how hard is it to fix a leak in it? A local shop said $350 and it was a 6hr job... sound right? Dad and i did the opti fine should we be able to do the intake? If i do it should i get it p&p? Any input would be good.

- Mike

 

If you can do an optispark swap, I don't see why you couldn't handle doing an intake job. It wouldn't be worth it to port it unless you have the mods to support doing so. Shbox has a little writeup on removing the intake manifold as part of the cam removal tutorial.http://shbox.com/ci/cam_removal.html

 

seriosly swaping the intake and cleaning all the surfaces and all that jazz is about a 1.5 hour job 2.5 if you have never done it before and are overly careful about everything
six bolts on either side
remove the fuel lines
throttle cables
intake elbow of course
and be care full with the evap stuff those hoses are a bit brittle and since you have no egr its even easier

takle it your self and get a set of gaskets for 18 bux and your set and have an extra 330 left to buy yourself a nice lunch lol

 

I'd like to know this too! Mine is leaking bad and I want to try it myself before taking it to a shop. I've never done it though so I'll be watching this thread very closely. Also is there a write up to this anywhere?

 

Make sure you clean the surfaces real good ,label all your vacum lines and put a good amount of rtv in the front and back of the block then when your ready to install it make sure you position the manifold perfectly on first try or you will mess up the rtv bead.

 

Someone had previously posted a tip about buying a couple extra bolts for the intake, cutting off the heads and using them as guides...allows for easy line up of intake to block...no smearing around the RTV bead

 

Read up on it as much as possible. There are many stories about having to redo do it several times because they used the RTV wrong. I think someone suggested using pieces of pencils for a guide on the bolts.

 

I just took the intake off the other day for the first time. It took me about an hour to get it off I think. There is nothing to it. Just remember where the hoses go or take a pic of both side. I had to pull mine to get at the blown head gasket. I am not the greatest at this car stuff but it isn't as bad as everyone says. Tomorrow I am going to clean up and paint the intake.
good luck
Brandon
95 Impala SS

 

You can do it yourself...take your time and allow yourself enough time...read shoebox writeup on this and you will be fine.

 

It takes a while to do if it's your first time... yo uwant to be organized and clean, but it's seriously nothing difficult to do. The hardest part is alighing the intake so it doesn't move.

 

If you can replace an opti you can easily do an intake. Follow shoeboxs site it's in the cam removal and install how to http://shbox.com/ci/cam_removal.html

 

basically who cares if you haven't done it yet, its 12 bolts. just disconnect the sensors and all the surronding stuff. once i found out i had to pay someone $350 i said forget that and did it with a friend within 3 hours. just because we had never done it and we were drinking. lol. its easier than it looks. i have had mine off 3 times now. Its the simplest thing on the car now. make sure you torque them to the right specs. i have them if you need them.