intake and valve covers
 

I'm changing out my stock intake on my 84 k10, right now its a pain to get off, I'm putting a performer intake on it, while I'm in there is there anything to look for? when i took the valve covers off (it looks like they havnt been off in 15+ years there is a bunch of crud in there. any suggestions on how to get this thing off???

Re: intake and valve covers
 

I give them a good whack with a rubber mallet... make sure tho with the new manifold you may have to cut off the lip on the valve covers

Re: intake and valve covers
 

i got it off, bunch of anti freeze went down in the valley, dumb question but is that normal?

Re: intake and valve covers
 

Vacuum out the hard crusty stuff, scrape the gasket surfaces and wipe down with carb/parts cleaner, and put it all back together. Oil change before you start it just in case you dropped any debris into the crankcase.

Yes pretty normal.

Re: intake and valve covers
 

hey thanks a lot man, ill be sure to do that, it is a lot of junk in there too

Re: intake and valve covers
 

did you drain coolant remove hoses before removing manifold? be very careful about disturbing crud too much, as by being loose in motor can clog up oil galleries, etc.
sounds like you should have done a compression test as soon as you removed a valve cover and saw the crud. Your engine likely does not have a long life ahead of it. new manifold, etc will not make any positive difference. after you put it together, change oil/filter oil, etc run enough to warm up - don't drive it. then drain the oil and change the filter again to help get crud and coolant out of motor. then put high mileage oil/filter in it and hope for the best. change the spark plugs too.

Re: intake and valve covers
 

I'm mostly doing this cause at the moment i have a lot of time on my hands, and I've never done this before, this motor does have a lot of miles on it, like 150k or 250k....im doing a 5.3 swap next month or so

Re: intake and valve covers
 

the very center oval holes on my heads in the valley was almost filled with hardened carbon, almost 3/4 full...very bad...i did take my vacuum cleaner in there and get a lot of the nastiness out...i don't know how this things been running!!!!

Re: intake and valve covers
 

It's been running fine!
THe centre holes are the exhaust crossover to heat the intake when the motor is cold.

Re: intake and valve covers
 

interesting....thats for the info....im cleaning the new intake up now, hopefully have it going tomorrow

Re: intake and valve covers
 

kinda worried, i was scrapping the old gasket off with a razor and it broke, i can't find it anywhere!!!!

Re: intake and valve covers
 

Bummer!!
A simple job just became complicated!
That's why you should always lay a clean towel in the valley to cover the lifters and pushrods and stuff paper towel in each port.
You gotta find it!

Re: intake and valve covers
 

Probe the intake ports with a magnet to see if it went down there,

Re: intake and valve covers
 

wish you was here a couple hours ago!!! haha

Re: intake and valve covers
 

i did that, i pretty sure it went behind the engine or in the grass

Re: intake and valve covers
 

another dumb question guys, I'm fixing to put this new intake on, i got the gasket and gasket maker, if seen it done a few different ways, I've seen guys put the gasket maker on both sides of the gasket, some havnt put any, just the gasket, I'm just trying to do this right the first time and last time....

Re: intake and valve covers
 

Lay a bead around the coolant ports front and rear and run it over the front and rear china wall. Some dabs in the center between the runner pairs. Lay the gaskets on there and make sure they are sitting correctly. Then a small dab where the little tabs on the gasket sit on the edge of the head to china wall. If your manifold is pitted you may want to run another bead around the coolant ports on the gaskets and mate it into the bead on the china wall. I never ever have any leaks. I also use thread sealer on the bolts so no oil will wick up. I only use printoseal type gasket btw

Re: intake and valve covers
 

I hope your sure about the razor blade. I dropped a rocker arm nut one time and figured it hit the ground. I just grabbed another one out of the coffee can and kept going. I found it 2 weeks later in the top of a piston. It was also the first engine I built. A lesson I will never forget.

Re: intake and valve covers
 

does it matter which side the restricted port gasket goes? driver or passenger? the instructions don't say

Re: intake and valve covers
 

i hope so too... i was talking with my buddy, i don't want it to blow up, but if it does a 5.3 swap is going in next month!!! :metal::metal::metal: just really want it for a rebuild later on

Re: intake and valve covers
 

anyone?

Re: intake and valve covers
 

well gents, i got it done today, no leaks, runs good, but no real performance gain...i don't think my secondaries are opening, when i floor it it just creeps along, i doesn't have that boost that you normally have with a four barrel, seems like a two barrel....any suggestions???

Re: intake and valve covers
 

Timing first, carb second.
Any idea what your initial timing is set at?

Re: intake and valve covers
 

i didn't check it today, i put it back where i had it which was 8 or 9 degrees

Re: intake and valve covers
 

Bump your initial up to 12*.
What carb you got?