Texas5.0

On Saturday I am going to put on my new Trick flow upper and lower intake, 70 mm mass air and throttle body, and 24# injectors... Any tricks to ease the process? Anything to look out for? AND you knew it was coming.... what kind of performance increase should I see from this change?

mattdel

if u got stock heads, i'd wait. especially on the injectors. u dont need them with just an intake swap.

FordMustangXBA

You'll definitely be able to feel the difference with that...But an exact number, I couldn't give you. Just keep track of everything and label it as it comes off. Take pictures if you have to. The last thing you want is to get it back together and have spare bolts or screws sitting around. And dear God, don't drop anything into the engine, lol.

gearbanger

24's are too big.... but you will be ok.... ^^^^ what he said just label everything..... the first time i ever did it i had no problems

w8less

Thanks for the compliment! I'll give it a try.
you will need the special tool available at auto parts store to break the fuel lines, it cost less than $20, so go get one of these before you start. also need to make sure you have the intake gasket set, a thermostat gasket, and a tube of good silicone form-a-gasket that is O2 friendly. a small sharp putty knife and/or a gasket scraper is also needed. a razor blade scraper is also a good thing to have handy too.
1-disconnect negative battery cable
2-drain radiator into container and save coolant if it ain't too old
3-remove the air inlet tube line and MAF going to the throttle body
4-find the Schrader valve on the fuel line near the front side passenger head and uncap it and bleed off the fuel pressure into a rag-this looks just like a tire filler valve and works the same way
4a-disconnect the plugs wires from each spark plug and label them if necessary so they go back on the correct plug when you are finished-lay the wires up towards the front of the motor out of the way of the intake
5-get some white tape and label the wiring plugs 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc on the solenoids for the EGR valve, the two solenoids attached to the side of the intake next to the EGR valve, the IAC valve on the front side of the throttle body, and any other solenoid you find that you have to disconnect in order to get clearance to remove the intake. all these plugs have little locks on them and you need a small flat bladed screw driver to pry the locks up while you pull on them to unplug them this way you know exactly which plug goes back into which solenoid.
6-disconnect and remove the throttle linkage from the throttle body, there is a metal clip you have to slide back on the shaft linkage to expose the little ball and get it to release
7-unbolt the bracket holding the throttle linkage to the side of the EGR spacer and move it over out of the way
8-disconnect and label like step 5 above the vacuum line going to the EGR valve, and the fuel pressure regulator
9-look behind the intake near the firewall and pull out the large hose with the PCV valve in it from the grommet down low next to the passenger side head.
10-in this same area, look under the upper manifold and disconnect the two other vacuum hoses that plug in back here and label them too-one is larger than the other and is easier to disconnect from the vacuum manifold and MAP sensor at the sensor on the firewall instead of underneath the manifold
11-go to the front of the intake and disconnect the vacuum lines plugged in here also, one goes down to the evaporative cannister on the lower left fenderwell and the hose runs up and under the distributor and has a hose clamp on the nipple under the manifold that is a pain to disconnect, so unplug the hose at the fitting nearest the manifold and leave the rest of the hose connected to the upper intake
12-disconnect and remove the upper radiator hose and bypass hose from the thermostat housing
13-using the special tool, disconnect the main fuel line near the fitting at the area of the Schrader valve and also at the back on the line leaving the fuel pressure regulator where it returns excess fuel back to the gas tank. these lines are a little tricky to get loose, you have to close the tool over the fitting and push it toward the open end of the fitting to release the spring inside the fitting, the with the tool still in place, you have to wiggle and pull on the line to get it past the o-rings that seal the line, it sticks in about 1 inch so you need to pull until the end comes clear out of the fitting and don't damage the o-ring on the line either or you will have a leak later
14-remove the 4 screws holding the intake cover on the upper manifold and set it and the screws aside out of the way
15-using a socket and extension, find the two bolts at the back side of the upper manifold where it connects to the lower and remove them. one of them is a stud with a nut on it that is a different size than the other and it holds down some type of round bracket that goes to the side of the drivers side head. you need to remove the other bolt holding this bracket also to get the bracket off and out of the way. it don't do anything, so you don't need to worry about replacing it. think it is used to install the motor in the factory.
16-go to the front of the upper intake and find the two bolts on this end and remove them
17-remove the two long bolts in the center of the upper manifold that were exposed when you removed the cover, these are the last two bolts holding it on so be prepared for it to come loose although you might have to rock it from side to side to break loose the gasket
18-carefully lift the upper intake manifold off the lower making sure you have got all the hoses disconnected from it
19-use a piece of duct tape to cover up the holes in the lower intake so you don't drop something down into it
19a-unplug the wiring harness going to the distributor, remove the cap and make a mark on the side of the body showing the position of the rotor. make another scribe mark on the bottom of the distributor where it enters the block and a matching mark on the block so you can resintall it later as close as you can to where it is now. remove the holddown bolt and clamp and remove the distributor and set it aside out of the way-stuff a rag in the hole.
20-disconnect the wiring harness from each of the fuel injectors at the individual plugs for each connector and set it aside out of the way
21-remove all the bolts holding the lower intake to the heads and make a mental note of which bolts go where if any of them are different lengths
22-using a small pry bar if necessary, pull up on the intake at the thermostat housing and see if it will come loose from the heads-if it doesn't, carefully insert the pry bar or a large flat bladed screwdriver under the front edge of it and pry it up gently from the motor.
23-set the lower intake aside for now
24-using small rags or paper towels, cover the lifter valley up to keep debris out of this area and plug up the intake ports in the heads also
25-using a putty knife or gasket scraper, carefully remove all traces of the old intake gaskets from the heads and front and back edges of the lifter valley on the top of the block. you can also use the razor blade scraper for parts of this work too. make sure you remove all the old gasket materials and use some gas on a rag to clean the metal surfaces off after you have removed all the old gaskets
26-remove the old thermostat housing from the old lower intake and install it on the new lower intake with some form-a-gasket and a new thermostat gasket
26a-carefully remove the rags and paper towels from the intake ports in the heads and the lifter valley being real careful to not spill any debris down into the ports or valley area, if you do, retrieve it the best you can with your fingers or a rag (you will change the engine oil after this swap, so don't go paranoid if you don't get every last little bit out)
27-test fit the new head side gaskets to each head and make sure all the holes line up correctly-once you have checked the fit, use a small amount of the form-a-gasket material and run a small bead of it around the all the ports and water openings in the heads-let it sit for about 5 minutes and then carefully install the gaskets on both heads using some of the bolts partially installed to help line up the gasket if you need to
27a-transfer the fuel injectors and fuel rails from the old intake to the new one using a little petroleum jelly on the injector o-rings to make them easier to insert in the holes and bolt down the fuel rails onto the lower intake like it was attached to the old one-also remove and reattach to the new intakes all vacuum hose fittings, etc. that were on the old ones.
28-after the side gaskets are installed, use th

Texas5.0

Thanks for the help.
Running 24#'ers won't cause me problems will they? I don't have a choice really, the mass air is calibrated for 24's so my 19's will not work anymore. After this is done I am not sure what is next, headsthen supercharger or supercharger then heads.

smokesricers

Heads then supercharger

gearbanger

you will be waisting extra gas for no reason

jrgoddard81

Good luck man. I gained 3mph in my trap speed by just doing a Trick Flow upper/lower. Same track, almost identical weather and conditions.

Texas5.0

I have never taken my car to the track so I will not have any before and after numbers. Just excited about knowing that I am that much closer to being blown....