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Hi,

it seems my 32 GTR has a coolant leak somewhere under the plenum so i was thinking to upgrade to the Nismo intake manifold as it will have to come off to fix that anyways.

Will that fit in an otherwise pretty much stock engine bay? Looks like it could be pretty tight around cyl 6/ clutch cylinder with the nismos improved runner.

Does anyone have one fitted/experience with it and could give some input?

Cheers, Max

8 hours ago, Max32 said:

Hi,

it seems my 32 GTR has a coolant leak somewhere under the plenum so i was thinking to upgrade to the Nismo intake manifold as it will have to come off to fix that anyways.

Will that fit in an otherwise pretty much stock engine bay? Looks like it could be pretty tight around cyl 6/ clutch cylinder with the nismos improved runner.

Does anyone have one fitted/experience with it and could give some input?

Cheers, Max

It's a huge PITA. I've done it recently and probably the most annoying aspect is how much fighting is involved at the back of the engine. I did it by pulling the rear manifold studs and basically the moment you pop it into the locating dowels you don't get to change your mind about how it's installed. That's how little space there is, the dowels on the ITBs sticking to the collector will be the difference between fitting and not fitting. I recommend just pulling the brake booster and whatever else is in the way instead of doing it how I did it. Some people claim you can use the clutch master cylinder bracket that holds the booster hose straight, I have no idea how they did that considering it's a bear to get on in the first place and once you get it in you'll realize the hose is resting against the collector and isn't sitting straight anymore, at least on an R33. I'm pretty sure when I read through the manual for installation it also mentions that you aren't supposed to use that bracket anymore.

The two things you can expect to fight the most are the coolant/vacuum combo pipe bolt securing to the brake/clutch booster pipe and the bolt that secures all of that to the plenum. Getting the bolt and everything else to line up is just kind of a nightmare. If there's enough clearance you may want to have the brake/clutch booster pipe bolted up to the underside of the collector before you slide it onto the intake manifold. Then you have one of the two really difficult bolts already done. Securing the coolant pipe bolt I recommend using painter's tape to secure the bolt to the socket. You will need a 10 and 12mm u-joint socket, probably quarter inch.

  • Like 2
33 minutes ago, joshuaho96 said:

May as well just actually follow Nismo's directions at that point and drop the whole subframe with the engine and transmission out.

Assuming you are using a hoist, that would probably be the quickest way to do the job.

10 hours ago, joshuaho96 said:

It's a huge PITA. I've done it recently and probably the most annoying aspect is how much fighting is involved at the back of the engine. I did it by pulling the rear manifold studs and basically the moment you pop it into the locating dowels you don't get to change your mind about how it's installed. That's how little space there is, the dowels on the ITBs sticking to the collector will be the difference between fitting and not fitting. I recommend just pulling the brake booster and whatever else is in the way instead of doing it how I did it. Some people claim you can use the clutch master cylinder bracket that holds the booster hose straight, I have no idea how they did that considering it's a bear to get on in the first place and once you get it in you'll realize the hose is resting against the collector and isn't sitting straight anymore, at least on an R33. I'm pretty sure when I read through the manual for installation it also mentions that you aren't supposed to use that bracket anymore.

The two things you can expect to fight the most are the coolant/vacuum combo pipe bolt securing to the brake/clutch booster pipe and the bolt that secures all of that to the plenum. Getting the bolt and everything else to line up is just kind of a nightmare. If there's enough clearance you may want to have the brake/clutch booster pipe bolted up to the underside of the collector before you slide it onto the intake manifold. Then you have one of the two really difficult bolts already done. Securing the coolant pipe bolt I recommend using painter's tape to secure the bolt to the socket. You will need a 10 and 12mm u-joint socket, probably quarter inch.

Thanks for the answer mate, I figured this would be a tough one lol

Also considering delivery times and that i only have a floor jack + stands i think ill stick with the OEM plenum just for now and switch that when its rebuild time and the engine will come out anyways.

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