Well, ok, it’s not so bad as that…

I cut new intake gaskets, installed the new intake boots (minus the clamps; I have learned to wait until I’m sure I’m through for those), bolted on the end castings, installed the manifold and trimmed the adapter plate as required to clear the alternator. Then I found an unexpected problem.

The throttle body must be mounted so that the throttle cable faces rearward. Between the throttle bracket and subthrottle motor, it simply wont clear the doghouse facing it. The other way, however, the inlet to the fuel rail wont clear the doghouse. I’m not terribly excited about having a plastic part carrying gasoline at 43.5 PSI crunched up against a vibrating metal part.

All is not lost. It turns out that the fuel rail fitting is a separate part from the rail, secured with a rather heavy screw and sealed with an O-ring.

By removing this screw, rotating the fitting and clamping the fitting down with a new fabricated clamp, I can adjust it to clear. The rail can be installed with the fitting at either end. I tried a couple different ways and have thought of a couple more, so I haven’t decided exactly how I will configure it, but it shouldn’t be too big an issue.