This mod was performed by Kevin Cline. He deserves all credit for these instructions. However, he and Southeast Maxima Group are not liable for your actions. These instructions are more for a guide, not "true" instructions.

Tools needed:

• Deep wall metric sockets (12mm and 5mm to name a couple)
• Regular wall metric sockets
• Ratchet (obviously)
• Socket extensions (up to ~9" helps)
• Metric open-end wrenches
• Torque wrench (can rent from Pep Boys, etc)
• Channel locks
• Telescoping magnet
• Dremel abrasive cylinders
• Fine and Very Fine sandpaper
• Aluminum wheel polish (only required for throttle body polish)

Required Gaskets:

• Throttle body ~$5
• EGR tube ~$2
• AAC valve (idle adjustment) ~$10
• Upper to lower manifold ~$8
• Lower manifold to head (2 reqd) ~$25/ea

Notes:

• Give yourself 6-8 hours to do this install if you are not familiar with the manifold components. Polishing the throttle body takes another ~1-2 hours for a thorough job (do it; it's worth it!).
• It's a good idea to label each line or connector. This help tremendously upon re-assembly.
• Use a vacuum to remove any collected dirt/debris on the manifold during the removal. Use it throughout the removal. By very careful not to drop dirt, bolts, mice, etc into the head intake ports.
• Keep your telescoping magnet handy!

Upper Manifold Piece Removal:

1. Remove lower half of airbox. There are three bolts inside the bottom.

2. Loosen the rubber throttle body bellows connector clamp.

3. Disconnect intake plumbing:

   1. Disconnect the MAF connector
   2. Remove 1/8" vacuum line from the resonator box by using a flathead screwdriver to gently pry away the line
   3. Remove the idle bypass hose by using channel locks to loosen/move back the clamp
   4. Remove the upper half of airbox, MAF, resonator box, and TB connector as ONE PIECE for ease.

4. Remove Throttle Body (right of manifold):
   1. Disconnect and label the two throttle position sensor connectors
   2. Remove 1/8" vacuum line underneath by using a flathead screwdriver to gently pry away the line
   3. Remove the coolant inlet and outlet line by using channel locks to loosen/move back the clamps
   4. Remove the throttle cables. Rotate the throttle "cam" to the max position, then remove the cable from the retainer "lip", rotate the cable forward, then slide the pin at the cable end out of the hole in the throttle "cam"
   5. Loosen the 4 throttle body bolts. Refer to the tightening sequence (reverse of this order).
   6. Remove the throttle body and gasket. It may stick to the manifold a bit. Remove any stuck sections of the gasket from the TB.

5. Remove the the throttle cable retainers from the top of the manifold and push the cables off to the left of the manifold

6. Remove AAC (idle adjustment) valve (rear/right of manifold):

   1. Disconnect the 4 connectors
   2. Remove the connector off to the top right of the AAC by removing a hidden bolt the holds the connector bracket. This will also expose the third AAC bolt for access.
   3. Remove the three AAC valve bolts. Refer to the tightening sequence (reverse of this order).
   4. Remove the AAC valve, idle bypass hose, and gasket

7. Remove the PCV valve hose, located at the right of the rear head valve cover.

8. Remove the valve thingy (no idea what it is!) from the top of the manifold. Keep the hoses with the valve assembly.

9. Remove the power brakes vacuum assist hose from the rear of the manifold.

10. Remove the three rear spark plug wire/coil assemblies:

    1. Remove the connectors
    2. Remove the two bolts for each assembly. Use the telescoping magnet to catch the bolt once it's free.
    3. Remove the spark plug wire/coil assemblies

11. Remove the rest of the junk from the top of the manifold, such as the electrical harness. Flip the electrical harness towards the left rear of the manifold.

12. Remove the PCV tube connection to the manifold:
    1. At the right rear of the manifold, there's a hard tube that runs up from below and connects to the manifold. Remove the two bolts that connect it to the manifold.
    2. There's a gasket between the tube end and the manifold. This may fall down during this process.

13. There are two coolant hoses that connect to the manifold right near the PCV tube connection. Remnove the hose to the right of the manifold. The hose to the left can't be seen or barely even felt. Keep it connected until the last stage of manifold removal.

14. There are two brackets that secure the rear of the manifold to the rear cylinder bank. They are located about 3-4 inches in on either side of the manifold at the bottom of the plenum (large part of the manifold at the rear). Feel where the bracket comes up and meets the manifold and you'll find the bolt (on for each bracket). Remove the two bolts that connect the brackets to the manifold. The manifold is now held to the engine by the four upper-lower manifold bolts only.

15. Remove the four upper-lower manifold bolts. Refer to the tightening sequence (reverse of this order).

16. The upper manifold is now free except for the PCV coolant connection at the right rear of the plenum. Flip the front of the plenum up to expose the clamp for the left PCV coolant hose. It won't be easy to disconnect the hose, but it can be done.

17. Remove the upper manifold piece and gasket.

    Lower Manifold Piece Removal:

    1. Remove the cylinder head PCV interconnect hose bracket from the left of the lower manifold.

    2. Remove the bolts for the two grounding wires from the front/left of the lower manifold.

    3. Move the fuel rails/injectors:

       1. Remove the four fuel rail bolts. Start with the front/rear bolts on the left, then remove the front/rear bolts on the right.
       2. Move the fuel rail/injectors up to expose the bolt at the left of the front fuel rail. Remove this bolt. Be careful not to damage the injectors! There is also a thick "o-ring" for each injector and a plastic spacer for each fuel rail bolt. Be careful not to lose these. Remove them and set aside.
       3. Flip the fuel rail/injector up towards the right to expose the lower manifold piece.

    4. Remove the eight lower manifold-cylinder head bolts. Refer to the tightening sequence (reverse of this order).

    5. Remove the lower manifold piece and gaskets.

    6. You know have a full view of the intake ports on the heads. Marvel at the engineering beauty!

    Installation is reverse of above procedures!

    Installation Notes:

    1. Follow the tightening sequence for the:

       • Lower manifold-head bolts (8)
       • Fuel rail bolts (4)
       • Upper-lower manifold bolts (4)
       • AAC valve assembly bolts (3)
       • PCV tube bolts (2)
       • Throttle body bolts (4)

    2. My EH'd upper manifold piece is slightly different than the stock piece. The stocker had a clearance notch ground into the left side near the throttle body near the TB return spring, apparently to keep the spring from binding. The EH did not, so I used a dremel bit to grind away a rather crude notch to give proper clearance. It may not have been necessary, but I wanted to play it safe.

    3. My EH'd lower manifold piece was over-aggressively ported at the output, creating a mis-match with the head ports. This is NOT a desired condition. In fact, if too severe, it could more than counteract the gains from the EH'd runners. I therefore later removed the EH'd lower piece and installed my stock piece. I had polished the stock piece's runner using fine and very fine grit sandpaper. (Very painful for my fingers!) Not as smooth as the EH'd piece, but still much smoother than stock. Considering the short, fairly straight lower manifold runners, this slightly rougher surface gives negligible flow losses, and the interface between it and the head ports is MUCH better (much smaller "step" now). Before installing the lower manifold piece, drop it on (without the gaskets) and check out the mis-match.

    4. My EH'd manifold pieces came with tape covering the inlet/outlet, presumably to keep dust out. The glue stayed stuck to the manifold upon removal. Make sure to remove all the glue off the manifold to give a good, flat contact area for the gaskets, or else they may leak.

    5. I took the opportunity, since the throttle body was removed, to polish the inside of it. I believe this really helped throttle response and part-throttle power. I can definitely cruise at 70 mph with less throttle input. The directions for that process are:

       1. The stock unit uses a highly polished section right near the throttle plate that's ~3/4" long, but there's ~2 inches in front and 1/2" after that polished section that's a rough-cast finish.
       2. Use 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the rough surfaces, then use Aluminum wheel polish to finish the surface.
       3. Since the valve opens at the bottom first, I took great care to polish nicely the surface at the bottom, where air flow goes under light throttle (this way I could theoretically get a little boost to low-throttle response).
       4. I also tried as much as possible to smooth the entrance to the TB, ie knife-edge it as much as possible.
       5. This mini-project took ~2 hours (mostly trying out different techniques), but I think it would take less than 1 hour if I did it again. It was really easy to do, too, but I had to be very careful not to scratch the micro-finished surfaces.

          
          

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