent shop lite. I strung it up directly over the engine. Can't beat good light!

Along with the shopping trip, draining the cooling system, and removing the plenum it got to e around 1:00 pm. I washed up, poured a Rum & Diet, Caffine-free Coke and chugged a couple of 4 mg Dilaudid painkillers.

Lord! Does my back hurt. I've had 6 spine surgeries and have to be real careful what I do. This job is going to be too much. So, I called my $15/hour handyman and he'll be here Wednesday morning to finish the job.

I need to decide which is the better course. To remove one set of runners or to disassemble the fuel rail to get it out. I see what everyone means about the lower runner bolts being almost inaccessible!

Has anyone disassembled the fuel rail to remove it? Would you do it again? Cliff advised he thought that was the best way to go, but I'm looking for a consensus, I guess. It looks do be easier than getting the runner bolts loosened and out. They are still tight with fairly new gaskets from the head job. There are an extra set of O-rings included with the injectors from Jon, so I think I can safely assume they are for the fuel rail.

Again, thanks to all for the advice. I hope I can get by without spending another ~80 bucks for a shop manual.

 

I remove the passenger side rail with a 1/4" drive ratchet and a torx bit taped in a socket. Piece of cake!

 

The passenger side rail or the runner tubes???