hey guys i have a edlebrock Performer 455 intake thats just been sitting around in my house, I want to install it, i wanna see if i can save a little money and do it myself, any tips and tricks for the install? what do i need to do, what should i avoid? which gasket should i use??
No valley pan gasket for these. Use the regular gaskets. Use RightStuff gasket goo for the ends where the intake meets the block, throw out those rubber end seals. Also may need different length bolts. Torque evenly starting with the center bolts working your way to the outside. Easy job, takes maybe one to two hours.
Thanks for the quick reply!, when you say use the regular gaskets, do you mean the ones it has in there now?? will i need to mess around with the carb or is it just remove from old and replace to new manifold??
There's really no reason you can't use a factory-type replacement gasket, and good reasons why you should use one. While the soft paper composition gaskets might help to seal port irregularities better than the stamped steel bathtub gasket, you'll be missing out on the oil control the bathtub gasket gives you. This not only helps prevent oil from heating up the bottom of the intake manifold, but also keeps oil from being sucked up through the PCV valve which sits above the source of oil splash at the back of the intake. Unless you're doing major port contour mods, the easy and clean way to go is with the steel bathtub gasket with just a little silicone around the water ports. Devon
I would also use a stock replacement gasket. I just can tell you what I did when I installed the performer in the Centurion. I used the bathtub gasket WITH the rubber seals where it meets the block. I applied a thin coat of RTV sealer around every port and a little bit mor sealer around the water passages. I bought a Fel-Pro gasket set. The include the RTV sealer you will need and a short instruction about the correct gasket installation. When I did the job on my car I replaced some grommets, gasket and other stuff too, like valvecover gaskets pcv valve grommet, thermo vacuum switch, heater control valve, ignition fresh up, rebuilt the carb, K&N air filter element, fuel filter...... All parts I thought it was necessary were sandblasted and painted. Orig. decals installed ...... But that depends on you. Which intake gasket you have to buy depends on the year of your heads. pre-72 use the standard gasket 72 and up require the use of the smog style gasket. Heres a list of the parts I used for the job: - Intake gasket: pre-72 PN: UY68 / 72-up PN: UY83 - intake manifold bolt set (is needed because the old ones are to long on 72-up cars) PN: TS56 - pcv valve grommet PN: 2350N - breather grommet at valve cover PN: 2027N - oil filler cap (they are always leaking ) PN: F463 - thermo vacuum switch PN: 2021N - chevy big block choke kit PN: CD95 - rebuild kit for the Q jet (ordered at classicbuicks.com) - 1.5 meters vacuum hose (local store) - heater valve (classicbuicks.com) - valve cover gaskets all PNs are from year one. www.yearone.com You will need the chevy choke because the Buick style wont fit the performer:error: . You just have to modify the choke rod a little bit.:Smarty: http://www.buickperformance.com/Edelbrockmods.htm hope that helps :TU:
Be sure you plug any of the tapped holes you don't need. Some of them go right into the runners. I found them after I broke my cam in at 2,000+ rpm for 20 minutes! ou:
this might be a dumb question, but do i need to remove the valve covers to remove the intake manifold? (the motor is in the engine bay)
I knew that ou: got it off very easily, heres another one:how do i take off the thermostat, do i need it to install it on the edelbrock intake?
Oh yeah I got that out already... i mean this thing how do i take that out of the old manifold? or do i need a new one?
After the thermostat housing has been removed you can just pull it off. Sometimes it´s a little bit stuck to the manifold. But I would buy a new one. Price for a thermostat is about 10 bucks. And I saw 3 cars with blown head gaskets just because of a thermostat that didn´t open. Take car to install the therostat in the same direction it came off !!
Not very hard to install the thermostat, just put it on with the intake off of the car so that you can make sure that it sits in the intake right. Otherwise it will leak.
This has some pretty good instructions, and although it is not based on the performer directly, a lot of the same things should apply. http://www.taperformance.com/www/PDF/Intake_Instructions.pdf
Very simple to install a thermostat, especially with the intake off. To remove the old thermostat, remove the 2 bolts that secure the thermostat housing to the intake. Lightly tap the neck of the housing with a wrench to break the seal. Scrape the gasket material and sealant off the surfaces of the housing and intake. The thermostat sits in a recess in the intake. It may be stuck to the intake, but you should be able to pull it out by hand. It makes sense to buy a new thermostat, they are relatively inexpensive. Also buy a new gasket. I like the Stant brand gaskets. They feature one side that is sticky. You peel off a paper coating to expose the sticky side. This type of gasket can be used to hold the thermostat in the intake recess while you line up the housing bolts. Coat the exposed side of the gasket with sealant, then line up the housing and tighten the bolts down evenly. DON"T OVERTIGHTEN. (20 ft lbs)
