Vortec intake gasket swap question

[Emmettology 101]

On a 99 Vortec 350, are there any special procedures you need to take when swapping an intake gasket? Bascially what I am asking is if this can be done by the normal person in their garage?...

Have heard through the grapevine that you need a GM computer for something to do with the distributor.. But am not sure....

TIA..

 

[justinf]

I don't think so. I swapped out the intake gaskets on my 98 Tahoe with the 350, runs great, except now about eight months later I have an injector that is plugged up and causing an intermittent misfire.

 

[sweetk30]

all easy except for seting the timing on them. but if you do a real real good job of marking the stuff it will be o.k. and get the specs for the intake bolts thay are real small# on the setings. and clean clean surface. i have heard that if pitted bad felpro makes a regulare paper style setup as well , but havent seen one yet my self.

 

[big_black_blazer]

i did the swap on my 1997 Z71. not too bad:

- mark your distributor to the intake and to the firewall. you can get the timing very, very close that way.

- be careful with the upper radiator hose fitting on the intake. they are prone to breakage cause they're brittle.

- use masking tape and a sharpie marker to mark all wires. they'll only plug in one place, but several of them look alike.

-be sure to clean the gasket surface. a die grinder and 3m rollock disc work great.

- change your oil after the first short drive in case you got any crud in any of the oil galleys.

-i don't remember the torque specs on the small bolts on top, but it's low. i broke mine off with a cordless drill w/ nut driver.

 

[Emmettology 101]

Sweet.. Thanks everyone!!!

I was just a little worried 'cause I was hearing two different things(about using the GM comp or not)...


:beer:

 

[zcarczar]

DO NOT USE A DIE GRINDER AND ROLOC DISK! They WILL kill your engine, I've seen a few veteran tech's at the dealer I work at make this mistake and kill a couple engines, thats not good. But yes, mark your distributor good and you wont have a problem with it. Another trick is that you dont need to remove both valve covers, and there is a tab in the back by the coil that kind of holds the intake down, you need to bend this tab out of the way so you can put the intake back on, when you take the intake off you will see what im talking about. They are pretty easy to do, I can do one in about 2 hours if im in the shop at work, at home doing it your first time it will take you a little longer. Another thing to check for is the heater fitting on the left front, if it looks bad, or its leaking just replace it while its off, cause if you mess with it it will leak, or break.

 

[Emmettology 101]

Well luckily I have a friend helping me that is a GM tech... We're doign it over his house. He is the one that said we dont need any special tools. But I heard from a few others that you do. Just wanted to double check..

Actually though, my intake isn't leaking...Yet.... But my water pump is seeping a little here and there. So while we're at it, we figured might as well do the intake since we'll be in the area...