Advice / help for upper intake

white95svt

white95svt

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Alright everyone, sorry if this is long, it’s been a while since I’ve posted but started working on my 95L this past November after it sat for 6 years. Done a lot of work/upgrades and got it running all smoothly, expecting problems to pop up of course. Well one did, the EGR spacer line started leaking coolant. Pulled the upper intake, got everything off smoothly enough but of course 1 of the 4 studs into the upper intake was seized in place. Over the course of a few days I soaked it tried getting it and it kept breaking lower and lower. Last night took it to my neighbor and we welded a bolt on, got a turn out of it and it snapped off inside the hole. Tried drilling and tapping but to no fault of anyone the bit went in crooked. Tried to run a tap and that broke. It wasn’t a carbide tap but I was able to get that out. Now I’m at a decision point.

1 - keep tapping the hole which will result in it being a bit off center but then drill out the according hole on the new spacer and throttle body so the stud can slide through with no issues. Some of the bolt will prob still be in there with newly tapped threads into it which may fail eventually. Not a huge fan of this but it should work, at least for a while I’d imagine.

2 - drill out the hole big enough to just run a bolt through it. This would be an ugly but functional fix I’d imagine.

3 - source a whole new upper intake and do it right but this will be expensive of course.

Guys, I know what the right thing to do is, please don’t chew me up. Trying to get ideas of what may work or just opinions I probably need to hear haha.

Lastly, there is a 95 cobra gt40 lower and lighting upper intake on eBay and the lower is ported and polished. If I got this atleast I could get a slight performance upgrade out of my mistake? Just unsure if the lower intake is a direct replacement? I’d assume it is since it’s the same year and gt40 lower? Please advise.


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Nope, the lower won't work. 302 is narrower than a 351. Unless it's a Cobra R intake.

I'd drill through and nut and bolt it if it were mine. No one will ever notice and it's perfectly functional. We're talking about a nearly 30 year old vehicle. Compromises are understandable.
 
Where are you located? if your willing to ship it I can fix it.

which bolt is broken, if your considering a thru bolt id assume a bottom bolt? As long as it goes thru fairly straight I don't think anyone would ever notice this change

the 95 cobra lower is will not fit your 351w engine. 302 is smaller than 351.


just noticed Jeff beat me to this.
 
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Guys thanks for the quick response. I kinda figured the lower wouldn’t work but I am still learning through all of this so thats good to know.

I am in TX north of Fort Worth. I’d be willing to ship it out if you’re willing to give it a shot.

The stud that snapped is the top left as you’re looking at the intake hole, on the top towards front of engine, the worst one for looks wise haha. So one of the ones where the lighting plate screws too and I’d prob have to sacrifice that tab/screw hole but 3 other screws should keep the lighting plate on just fine.


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white95svt said:
Guys thanks for the quick response. I kinda figured the lower wouldn’t work but I am still learning through all of this so thats good to know.

I am in TX north of Fort Worth. I’d be willing to ship it out if you’re willing to give it a shot.

The stud that snapped is the top left as you’re looking at the intake hole, on the top towards front of engine, the worst one for looks wise haha. So one of the ones where the lighting plate screws too and I’d prob have to sacrifice that tab/screw hole but 3 other screws should keep the lighting plate on just fine.


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depending how bad/big the hole currently is, worst case it may be required to drill it larger and clean all the damage out and weld build or weld in an insert which either aren't a big deal other than the upper would need to be painted or powder coated after because of the heat. Either way, it can be fixed.
 
FlatOut said:
depending how bad/big the hole currently is, worst case it may be required to drill it larger and clean all the damage out and weld build or weld in an insert which either aren't a big deal other than the upper would need to be painted or powder coated after because of the heat. Either way, it can be fixed.
Click to expand...

Well if you’re willing to give it a shot I can ship it and compensate you for your time and effort. A lot of that is out of my wheelhouse. The hole isn’t to bad currently but if you wanna DM me we can figure out a way I can shoot you some photos when I get home from work this evening to give you a better idea and if you’d be willing to give it a try. Thanks!


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What did you soak it with? Have you tried heat and soaking? If you've got a hole started in the old stud, can you get an easy out in it? This should be a fairly easy fix for any machine shop.
 
oilwell1415 said:
What did you soak it with? Have you tried heat and soaking? If you've got a hole started in the old stud, can you get an easy out in it? This should be a fairly easy fix for any machine shop.
Click to expand...

Soaked in PB several nights over and over. Heated with a torch to no avail. Tried everything I can think of within my comfort. Tried and ez out. Wouldn’t budge it. @FlatOut is going to help me out! Planning on getting it shipped to him tomorrow hopefully.


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