[VR-VS] Installing Mace insulators and spacers.

[seq4x4]

So i got my spacer and insulator the other day and couldnt wait.

Because i didnt think i would type up a How to guide i didnt get all that many photos, but hear goes. Stole some pics form my other topic on how to clean your manifold.

First step is to remove the engine cover. 4 nuts as highlighted below:

The next thing to do is remove the plenum top off. This is done by removing the 8 Alen key bolts as pictured:

To remove the plenum there are 5 bolts to be removed as pictured. You will also have to unplug the injectors, the 2 plugs on the throttle body, accelerator, the cruise control cables, the vacum hoses, 3 from the back of the plenum and 2 on the throttlebody. To remove the injector wires push the clips in and wriggle the plugs off.

Once that is off, you may as well clean the #### out off them, as i posted a how to on this already, before and after pics:

Dont forget to do your thottlebody aswell.

So now here is the fancy stuff you just bought (ignore the throttlebody, installing that is not included in this how to):

In this kit you have, 1 12mm manifold insulator with longer bolts and fuel rail spacers, 1 12mm plenum spacer with longer bolts and a tube of gasket goo.

Since were starting from the bottom we shall start with the manifold insulator. First youll want to set the fuel rail side of things up. Unbolt the fuel rail from the plenum. Open up the packet of bolts.

Notice how you have some alen key bolts, spacers, spring washers and some hex bolts. The alen key bolts, spacers and washers are for your fuel rails. You want to space the fuel rails so they still make it into the intake.

Once that is done you will need a rag and some metho. You must clean the intake runners so the goo gets a good seal. Then you will want to run a good amount of goo around it then place the insulator on it. At this stage would be a good time to replace the rubber gasket on the bottom of the plenum.
Before the plenum is placed on the insulator, start threading the hex bolts into the plenum so you dont end up fishing for some bolts in your intake at night like some people we may know LOL. Place the plenum onto the insulator and do all the bolts up hand tight. Once its at that point you can go through and tighten them up one by one. At this point the goo may be ozzing out from the insulator and intake, just wipe it off.

The spacer is the same, clean the top with metho, add the goo, replace the rubber gasket, bolt down with the longer screws and wipe off the excess goo.

Now thats done, plug in everything you un plugged and go try it out. With these spacers i did manage to bolt my engine cover back on too for the stealthy hidden upgrades lol. I have seen some good down low gains, i expected more, but with this bad starting problem, surging at high rpms and bad lifters, it wasnt too big for me. However saying so, with those problems, it picks up faster, revs smoother and turned me into a hoon whilst testing it out.

If you dont like that finish. Grab some heat proof paint and masking take and paint the wood you see:

At that stage i forgot about the section that hung over the plenum. Its now painted.

 

[Immortality]

Not Bad,

Couple of quick pointers. Buy yourself a can of engine degreaser and give the entire intake manifold a good clean, especially around the injectors/injectors boss's in the lower half of the manifold so you don't have a lot of gunk that can drop into the runners when you lift out the injectors. Best done the day before so that any remaining water has time to dry off.

Get some Vaseline (i'm sure the missus will have some somewhere ) on the injector O rings before putting them back into the injector boss's on the lower manifold, they will go in a lot easier.

You only need a very thin smear of sealant as most will squeeze out, don't forget to clean out the sealant that has squeezed into the runners.

Get rid of that super 6 CAI and fit a MACE one :thumbsup:

 

[VS_Pete]

Good writeup Jesse

 

[Wombles]

I thought of doing the two manifold set ups. Hows it feel?
Good write up man.

 

[seq4x4]

I thought of doing the two manifold set ups. Hows it feel?
Good write up man.

When i had them on it was good, down low torque. However i did have manifold and plenum leaks due to not replacing the rubber seals. Lesson learnt. However, i did race the exact same car, tho his was stock, and beat him to 100km/h by a car length, with the manifold leaks.

Since removing them for project big bore, iv missed them greatly. However all the spacer and insulator plus a few more intake goodies will be put onto another engine then dropped into mine very shortly.