tr7triumph.com

So I'm finally getting ready to pull the intake manifold off the TR7 to cure the coolant leak (time and parts are now on hand). Prior posts make us think the o-rings are the culprit.

In the Members Blog, Mildred provided some help tips and the beloved Search button has been helpful (finding great tips from Beans and others).

I've got my manuals handy and I'm gonna takes some pics.

Question: is replacing the intake manifold gasket a must? I bought a couple assuming that I would replace it, but just want to confirm. And if so, should a gasket sealant be used?

Some tips so far:
Don't remove the choke/throttle cables
Don't remove the intake completely off - just set it to the side
Apply some silicone sealant to hold the o-rings in place.

Any other tips? This is my first big dive into the TR7 - and am very excited....(but want to get it right).

Thanks!

Chris
(auto_cran)

Question: is replacing the intake manifold gasket a must?

<b><font color="red">To get to the o-ring on the back of the inlet manifold you will need to pull the manifold quite away out so no doubt the manifold gasket will break so Yes replace.</font id="red"></b>

I bought a couple assuming that I would replace it, but just want to confirm. And if so, should a gasket sealant be used?

<font color="red"><b>I used a thin skim of sealant to hold the gasket onto the cylinderhead or it can slide about - so I would put a bit on</b></font id="red">

Some tips so far:
Don't remove the choke/throttle cables - <font color="red"><b>No</b></font id="red">

Don't remove the intake completely off - just set it to the side
<font color="red"><b>I would take the inlet manifold off to make sure all the faces are clean. The best way I found was to unbolt the flexible carb mouts ( 4 nuts each but are small & fiddly ).The carbs will be held together by the top cross piece & use a pilow or other to stop the carbs falling back to the suspension turret.</b></font id="red">

Apply some silicone sealant to hold the o-rings in place.
<b><font color="red">A small amount</font id="red"></b>

Any other tips? This is my first big dive into the TR7 - and am very excited....(but want to get it right).

<b><font color="red"><b><font color="red">The hardest part is getting the 6 screws on to reattach the manifold to the cylinderhead as they have to pass through the gasket so taking the carbs off the flex mounting reduces the weight. Also the pipe under the inlet manifold can be a pain to get on as it is an olive connection / rubber pipes etc.
Use new screws to fix the Inlet manifold on & don't overtighten the screws into the alloy head.Sizes are UNF or UNC so watch them. Sizes are also in the works manual.</font id="red"></b>

Best to look at the Works Manual & print it off - better than Mr.Haynes so see below </b></font id="red">

Go to PDF Files on left hand side & download a Manual.
www.tr7.co.uk or http://www.tr7.co.uk/tr7-pdfs-various/1 ... anual.html

A useful trick I found on here ( by jclay ) is to use a couple of temporary studs to keep the manifold in place whilst you fit the bolts. This stops it slipping down.
You can easily make them yourself by cutting the heads off some spare bolts and cutting a screwdriver slot in the end. Put one of the studs at each end and then you can concentrate on lining up the bypass pipe. The studs will keep the manifold located for you. When you have some bolts installed you can unscrew the temp studs and swap them for bolts. Easy!
Have a look here
http://www.jclay.me/jclay/Triumph_TR-7.html#9
http://www.jclay.me/jclay/Triumph_TR-7.html#10


Russ

1980 TR7 Sprint DHC
Dursley
UK

http://tr7russ.blogspot.co.uk/

Theoretically gaskets don't need anything additional if both side are even (the gasket takes up any small variations).

For most gaskets I like to use a spray on (aerosol can) or red tacky gasket. This applies a smooth even amount. It is applied to weak side. For instance in the case of the valve cover it would be the valve cover side (not the head side). Not really a weak side for the inlet manifold but would apply it to that side anyway. It holds the gasket in place while assembling and allows relatively easy removal next time it's taken off as only one side is "stuck".



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

Question: is replacing the intake manifold gasket a must?

<b><font color="red">To get to the o-ring on the back of the inlet manifold you will need to pull the manifold quite away out so no doubt the manifold gasket will break so Yes replace.</font id="red"></b>

I bought a couple assuming that I would replace it, but just want to confirm. And if so, should a gasket sealant be used?

<font color="red"><b>I used a thin skim of sealant to hold the gasket onto the cylinder head or it can slide about - so I would put a bit on</b></font id="red">

<b><font color="green">Check my website about studs as Russ suggested!</font id="green"></b>

Some tips so far:
Don't remove the choke/throttle cables - <font color="red"><b>No</b></font id="red">

<b><font color="green">(I would say yes, do remove them along with the fuel line and vacuum lines to distributor and brakes.)</font id="green"></b>

Don't remove the intake completely off - just set it to the side
<font color="red"><b>I would take the inlet manifold off to make sure all the faces are clean. The best way I found was to unbolt the flexible carb mouts ( 4 nuts each but are small & fiddly ).The carbs will be held together by the top cross piece & use a pilow or other to stop the carbs falling back to the suspension turret.</b></font id="red">

<b><font color="green">(DO NOT REMOVE THE CARBS! Remove the whole intake assembly as a unit. Requires two people and a rope. Remove top two bolts holding manifold to head and replace with slotted studs. Tie rope to carbs/manifold and have someone on the other side of the car hold it tight. Remove the other four bolts and lift the unit straight off.)
</font id="green"></b>

Apply some silicone sealant to hold the o-rings in place.
<b><font color="red">A small amount</font id="red"></b>

<b><font color="green">(Three little dabs of super glue works great.)</font id="green"></b>

Any other tips? This is my first big dive into the TR7 - and am very excited....(but want to get it right).

<b><font size="4"><font color="green">BIGGEST MISTAKE YOU CAN MAKE! The GASKET only goes on ONE WAY! Tab on gasket must cover extra hole in head.</font id="green"></font id="size4"></b>



<b><font color="red"><b><font color="red">The hardest part is getting the 6 screws on to reattach the manifold to the cylinderhead as they have to pass through the gasket so taking the carbs off the flex mounting reduces the weight. Also the pipe under the inlet manifold can be a pain to get on as it is an olive connection / rubber pipes etc.
Use new screws to fix the Inlet manifold on & don't overtighten the screws into the alloy head.Sizes are UNF or UNC so watch them. Sizes are also in the works manual.</font id="red"></b>

Best to look at the Works Manual & print it off - better than Mr.Haynes so see below </b></font id="red">

Go to PDF Files on left hand side & download a Manual.

Clay

[url="http://www.jclay.me/"]My Triumph Site[/url], [url="http://www.triumphtechnical.me"]Technical Stuff[/url], [url="https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B8MWEvqOpX3udEF4SmFQUW9RS09hbU5uNW5Wd0xrUQ/edit"]My Public Folder[/url],

And a few more tips and pictures here;
http://tr7beans.blogspot.nl/search/label/Water%20pump

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1976 TR7 FHC (needs some TLC ...)
1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, a.k.a. Kermette)
1981 TR7 FHC (Sprint engined a.k.a. 't Kreng
</font id="blue"><b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="3"><font color="red">My full Blog</font id="red"></font id="size3"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

Inlet manifold set screws are 5/16 UNC - making a few is a good idea.

You can gauge the length by below & shows the gasket the wrong way round

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-TR7-I ... 0389512004

If you are on your own as I was when doing the job - reducing the weight of the inlet manifold is the safest way but takes longer but you'll learn a bit more of how things go around the carbs [:D]

Thanks for all the replies and tips! What a wealth of good information!

OK, gonna go to the hardware store and pick up some 5/16" UNC screws, remove the heads and slot them so a screwdriver can be used on them.

Plan is for me to tackle the water leak this Friday. Will keep you posted!

Chris
(auto_cran)

Gee Whiz! Aren't we making a mountain out of a mole hill!

The five easily accessible manifold bolts are no problem. The front bolt will need a 1/4" ratchet with a long extension to reach the bolt head.

Remove the manifold with carburetors attached along with the choke and throttle cables as a complete unit, setting on a thick pad on top of the engine. Do not remove the cables.

The intake manifold gasket may come off intact. It did on mine the several times the manifold was removed. The gasket was successfully reused with no leaks.

Try and reuse the old bolts as new bolts from a typical hardware store are NOT the correct hardness grade. Brush them clean with a steel wire brush and apply a thin smear of grease to the threads to prevent corrosion.

Consider replacing the water pump at the same time as you will have done 85% of the work in getting to it. The 1976 models uses a 6 vane pump. The later 12 vane pump will work only if you also replace the pump cover.

Yes, as Jclay says, apply a drop or two of Super Glue to the new manifold O-Ring to hold it in place.

Mildred Hargis

That last hard to get to bolt is much easier with a u-joint ratchet extension. I would totally agree with jclay; disconnect the throttle, etc., but don't take off the carbs! Nothing but trouble there. The whole piece, carbs and all is not too big to handle by yourself.


[/img]
1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

Dont forget to check the condition of the bypass pipe between manifold and water pump and replace O rings. Had to remove manifold twice to replace bypass. Pipes corrode if anti freeze was not kept at correct level.

Bill Sales

Thanks for the tooltip White.

Bill - yep, got a new bypass pipe and o-rings. Those were some of the parts I was waiting on.

And thanks to all for your input and ideas. What a good group on here.

Will report my progress soon.

Chris
(auto_cran)

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by whitenviro</i>

... but don't take off the carbs! ... <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
If you have read my blog you'll see that I prefer to remove the carbs.
Not much extra work, and it makes mating up the manifold to the engine so much easier.
So well worth the effort [;)]

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1976 TR7 FHC (needs some TLC ...)
1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, a.k.a. Kermette)
1981 TR7 FHC (Sprint engined a.k.a. 't Kreng
</font id="blue"><b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="3"><font color="red">My full Blog</font id="red"></font id="size3"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

Originally posted by Beans[/i]

... but don't take off the carbs! ... If you have read my blog you'll see that I prefer to remove the carbs.
Not much extra work, and it makes mating up the manifold to the engine so much easier.
So well worth the effort [;)]


Second that [^]

Just a quick thanks to everyone for their input. Over the weekend I managaed to pull the intake manifold and fix the water leak. It was a success!

Fairly straightforward - but I did run into a glitch. For details, check out my lengthy post in the Members Blog section.

Thanks again!!

Chris
(auto_cran)