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The hard part about the intake manifold is the number of little dinky things you need to clip and bolt. If you are OCD about having everything back into place, that is where it becomes rough... there are so many little clips and ties. Coolant must also be drained, so you will make a mess. Actually mechanically removing and installing the manifold is easy.
Ditto. Took me about 8 hours first/last time I did it. That was with breaks and a lot of swearing and a day in between to gather myself lol. But basically it is not a fun job. Many of the bottom bolts are hard to access and unless you have figured out a system with the exact proper sized tools (meaning you have done this job a lot) I don't see it being a pleasant experience for anyone on their first time. Easy is definitely not the first word that comes to mind when I think of this job.
So I started to unbolt the intake manifold and your comment pretty much summed up my experience.
I'm having trouble with the top most bolt on the bottom side. Does anybody have any tips to unbolt this? I've tried going underneath but there wasn't enough room for my ratchet. Do you need a u-joint and extension bar if you're accessing it from the side like this?
I just finished removing the lower bolts. As a hobbyist, it was a 10/10 in frustration. I'm adding pics to hopefully help people save time in the future.
For the 4th bolt under the last pipe, you can access it from the top with a 12mm -> flex joint -> extension bar -> 3/8 ratchet.
For the lowest bolt on the far right, it helps if you remove the air control valve so you can reach around and guide the extension bar with your free hand.
And unfortunately for me ive got another S2k with a stock manifold staring at me waiting for my larger TB to go on, trying to decide if I want to port it on the car or swap my old ported manifold on. ugh.
