Separate Plenum

**YoshiHNS** · 01-18-2013, 07:15 PM

Last major thing I want to do before I finish putting the engine back together is to take the plenum apart. There is a ton of carbon build up that I want to clean out, and I can't be sure if I have cleaned it all out, especially on the butterflies. My throttle body had enough build up on it that it was causing the throttle to stick. I can only imagine how bad the plenum is.

I haven't seen a thread on it, or haven't seen it in a service manual. Is there any reason it would be a bad idea to do it?

**dbest671** · 01-18-2013, 09:29 PM

I've taken them apart to polish them... just make sure to clean all the old sealant off and reapply new sealant. If you take off the VIC motor, read the manual on how to put it back on. Since I haven't put one together in almost two years, I don't remember the procedure.

**YoshiHNS** · 01-19-2013, 10:30 AM

Okay. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a special gasket or anything. I'll have to find the procedure for the motor. I don't recall seeing it in the manuals I have, but might have missed it. I already popped it off once to get a look inside to see if the butterflies could slide out or not. Thanks for the heads up.

**dbest671** · 01-19-2013, 11:25 AM

Just mark the plastic runner things inside (the top half of the plenum), which way they slide in... make life a little easier (they should just slide out).

And I used high temp grey sealant when I put them back together.

**YoshiHNS** · 01-24-2013, 10:05 PM

Got around to trying to separate them, and they're on there pretty good. Probably isn't helping that it's 30 degrees in the garage. Are there any alignment pins to worry about? I'm going to stick it in an oven and see if getting a little heat in the aluminum will make it a bit easier to separate, and then hit it with a wood block and hammer.

**mb3000** · 01-25-2013, 12:33 AM

I always just hit it w/ a plastic or rubber mallet. Doesn't leave any damage and gets the job done.

**YoshiHNS** · 01-28-2013, 09:17 PM

I got around to splitting it apart today. I took my propane torch and warmed the split up. I put a 4x4 on the floor and hit the plenum on it to knock the big piece loose. Then heated the next split, and used a nylon-headed hammer to tap the two smaller halves apart. It took a bit of tapping, but it came apart slowly but surely. So here are some pics to show you why I hate trusting someone else to do work on my stuff.

The blaster didn't think anything of blasting through the masking I put on it more for keeping dust in the garage out than actually protecting it from bead blasting. Should be in the 50s tues or wed, so I'll use the parts cleaner to wash it all out then.

**YoshiHNS** · 02-07-2013, 11:01 PM

Just have to get some high temp sealant and it can be slapped back together. Put it through the parts washer and scrubbed away. Glass is all out and a chunk of the carbon residue. Finished with a little bit of scotch brite and air blasting any little bits of grit out from the butterflies.

Got my calipers back, so the last thing left is the Addco rear sway bar, which is another two weeks out.

**mb3000** · 02-08-2013, 12:32 AM

Looks good! Glad you took the time to do it right.

**Bloodlust182** · 02-09-2013, 06:14 PM

The butterflies should be closed when you put it all back together. When you put the vics motor back on you have to angle the motor towards the hood then when the teeth meet the gear inside the motor you twist it until the butterflies are closed and the bolt holes on the motor meet the ones on the manifold. Great job on cleaning that carbon. How many miles are on your engine?? yours look pretty bad compared to mine when I had it apart at 200k miles.