Longtermmustang

Finally took off the intake manifold to my 98 GT. Wanted opinions on how it looks under there and if there's anything I might need to look in to.

Obviously I'm going to clean off the heads. I'm sure leaking oil from the valve covers for a while didn't help the crud buildup. But looks like there's some pretty heavy carbon deposits. Should I try to wipe that away? Anything else that sets off any alarms?

Also, is there a way to tell what intake manifold I have? It has the alumnium crossover but individual gaskets around each hole. I'm guessing it's a Dorman but don't see any branding or identifiers anywhere, just "N003-05" on the crossover. Will my standard one-piece gaskets be compatible or do I have to return them and get a Dorman set?

WhiteFoxGT

looks normal from here. clean the mating surfaces and make sure you plug the intake holes before hand. id have to see the intake to tell you if its dorman or not, but if it is dorman unit you have to use their gasket set

Longtermmustang

Pictures incoming. Looks like maybe a Dorman logo on the bottom? I think it's a Dorman 615-175 based on the vehicle year and that it's short so non-pi. I wish I could just buy a FRPP PI intake and just switch it but can't afford it atm. And no time to get to a salvage yard to hunt one there.

Z28KLR

Looks pretty normal assuming high mileage. Stuff some paper towels into the ports to keep debris out and clean all the crap off the mating surface. I just use a razor blade or putty knife and them wipe it down later.

Z28KLR

Yeah that's a Dorman. OEM manifold uses a gasket set rather than the built in O-rings.

Longtermmustang

Yup the car has over 180k, not sure how many on this intake manifold though.

Ok confirmation that everything looks ok is a HUGE relief. Though I'm a little concerned that the gaskets between the aluminum crossover and the rest of the plastic intake is poking out into the channel. I'll do one last inspection of the manifold to make sure nothing is broke or worn away in the channels. Really crossing fingers because I don't quite have the money for a whole new intake manifold. I just wamna get her running!

Mrfast120

I don't think that gasket poking out between the aluminum crossover and the plastic intake is okay, that is where your leaking water down into the valley. I had the same problem on my 04 GT, I was seeing water seeping around the spark plug boot.

Longtermmustang

Yeah you're right. I took a closer look at the intake manifold right now. In three of the coolant channels, the inner plastic wore away/broke off. Managed to shake one large piece out of the aluminum crossover. I'm going to call this manifold trashed sadly. Going to order a Dorman intake as a short term measure and because I can use rewards points to cover most of the cost which helps with my funding issues. My long term goal is to swap the engine for a newer PI engine anyways so just need something to last a little while. Step at a time. Thanks everyone for the help!

Longtermmustang

Darn why have I never seen any posts about Modularheadshop.com and their offer to tap the second hole on the FRPP intake until today? That would have really tempted me, especially because they offer the rest of the swap parts like the hose as a kit. Makes it so easy! Granted I still would have struggled with the pricing altogether (i paid only $30 out of pocket for the Dorman) but not bad otherwise.