Corvette Engine Build - The Power Principal, Part 2

We prefer to finish up the installation of the components from the bottom first. We slid our TPIS headers in from the bottom and are now placing the Earl's exhaust seals in place. We've had no complaints using the Earl's exhaust seals, even after 75,000 miles, no loose header bolts.

With our bottom-end components in place, the intake is assembled next. We ran an 8mm-1.25 tap through the lower intake runner bolt threads, and then installed the lower intake runner bolts on both sides. Accel slotted the lower intake runner mounting bosses to allow the runners to drop in place. This intake is a puzzle-install the wrong piece at the wrong time, and it has to come back apart to correct the sequence.

Our Bosch EV1 fuel injector is at the top of the photo. Although the external features of these injectors look similar, that's where it ends. Bosch stamps their build number on the upper injector body. This number correlates to fuel delivery and injector design. The clone injector has a painted number on the lower steel case with no stamping on the plastic upper body.

This is where things get sticky. The lower runners are in place, and we install the injector rail in place. Before you install the fuel-rail bolts, the fuel-supply lines should be connected. Once the fuel rail is in place and tightened, we can install the lower runner retaining bolts. This is also the time to think about your wiring. We decided to run our FAST injector wiring down the center of the intake before we covered things up.

Start every runner bolt at the manifold before tightening any bolt. Leave all the lower runner bolts loose until the plenum is installed. This particular Allen wrench with a ball socket on one end came with the Accel intake assembly to ease bolt tightening in many tight spots. The valve covers are left off during manifold assembly to access the lower runner bolts.

We connected our Bosch EV1 fuel injectors before we put our huge Accel plenum in place and then started tightening bolts. Remember to tighten all the bolts coming in from the underside for the plenum. We go around tightening the lower bolts of the plenum, making two passes to ensure all the upper and lower bolts are tightened properly. You can see just how tight the injectors and wiring are between the lower runners.

To finalize the intake-runner and plenum assembly, safety wire is applied to the plenum interior bolts. Don't let any fasteners get loose and drop into the runners. If that happens, these engine killers will be directed into the cylinder like a pinball machine. We keep tabs on the hardware, and if we can't find a particular bolt we stop and locate it before we proceed.

Our upper plenum cover is now installed, making two or three passes on the fasteners to ensure even load is applied. We also installed our TPIS 52mm throttle body to complete our intake system. Make sure to check for clearance issues at the wiper motor. We had to do a little machining to provide proper clearance. Unfortunately, we realized that later and then had to disassemble and re-assemble the throttle body.

You get to use just about every tool you own when you're working on a project like this. Here we're using our NAPA-supplied, W-crimp wire crimpers to install the idle air control valve wire terminals on our FAST computer wire harness. Make sure that you choose the correct crimp size and each wire is securely crimped.