Intake Manifold Nuts...

[amgkid]

Is it just me, or is it impossible to tighten the bottom intake manifold nuts, particularly the two in the rear, without a crowfoot wrench? Anyway, I made the mistake of buying a Harbor Freight 12mm crowfoot and it tightened one nut until it broke in two pieces. Gah, you get what you pay for, blah blah blah. I'm going to Sears tomorrow and getting some real tools.

[bogey]

Tightening the back two lower bolts is a real b****. I used a crowsfoot from Sears and a lot of patience. It took a couple hours to finally get these two bolts tight. This is by far the toughest part of the install, when you question why you did this at all...

Local autoparts store sols a set of crows foot for $15. had every size between 10 and 19mm except the 12mm I need.

The Sears store only sold a complete set of crows foot, not individually. It was $40 for the set of tools I will probably never use again.

I would suggest checking with a Snap-On dealer for the single piece.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Using a 1/4" drive wobble socket is a benefit as well. You can get it pretty tight and then finish with the crow's foot.

Used to be that there were two hard things in the install. Those two nuts and the JRPC/SS wiring. I solved the wiring problem (plug-in harness now takes 2 minutes) but don't know how to solve the problem with those two nuts. I'm sure Mazda bolts on that manifold before the engine is installed in the car. Kind of reminds me of the Chevrolet Citation (I believe that was the car?). You had to pull the engine to replace the rear spark plugs.

If anyone has any design changes that might help, let me know. That is now the only pain left on the install. Removing those two nuts from the stock manifold and replacing them on the new manifold is a pain. I used to ship a wobble socket and then people said the crow's foot was much better so I included a crow's foot. Then People said the wobble socket was better so I gave up. :) NAPA sells the crow's foot seperately and is of reasonable quality. They sell two levels of tools. Cheap and good. Buy the good one.

[Banshee]

I didn't think the 2 rear manifold nuts were bad at all. Now the two front ones were near impossible because I was not able to remove the alternator. I find that if you have the right extensions, it makes the job so much easier. Key is to have an assortment of extensions so that it fits perfectly.

But if you're going to make design changes, all is needed is to notched the area above the manifold nuts a little so that a thin wall socket could fit over the nut completely. Shouldn't be too difficult.

While you're at it, I would convert the bend in the manifold where it tapers after the WI tap to more of a rounded corner.
Speaking of WI, I would switch where you have it now with the hole you have for the bypass vacuum line. Then add another WI tap to the back of the manifold (still on the side) between runner 3 and four.

As far as pipe dreams go, how about making it compatible with the new line of eaton superchargers. The 50Cubic Inch one looks mighty tasty. How hard could it be? Just the upper plate right? Everything else should fit right in.

[amgkid]

The stock intake manifold was difficult but I could get it off with a standard socket set. The problem with the supercharger manifold is the lack of clearance for even a box wrench. If there was space for a socket, by scalloping some of the housing away, it would be easier to install. Seems to be much more complex to manufacture, however. I'm sure once I get it on, I won't care.