Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

I want to remove my intake manifold in order to weld a block off plate to it (long story) and im wondering what the easiest way to do this is? Will i have to take the whole carb off? Please help pics are the best thanks

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

Note this is a 12A with the stock carb and stock intake manifold

calvinpaul

iTrader: (2)

Did you break off a bolt in the top hole? I did...yea that sucked. It would probably be easiest if you just removed the carb seeing how you will have to remove everything anyway.
As far as taking off the manifold, there are only 4 bolts and 2 nuts holding it on, you can weld up the coolant ports if you want but if you don't make sure to replace the little o-rings while you are in there, there will be 2 of them.
While you have your intake off I also suggest removing the butterfly valve and smoothing out any rough bumps you have inside of it.

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

ya actually i broke the bolt in the bottom right hole and broke the stud off on the top hole tryed cold weld and it didnt work.... How hard is it to take the carb off... Its intimidating with all the line going everywhere (This is the first time ive done this kind of work pardon my stupidity) Thanks alot ... If i can get it off ill take it in to school and just get it welded on unless you guys got some better ideas...

cdrad51

Make sets of 2 number labels, i.e. two "1", two "2", etc. stick the labels on both sides of the carb lines you are disconnecting, whether electrical, vacuum, fuel, oil, etc. That'll help you remember where everything goes. Be methodic and take your time.

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

how long would you guys say it takes to remove the carb?

cdrad51

If first time, and it's stock, about an hour I'd say.

Latin270

I did my carb in 15 min. and intake in about 10. Very easy to do! Just have the gaskets and all ready. Be careful not to drop anything into the intake manifold ei: nuts that hold down the carb. Its scary, I droped one and swore it fell to the ground but by **** luck my brother stuck his finger into the intake port and discoverd it there. Anyhow, you really dont even need to disconnect any of the throttle cables or choke to take the carb off and do what you have to do.

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

ok thats not as bad as I thought... so you guys just recommend just labeling all the lines and stuff any other hints? I have the haynes manual should i just follow that step by step? And Calvin Paul Where on the butterfly do you sand Pictures help me alot... Thanks tons

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Would you prefer another manifold? A good used one? I wonder if someone will offer you one for a decent price. If it's an '81-'85, they're a dime a dozen.

calvinpaul

iTrader: (2)

You don't sand the butterfly, just remove it. And you want the intake runners to be as straight as possible. Any bumps or anything you just take a dremmel and smooth it out. DO NOT POLISH IT!!!! You do not want it to be smooth inside, just better airflow. And sorry but I do not have a camera...but you will see it as it is inside of the intake manifold. Do you have the rest of the emissions or is that why you took off your ACV?

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

No i was taking off my emissions when the unfortunate event of me breaking 2 bolts off happened ive resorted to thinking about taking the intake manifold right off and welding a block off plate on since liquid gasket blew apart and cold weld did the same.... Can anyone think of an alternative to having to take the intake off?

jays83gsl

I think that's about the only way to take it off. You should take the carb off anyway, just so you know how. Like people said, lable EVERYTHING on both ends. My mistake was not doing that!

After that, just take all the hoses and connectors and whatnot off, and unbolt it from the manifold. No Hayney book necessary.

If you have any questions, I'm available at night (I know, big help for when you actually TAKE IT ALL APART) on AIM (barryclipsnbravo) Yahoo! (vivi0032000) or MSN (jays83gsl@msn.com).

christaylor

While you're taking the carb off, it's a good time to remove the emissions control stuff, if you can. One of my more prized tools is a 12mm heated and bent 90* to get the one carb nut that's in the depths of hell (IIRC, it's the driver's side rear). Taking the carb off is easy, starting the nuts when you get the carb put back on is the bitch.

If you want or need another intake, let me know. I've got a stack of them in the shop.

jays83gsl

That nut makes me cry.

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

ok guys i got the intake mani off... was easier than I thought (always good) so ill take it in to school tomorrow and get all the vacuum lines Blocked off and welded and weld on that stupid ACV block-off plate. Haha im happy i learned how to do this all myself found that my intake gasket was cracked (took it to the Mazda dealership while back and they wanted to replace it for 200 buck with parts and labour haha now i can do it myself... awesome hopefully getting the manifold welded works out as good as im hoping it will... Are you sure its ok that i just remove that butterfly from the intake like that? Will it make a difference in power? And that Carb nut i got off with ease cause my rats nest was removed.... I can imagine how hard reassembaly will be.... Thanks guys for all the help ill keep you posted with if my high school welding is a nightmare or turns out ok!

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

It's good to learn how to do this stuff yourself. It opens the doors to new possibilities. Are you going to try correcting the inside of the manifold?

christaylor

Are you using a TIG or MIG with Al gas/wire? TIGing the manifolds isn't much of a trick, but can be nerve racking if you don't have a shelf full of them.

Damn - Canada has welding in HS? Aside from that white stuff that falls from the sky, CA looks mighty nice...

calvinpaul

iTrader: (2)

Since you removed your rats nest it is fine to take out that little butterfly, all it is is emissions equipment anyway. Since you are welding anyway, whenever you pull that thing out just weld up those holes. It will make a difference because anything that restricts airflow decreases prefomance (and you can't say that that gicantic butterfly doesn't hinder airflow). It is not going to be instant 300 hp, duh, but I noticed an improvement.
Let us know how it goes!!!

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

Wow never use cold weld on an intake manifold... Not only did it not work properly it also was hard to scrap off.... Any ways we are going to try and drill the broken bolts out and then Bore out the holes a little bit. Im going to take that butterfly out like you said but i realized one of the reasons that im having troubles is the piece of sheet metal I tryed using isnt sufficent. Hard to find 1/8 sheet metal around here apparently. (anyone have any tips on where i can pick this stuff up?) Might use our classes new plasma cutter to cut the piece of 1/8 metal. Thanks

calvinpaul

iTrader: (2)

I got mine at a local metal shop, if you have a muffler shop or something they may give you some scrap metal...other than that you could order it off of mazdatrix or something.

Rusty Shackleford

racing beat sells one for $3 or $6 ohh the acv plate that is and if u need to aab plate ask them i got mine from them with my cat pipe....i wish we had so kind of shop class or anything..it sucks cuz my dad used to take auto shop and after that class or even while still in it he bought a 61' vette split window did a full body off rebuild rebuilt the enigne himself and everything.... all by himself and a friend....dam my only problem is time and money to do the stuff on my car adn when it does come time im to scared to do the work because i know i can do it im just worried i will do it wrong and be left with out a car

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

got a better piece of metal for my block off plate today some 1/16 steel (the biggest i could find in town) I hope/know this will work better then the crap I used before... Now im just in the process of drilling out the old bolts, taking out the butterfly in my manifold and blocking off all the emissions stuff on the manifold. Might use a dremmel it smooth out the edges a bit too but im not sure what tools are gonna be available... Thanks

Dan_s_young

iTrader: (1)

Ok today i worked on my intake some more at school... Got a thick piece of metal for the block off plate (bout 5 times thicker than the weak piece I first used) hopefully should would much better. With an easy out we got out the broken bolts... And i attempted to take out the butterfly with not too much luck cause the screwdriver just tends to strip it. Tomorrow im going to cut out another block off plate for some of the other intake emissions stuff and then get some HYLOMAR on the back of my block off plate... Heres a question... How well does hylomar work? Will it withstand the heat of exhaust that flows into the intake manifold? Thanks

IanS

iTrader: (4)

I had to drill the screws out on my mani butterfly. Also another thing you could/probably should do is remove the thing that holds the butterfly in. REMEMBER, since you have access to the welder you should weld the holes shut, or at least use JB weld or something simialar. DO NOT use RTV! It will eventually melt/break down and then you will have a vac leak and trust me, it will be hard tracking that one down. I noticed that after removing the butterfly that my idle was extremely better. One of my main reasons though was that the vaccuum thingy that hold it in place/moves it wasnt working correctly and was flopping around in there.