Hot Rods Stubborn SBC Intake Manifold...won't come off

If I am absolutely that all the bolts are removed, the distributer had been pulled and there are no other obstructions like rocker covers for example, I take a large flat screwdriver and tap it in between the top of the block and the intake manifold. a couple of good taps and it will make a hollow sound that is it coming loose generally. The place that will cause the least damage to anything other then perhaps the intake itself is the front of the engine between the intake and the block.

 

my step kid thought he removed all the bolts in the manifold ( he removed all the brackets and other stuff bolts , but missed one crudded over bolt in the exhaust cross over area, I told him to double check 3 times , he said he got them all , so I drove over and took a look , yep the one bolt was holding it tight . his first learning experience to get the book and double check the ammount and locations of fasteners

 

Should be 12, right? 6 on each side?

It will be a few days until I get the chance to get out there again. I will post back when I verify what is holding ot down...I think it will pop off easily now that I have the procedure.

 

Well, I got it off, and got everything cleaned up as well as I could and the intake is back on...It came off like a charm with a couple of small screwdrivers, as suggested. Now...that @$%%ing distributor...

Thanks to all.

 

that's good to hear.

The distributor....all it takes, is practice. I found that the dual point distributor hiding behind my blower is a great one to practice on, it makes you want to get it right first try.

 

The distributor is easy, its that damn oil pump shaft

If you have an old distributor with the teeth ground off the gear its real easy to get the position and needed lead into the oil pump shaft to match the gears rotation.

If all you can get is close,
set the dizzy in the tooth you think will get you where you want to be, rotate the crank slowly with a bar and when the dizzy turns to align with the shaft it will just drop right in the hole, no hands. Then go back to your crank's TDC marks and see if you guessed right on the tooth.

 

Yup!

 

I have never been able to get it in personally... I lose ALL patience wrestling with it. I have my mark on the firewall (where the rotor was pointing) so I should know if it is right or not. There is no room in front to get on the crank bolt... might have to dust off the flywheel turner...
Thanks.

 

It's just something you eventually figure out how to do.
Kind of like shooting billiards, bowling, hitting a moving target or getting your old lady off.
If you're getting frustrated - take a break.

 

All of that stuff came naturally to me, 31Vicky... I think I got it in tonight. I may have had two different marks confused on the firewall for where the rotor was pointing. We will see...I would have fired it up (attempted, anyway) but the damn throttle cable end broke while I was putting it back on. I have a new thread for that part of the saga.

I'm sure my neighbors are just as happy that I didn't fire it up at 9pm...