Thorzdad

If anyone wants to come to Muncie and do this for our Maxima, I can pay you in beer.

I'm afraid back surgery has made crawling around inside the engine compartment an impossibility now. I recall the contortions required to replace the rear plugs, and there's no way my back can do anything close that now.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

come to my place ill try it on yours first then do it on mine LOL. i know its going to be time consuming so im going to set aside pretty much a whole weekend to do it.

foodmanry

iTrader: (15)

The rear bracket bolts are a PITA. They really just take time and patience, and a magnet in case you drop them. I did all of mine by feel and literally sitting on top of the engine poking my head down there.

When you install them make sure you get each bolt started in the threads a few turns; do not fully tighten them. You'll need to coax the intake manifold into place to get the rest of the bolts in. Do the outer bolts first and work your way inside.

Once you have all the rear bolts threaded, then come to the front of the intake manifold and tighten those bolts/nuts down according to the FSM. After they are tightened and torqued, go back to the rear bolts and finish them up.

I found this to be the most efficient method when I was pulling off and re-installing my intake manifold and VC's about four times in one week.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

forgot to update that i did this...FYI...i swear i almost stabbed this car in the heart while dealing with those 'hidden' bolts..GAH!!!!!!! it was a beast. not to mention w/ my big hands it definitely made it harder to get to. btw there are 4 bolts back there...i left one out because i couldnt get to it and didnt feel like stressing it much, but the other 3 went back in farely easy...i did a little something to help clean up the bay while i was in there..

leadfoot85

looks good! I need to do my front gasket soon. When I get it off I will be painting my VC too. Just not sure what color...