454 intake manifold removal - heavy?

[r67northern]

Hi All,

Noticed I was losing a little bit of coolant over a couple thousand miles, engine looks damp under the intake manifold seal. I've replaced the intake manifold seal on the 5.7 before, but not a 7.4L. Has anyone done this - and is it still a one person job or is it too big and heavy?

What's the risk of not dealing with it for a while? It's a pretty slow leak.

 

[Jarhead79]

I'd say it's a little heavy but one person can take it off. Put I'd have someone help lower it back on to ensure even placement and to spread the gasket sealer evenly all the way around. I'd also think about upgrading the intake to a newer one. Used ones are easy to come by and better in the long run.
Small leaks can always turn into large so unless you keep an eye on it 24/7 or at minimum check your coolant level frequently I'd say replace it then worry no more! Lol

 

[r67northern]

I'd say it's a little heavy but one person can take it off. Put I'd have someone help lower it back on to ensure even placement and to spread the gasket sealer evenly all the way around. I'd also think about upgrading the intake to a newer one. Used ones are easy to come by and better in the long run.
Small leaks can always turn into large so unless you keep an eye on it 24/7 or at minimum check your coolant level frequently I'd say replace it then worry no more! Lol

Thanks for the info, any thoughts on what years intake might be better or are you thinking something different than a tbi setup all together?

 

[Jarhead79]

I was just thinking an aluminum intake, to dress it up a bit etc. I had picked up a brand new polished intake for really cheap at my part time Oreillys job a while back, was wanting to build a bbc at one point but decided to keep my 350 and build a 383. I sold it to a member here last year sometime.If there is nothing wrong with the current one no reason really to spend the money but thought it would be easier to reinstall with a lighter weight one.

 

[r67northern]

... but thought it would be easier to reinstall with a lighter weight one.

No question about that

 

[74 Shortbed]

I would definitely go with aluminum, lot of good used dual plane intakes out there for cheap..

 

[r67northern]

I would definitely go with aluminum, lot of good used dual plane intakes out there for cheap..

Tbi approved? Showing some ignorance here.

 

[74 Shortbed]

Tbi approved? Showing some ignorance here.

Well, I don't know about approved, but a friend of mine put one on his Performer and has no problems with it.

 

[Jarhead79]

Yeah they make tbi intakes. Could always call edelbrock and finf out their part numbers and then search for used ones on the net etc.

 

[r67northern]

I'll check it out. Got a quote back on the cost of having someone else take care of it ... $500 Leaves quite a bit of room to do it myself and improve a couple of things along the way.

 

[7903sc]

stock manifold on a 454 TBI is just a Q-Jet manifold with a adapter for TBI with water running through it for warmup. Edelbrock makes a TBI manifold #3764. I would put a performer #2161 non egr or #3761 egr and use the stock adapter. Then If you ever want a carb you can do that also. Just my .02.

 

[74 Shortbed]

That's what my friend did and it worked..

 

[r67northern]

Another 454 question: seems like there are oval ports and square ones out there. Any way to tell which I have? Were they all ovals by 88?

Still learning the ins and outs of the 7.4. Thanks for the help

 

[fussfeld]

a stock iron quadrajet manifold for SMALL BLOCK weighs 44 lbs. So yeah, i'm guessing the 454 intake is probably pretty heavy.

 

[74 Shortbed]

Square ports were only on HP motors, rest were all ovals but there is a variety, early were large oval with different chambers but later were peanut port(small port), way to find out is pop a valve cover and get the casting number, easy to tell then..