Engine Out and Refresh!

They aren't very good for loosening and tightening it seems. A few months back I cranked the car up and fortunately got down on the ground to check for leak and saw fuel dripping out quite a bit. Shut the car off immediately and opened the hood to find one of those had become loose enough that fuel was leaking out of one of the hoses. I picked up some standard fuel line clamps, similar to the clamps used on the coolant pipe connections, and it seemed so much easier to me. So I will probably just replace them all to be consistent.

Mercedes uses cliq-r clamps. Can be open/closed and reused. Requires special tool and some clearance for the tool (pliers) to operate.

 

AMAZING GOOD LUCK!

You should have the intake manifold runners smoothed out and the entire manifold thermally coated (same for exhaust manifolds) while the engine is out. Coating the intake manifold will drop your intake temps and coating the exhaust will keep engine bay temps down and speed up the rate of flow of the exhaust gasses.

You should have the intake manifold runners smoothed out and the entire manifold thermally coated (same for exhaust manifolds) while the engine is out. Coating the intake manifold will drop your intake temps and coating the exhaust will keep engine bay temps down and speed up the rate of flow of the exhaust gasses.

 

Nick, do you mean powdercoating or you mean like jet hot coating? I was looking at the rust-oleum high temp automotive coating...

Like jet-hot, it will help keep intake air temps down. There are a few different companies that offer similar products.

Another question for the experts....what should I use to clean off the engine, intake manifold, engine bay, etc? Just a normal degreaser? Have seen in some searching people use brake cleaner. Seafoam? While I'm waiting to see about borrowing a hoist I want to go ahead and clean the intake manifold.

I used brake cleaner on the LS1, cut through grime like a champ.

I used brake cleaner on the LS1, cut through grime like a champ.

 

Thanks!

I am enjoying the thread and learning at the same time. Kudos.

This is cool. As mentioned, take plenty of pictures. Label everything. It's worth the trouble. 2 things that come to mind to watch as you take the engine apart, is the phase sensor, that weird thing on the left cylinder bank, and the oil plugs that are between the block & head. Do you have a manual?

simple green and brake parts cleaner is your friend.

Thanks guys! I will be sure to take my time, take pics, and ask questions before I run into anything I'm unsure of. I'm going to start asking around about borrowing a hoist but in the meantime, I'm hoping to take the headers off tonight and work on cleaning up the intake manifold. My plan is to have each of them black with red lettering on the intake and I'll leave all the fittings, throttle bodies, etc as stock looking. But painting/coating will be down the line. Will probably black out the coolant pipes too. And I'm going to replace all the coolant hoses with red hosing if I can find it.

 

Does anyone know where I can find red plug wires? I think my black ones are fine but I think the red would look good. I know italiancarparts sells a DIY kit 225 and a preassembled kit for around 750. I know member AB used to make plug wires but haven't seen or heard anything about him in a long time.

Very nice project Chipster! Looking forward to the updates. Don't think I would have the balls to do this myself.

This is cool. As mentioned, take plenty of pictures. Label everything. It's worth the trouble. 2 things that come to mind to watch as you take the engine apart, is the phase sensor, that weird thing on the left cylinder bank, and the oil plugs that are between the block & head. Do you have a manual?

 

I do have a shop manual but it isn't that detailed from what I recall. Between some of Fivecar's threads, the engine out posts on lamboweb, and the community here, I think I'll be fine. I don't know that I will need to completely tear it down. Bottom end was rebuilt in late 2010. But we will see once I get in there! I will be a labeling mofo!!

 

If you happen to have a detailed shop manual and want to share it, please do! Mine is a PDF file that Limey sent out to a few people years ago.

Very nice project Chipster! Looking forward to the updates. Don't think I would have the balls to do this myself.

 

Lol, I may regret it! But thanks. Honestly, I am VERY excited about it all. Not only will it save a bunch of money but I will be learning a lot and I will know exactly what has been done to the car and can take my time doing little by little. I think it will make me appreciate the car even more.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow but it's dark and I'm hungry!

 

Got the headers, AC compressor, AC compressor bracket, and the shields over the half shaft bolts. Actually pretty easy. I say that because the last time I did headers was on my GTS viper and I sheared off 3 bolts and ended up having to replace the heads and it was a huge pain in the ass. This was pretty straightforward

 

Going to try to get the half shafts disconnected, clutch slave disconnected, and shifter housing dropped on Sunday and then I'll just half to remove the mounting bolts whenever I get a hoist!

Lol, I may regret it! But thanks. Honestly, I am VERY excited about it all. Not only will it save a bunch of money but I will be learning a lot and I will know exactly what has been done to the car and can take my time doing little by little. I think it will make me appreciate the car even more.

 

 

Awesome thread man!

 

Big props for tackling this yourself. The appreciation you mentioned and knowledge gained will be invaluable.

Thanks! I'm bad about the pictures. I pretty much use my phone for pics but my hands get so dirty that I try not to touch anything. I will definitely get pics of the engine out portion and the engine work.

Keep up the great work. With all of the guys on this site I am sure that if you have a problem that someone will be able to help you with the information that you will need to solve it. I got my gaskets from Glen at AMH parts he is great to deal with.

Keep up the great work. With all of the guys on this site I am sure that if you have a problem that someone will be able to help you with the information that you will need to solve it. I got my gaskets from Glen at AMH parts he is great to deal with.

 

Yeah Glen is good peeps. When I snapped my shift lever in half, I got my new one through him.

 

I already had one of those "oh shit" moments tonight...was on a roll unbolting stuff and then I put the bolt or nut back on whatever has been removed to keep things together and then I had two nuts left and I blanked on where they came from. Walked away to help my roommate install a power steering pump in his truck and when I came back to the car I remembered. But yeah, I figured if I forget something then I'm sure I can get someone to take a picture.

Love the DIY project threads!!!!! Will be following....and I applaud your taking on this challenge!!!!

There are companies that will make you custom length plug wires, lots of Viper wire companies are custom length. You can get the mm you need too.

Thanks! I'm bad about the pictures. I pretty much use my phone for pics but my hands get so dirty that I try not to touch anything. I will definitely get pics of the engine out portion and the engine work.

 

I've been wearing Nitrile gloves lately when working on my cars. Not because I don't want to get my hands dirty, but because nothing sticks to them. You can just wipe the dirt, grease and oil right off with a rag. Helps keep the rest of the car, tools and phones clean. They will rip, but just buy a box of 100 and grab another glove when necessary. And of course they keep your hands clean too!

 

Yeah I should get some!