Pi headswap, underway.

brightwhite98GT · Apr 26, 2008

Yeah, I did exactly as you said. I just cant get the angle of it. I did get all the other bolts that I couldnt get to before, except that one. Also, Im not gonna mess anything up by using that pulley puller am I? Its pretty tight, so its kinda needing a little bit of force to pull it off. I wasnt sure how much was needed, so I kinda pulled it half way off, but then it started to take a little bit of force so I was kinda scared to keep pulling. Am I safe to use some force for it, or no? Its not turning on me, I have the car in 5th gear so the motor is pretty much locked tight. Hopefully I will get a little bit more done today then I did yesterday.

MustangMatt96GT · Apr 26, 2008

YEa the pully will take a little bit of force to work....

reivaxtorres · Apr 26, 2008

yeah, you will be fine with the pulley puller. are you using the one that screws onto the pulley or the one that grips the pulley?

and give me an ahour or two and ill get pics of how to get to that last bolt.

brightwhite98GT · Apr 26, 2008

Well, I appreciate it. I got that last bolt finially. It was at a really weird angle. Crank pulley is off. The steering pump is off. Im gonna get the AC pulley thing off i believe. Probaly the whole pump or whatever it is. Then off comes the timing cover. Today is going better than yesterday did for sure (knock on wood). Does anyone know the sequence the timing cover is supposed to come off? I know there has to be a sequence as not to crack it. The pulley puller I got ahold of, is the kind that grips the pulley.

brightwhite98GT · Apr 26, 2008

http://www.modulardepot.com/images/frontcover.gif

Okay, I found the sequence. Another question. How in the hell am I supposed to get to the bolts on the exhaust manifold. I havent even attempted yet, but it looks gruesome.

reivaxtorres · Apr 26, 2008

no, dont touch the a/c pulley. you dont need to move the condesor at all, just leave it where its at.

as for the sequence to remove the timing cover, it doesnt matter how you do it, so long as you remember where all the bolts go as some are different sizes.

as for the bolts on the exhaust manifold......wait till you take the heads off, then take off the manifolds. trust me, it is so much easier that way. on the drivers side, you will need to yank out the dipstick tube as well when you take off the head and manifold.

use plenty of wd-40 or PB Blaster to soak the exhaust manifold bolts before you take them off, as it will make everything so much easier.

MAKE SURE TO NOTE HOW THE DIPSTICK TUBE IS ROUTED. when you install the new one (i assume you purchased the FRPP headswap kit?) you need to bolt it onto the head, between the head and the manifold, THEN you can install the head onto the block. if not, you will bend the tube trying to install it later, as i did.

brightwhite98GT · Apr 26, 2008

Thanks for the heads up. Well we got all the head bolts out, all the timing stuff is off, heads are ready to be pulled but we cant get the exhaust manifold off the damn heads, and its kinda holding it in the car. I guess we will try to figure it out on Sunday, because tomorrow I have to pick up another car I just got in Florida. We were gonna take the front wheels off, take the fenders out, and get the manifolds there, but the front wheels I forgot had the lug nuts that require a special key, which I don't have. I will take your advice for sure though, you have given me excellent advice thus far, so definitely thanks a bunch for that. We left the AC condenser on, and the water pump. We just got stuck with the manifolds.

reivaxtorres · Apr 26, 2008

brightwhite98GT said:
Thanks for the heads up. Well we got all the head bolts out, all the timing stuff is off, heads are ready to be pulled but we cant get the exhaust manifold off the damn heads, and its kinda holding it in the car. I guess we will try to figure it out on Sunday, because tomorrow I have to pick up another car I just got in Florida. We were gonna take the front wheels off, take the fenders out, and get the manifolds there, but the front wheels I forgot had the lug nuts that require a special key, which I don't have. I will take your advice for sure though, you have given me excellent advice thus far, so definitely thanks a bunch for that. We left the AC condenser on, and the water pump. We just got stuck with the manifolds.

taking the fenders off is gonna be a waste of time....trust me. take a look at this pic....

why do you want to take off the manifolds while the heads are in the car? trust me, wiggle them around a bit and the heads will come out, manifold and all. just make sure its not getting stuck on the mid pipe (hopefully you removed this instead of just unbolting it).

brightwhite98GT · Apr 29, 2008

Yeah, I took the X pipe off, but the rest of the mid pipe looks like its welded on the manifolds. I think I have no other choice but to cut, and weld it back later when the new heads come on. We were gonna take the front wheels off too, but I dont think it will help much. I just got back from Florida late last night so I havent been able to toucht eh car all weekend. I really hope I can finish it soon.

humjaba · Apr 29, 2008

There's nothing else attached to the manifolds once you have the x-pipe off... We didn't even have to remove it all the way. We unbolted it from the headers, unbolted it from the cat-back and just let it swing down on the hangers. I take it you have stock headers? My my you people make much too much work out of this

Like he said you can pull the heads out with the headers/exhaust manifolds still attached. On the passenger side it is really easy. Driver side you have to unhook the coolant hose, pull the dipstick loose (get some vice grips for that) and make sure the header flange clears the steering shaft and you're good. Chilton's says to take the headers off first (I assume that's what your using) but it's not needed. I didn't follow the chilton's at all except for the torque sequences when putting it back together. I say if it ain't in the way, don't touch it

For future reference, an easy way to get the crank pulley off is to put the car in gear, pull the e-brake up HARD and give it a good yank with a large breaker bar with a box end wrench on the end.

96gt226410 · Apr 30, 2008

That sucks about your manifolds being welded to the mid pipe. Still working on it? How's it going now?

brightwhite98GT · May 1, 2008

I got a recipricating(sp?) saw out and just cut the pipes welded to the manifold. My friend said he would weld everything back up for me when I got it back together. Hes a pretty good welder so I guess its not a problem. I know have the PI head on the passenger side, but Im waiting on some exhaust manifold bolts to come from the dealer for the driver side. The driver side bolts would not come off either, and they kept breaking, even with tons of PB blaster and WD40. So I just said the hell with it and ordered some new ones. One problem I hit with the heater core, is the brass inlet tube broke off the actual core inside the firewall. I barely tugged on the hose and it broke. I JUST had the heater core replaced last winter too, pisses me off. Im gonna try and fix it with JB weld and some RTV. I hope it holds.

reivaxtorres · May 3, 2008

damn dude, the mid pipes were welded to the manifold? that sucks. sorry i havent been around to help you out a little more, ive been having a lot of personal issues to deal with lately and havent had as much time to dedicate to the forums.

so everything is pretty much done then? have you re-installed the chain on the passanger side? (cant remember which one goes first).

oh, and a little advice on installing the drivers head........INSTALL THE DIPSTICK TUBE!!! you know how there is a bracket that bolts onto the head somewhere? install that first, THEN install the manifold, then install the head on the car. get someone to help you guide the dipstick tube into the block where it needs to go while you position the head on the block.

oh, and 3 of the head bolts (or maybe 4 of them) will need to be installed on the head before it goes back into the car or else it wont clear the strut tower

brightwhite98GT · May 6, 2008

Hey, Im sorry to hear that. I hope everything gets better soon, and all is well. Sorry I havent been able to update on the car, I have been busy trying to work on it, work, I have been working on opening up my own business, and get all my school stuff done. Kinda busy. I got the heads on, manifolds back on, timing chain on, got it all timed up, timing cover on, and Im gettin the pulleys on now.

reivaxtorres · May 6, 2008

brightwhite98GT said:
Hey, Im sorry to hear that. I hope everything gets better soon, and all is well. Sorry I havent been able to update on the car, I have been busy trying to work on it, work, I have been working on opening up my own business, and get all my school stuff done. Kinda busy. I got the heads on, manifolds back on, timing chain on, got it all timed up, timing cover on, and Im gettin the pulleys on now.

sweet!!!! once you get the pullies on, rotate the engine by hand to make sure everything is clear and the engine rotates.

here's how:
take the plugs out, and put a socket and ratchet on the crank pulley and rotate it. if it spins freely, you are good to go. if it gets stuck, something is wrong, most likely the cams are on the wrong side.

brightwhite98GT · May 7, 2008

Will do. I rotated the crank a few times when all the pullies were off, and it would spin. How sensitive are the cams in the degreeing?

reivaxtorres · May 7, 2008

when talking about factory PI cams, not very sensitive. both PI and NPI cams are degreed to the same specs, so as long as you can line everything up in regards to the timing marks on the chains and the cam gears, you will be fine.

MustangMatt96GT · May 8, 2008

although, i have heard of 10 horse by degreeing a set of PI cams....

brightwhite98GT · May 13, 2008

Yeah, I meant by like how close everything is regards to timing. I may have it a degree off on each side. I got it near perfect but I dont think quite. I have a problem though, pretty major one. my dad raised hell. The car is idling way fucked up when it starts. He made me start it, with out all the vacuum lines hooked up, and one 02 sensor not plugged in all the way. It cranked, but it wouldnt idle steady unless the idle hose thing was pointed straight up in the air and off the cai. The mid pipe wasn't on it either. It was also whistling really loud. I gotta find something to plug up a hole on the back of the manifold. I hope I get it worked out, Im worried as hell. The due date is on the 22 of this month, at 7pm for school. Damn :wall:

reivaxtorres · May 14, 2008

brightwhite98GT said:
Yeah, I meant by like how close everything is regards to timing. I may have it a degree off on each side. I got it near perfect but I dont think quite. I have a problem though, pretty major one. my dad raised hell. The car is idling way fucked up when it starts. He made me start it, with out all the vacuum lines hooked up, and one 02 sensor not plugged in all the way. It cranked, but it wouldnt idle steady unless the idle hose thing was pointed straight up in the air and off the cai. The mid pipe wasn't on it either. It was also whistling really loud. I gotta find something to plug up a hole on the back of the manifold. I hope I get it worked out, Im worried as hell. The due date is on the 22 of this month, at 7pm for school. Damn :wall:

um.....what hole on the back of the manifold? there should be no hole.........

as far as the high idle..........could be due to the fact that the o2 sensors werent plugged in, you had no exhaust on it (the modular engine reacts bad to not having the midpipes on........since the first 2 o2 sensors on it kinda control the a/f delivery), and that all the vacuum lines werent on.

any ideas where the whistle is coming from? due to the higher amount of air being pulled in, its not uncommon for the intake to whistle, but then again its also a sign of a possible intake leak, usually around the throttlebody area