I have a coolant leak from the top of the motor from the intake manifold.

I've never done this job before. How bad is it? how long should it take? any tips & tricks? what about all the hardware over the manifold how bad is it to remove all that (trottle cable...)?

i think thats the first year for the plastic upper that has to be changed to the new style and egr ports should be changed. its better to do it all at once in my opinion and for the new aluminum elbow, the new aluminum lower gaskets and new dorman upper kit with all the fixes and gaskets, was a little over a hundred bucks from rock auto.

as far as doing it we have a few relevant write ups, it helps time and fuel leakage if you can just move the rail out and throttle body out of the way attached.

these are for a l36 not the series one but i think the basic steps would be similar enough

https://www.gmforum.com/mechanical-1...2005-a-304071/
https://www.gmforum.com/mechanical-1...ts-l36-297702/

COOL! Thanks!

Any idea how long it should take? I have shop air if that helps.

not sure exactly, i took two days but i had help the first day so i could clean everything up good and we only worked maybe six hours and then i put it all back together with new heater core and water pump/ rad hoses in about 3 or 4 hrs by myself the next day. for me getting parts if i need them is the big time sucker, there isnt anyplace that carries most parts near me anymore. so i got all that the lim/upper/elbows/hoses/and those plugs/ coolant/new hose clamps, etc all before i started taking it apart

After getting all the parts for mine it took me about 10-12 working hours total. Keep in mind that was the first major project I had ever done on an auto.

About 8 hours for mine. (probably closer to 10 to 12 hours, but I want to sound better than Yutzy)

If you buy parts from Rockauto.com, do a search on the forum for Rock Auto Discount and you will get a 5% discount code.

lol, i change mine to 7 and a half then with no help in a blizzard.

I think I spent a couple days on mine, but I ran compression tests to see how the engine was holding up, and also took the time to port match my lower intake manifolds runners, grinded them all to be the size they were supposed to be when cast, I also knocked some of the rough off of the inside of the runners.
I removed my throttle body butterfly valve and polished it after getting the carbon off of it, also replaced all soft rubber EVAP lines while I was at it, polished my fuel rail a bit, none of that was necessary, I just like to go that extra step when it comes to my car.
If just replacing the gaskets, and EGR stovepipe, then it can be done in a long work day, just in case plan on it taking two days in case you run into any problems.

I have an unfair advantage, I've done this way too many times = P

Last time was on the Girlfriends car which took 8 hours because I also fixed her HVAC and was trying to let her do the work.

https://www.gmforum.com/buick-172/19...5/#post1567717

Twice on the Blue Bonneville
https://www.gmforum.com/lounge-99/ym...1/#post1527229

At least 3 times on the SSEi.
https://www.gmforum.com/general-gm-c...roject-286902/

https://www.gmforum.com/general-gm-c...*-swap-287785/

And those are just my vehicles... I've convinced many friends to get 3800'* which usually ends up with them spending a couple days in the shop.

it nothing all that hard to do, just takes time.. also look on youtube, many vids of the process, watch a few of them and you will be a pro in no time at all