Intake Manifold for 2002 Mustang GT

A few days after ordering the intake manifold,

it arrived in a beautiful box.

We opened up the box to make sure it arrived in one piece

and to inspect it closely.

As a side-note:

An all metal intake would have been preferable,

however there was a great difference in cost.

The fun part was next.

Removing the current manifold.

Sounds easy, but there are many other

parts that must be removed too.

In the photo above, the upper intake, alternator, fuel rails,

fuel injectors along with hoses,

vacuum lines and other connections

(that all should be labeled) were removed.

 

The lower intake has been removed,

and now it's extremely evident that labeling

the connections is very important

before removing any part.

This is a close up of the intake ports to show

the grime that has built up over the years,

as well as the old gasket material.

Cleaning all the ports and removing the old

gasket material is the next step.

The shop-vac was also used to remove

anything that might have fallen into the ports.

It looks funny...seeing a vacuum being used

in the engine, but it's effective.

Before I knew it, the new intake was in place.

I had wanted to get a photo of the cleaned up ports,

but my mechanic (husband) was ready to get this

project finished ASAP, and with the Texas heat 

taking its toll, I didn't blame him.

Once everything was in place,

we started the car and let it idle to make

sure that there were no leaks, or odd noises.

A test drive was also done to ensure that

all was well, even under pressure.

So, for the past few days, the

Mustang GT has been driven

and no longer occupies the driveway 24/7,

all thanks to my husband for taking on this project :)

Things Gone Awry...

In case you were wondering if this

was a case of blog-neglect....

wonder no more!

We've had a series of misfortunate events

occur that have kept us busy....

One vehicle is out for the count.

Although the Mustang GT took the brunt of it,

he was able to walk away.

This sad event was followed by another

incident later that SAME day.

Seems that the 2002 Mustang GT wasn't too

thrilled that her SO was getting so much

attention that she threw a gasket!

Quite literally.

A new intake manifold is on the way

to replace the original, which is

manufactured with plastic

parts that tend to crack.

Then of course the 1987 Mustang 5.0

needed to get in on the action....twice.

One morning the car didn't want to start...

not even turn over. 

Turns out it was a simple fix -

the battery cable needed replacing.

Done.

A few days later, the serpentine belt

shredded to teeny-tiny bits

while I was on the highway.

I managed to limp the car home,

let it cool down and 

put the old belt back on.

Luckily, the engine didn't sustain

any damage....

that we know of.

Somewhere in between

all this craziness, the

Suburban was egged

in the middle of the night.

Sigh.

When it rains...it pours - Morton Salt