Hey gang,

Finally doing intake refresh on my 87S. Changing the bolts on my porkensioner to the new ones. I'm in DEEP! I also want to change the OPG while I'm at it. I changed the MM a couple of years ago and didn't do it then.I KNOW, I KNOW!

Question: can I change the OPG without removing the engine cross brace underneath?

Do I have to take the complete TB off to swap out the new bolts?

Is there a trick to lifting the cam covers off? The drivers side doesn't want to come out. It has broken free, just seems to be hanging up on something.

 

Others have managed to swap the pan gasket without dropping the crossmember but it requires unbolting the oil pump pickup once the pan is down so you can slip the pan gasket through. You have to get the pick up tube bolts out, then back in and swap out the o-ring on the pickup tube all through about a 3/4" gap between the pan and the block. Do-able but certainly swear-inducing. The cam covers are often hampered by the engine lifting eyes. A single bolt holds each one on. Once they are out of the way they come of pretty easily. Remember the passenger side has the oil separator on the rear breather elbow that extends down into the head. Easiest to get this one off with the main fuel line, the strut brace rand the air pump downpipe removed.

Don't know about the "new " PKT bolts. I have the older version that uses LocTite to retain the bolts.

Mike

 

Thanks ammonman. That Sounds doable, but I don't know which is more swear inducing, doing it without dropping the cross member or actually dropping the crossmember.

I also want to paint or PC the intake but don't want to screw something up with the PC. Do I have to have the intake sandblasted to remove the old paint or can I get the stuff that will eat the paint off and then pressure wash and the paint?

 

Search up "Ed Scherer" for his very handy guide. He even went to the effort of creating color coded diagrams of what to mask and what to plug for the intake/valve covers/filler neck so you can strip them using method of your preference then hand them off to the powdercoater and give them his power coating guide for the powder coater tech to follow so they come out good. You may want to find a place that will do it all from start to finish, the al/mag alloy oxidizes very quickly and must go from blasting straight to oven (prep offgassing) and straight to powder coating to get a good long lasting finish.

Dropping the crossmember isn't hard, just alot of hardware and parts to remember. Buy a box of sandwich baggies to label everything. It'll give you a chance to refinish and clean alot of stuff. But beware once you do something like that it's a slippery slope. Don't be like me and have your car down for years because you didn't know when to stop.

 

Power wash the &^it out of it. It's a dirty enough job. I'd say just make the left with 4x4 cross and mitered 2x material and lift it. Works just fine. You'll need a hefty eye bolt and some D-links.