Cracking mainifolds on series 1
 

I want to get this straight for series 1 engines once and for all. What are the common failures relating to cracks and leaks of the intake and intake gaskets. We already know alot about the 95 and later series 2 engines but I want to know about the series 1.

In the scrap yard yesturday I found a NA Bonneville with a steel upper intake. I am not sure the year of this car because the driver door could not open. the yard is seeing for me if its a core engine so they can sell me the upper intake. Did any years come with a steel upper intake? It looked exactly like the intake on my 93. it there a way to tell the series 1 from the series 2 just from looking?

Series1 plastic intakes crack too. 180° Thermostat is your friend. I think the intake you saw is from a 87-91. I don't know if it will fit, but Jr's3800 has both types, so he might be able to tell you.

i'm going to be installing my 180 stat tomorrow in shop class, and i got to thinking. since the series 1 is plastic, can it be converted to the steel upper intake? in my class, we have 10 different bonneville engines laying around with the steel intakes on them. i was wondering, would it be possible to convert my 93 series 1 with the plastic upper intake to the steel upper intake?

It's all going to come down to the lower intake port sequence and bolt pattern. The bolt pattern you can figure out from the top without pulling it apart, and the intake sequence you can probably assume pretty closely by the port profiles visible from the top. If you pull this off, you're on to a big one for the NA guys.

Keep us posted on what you find out, and definitely get hooked up with Jr's3800 before you get too deep into this. Also remember that Hector is working on sheet metal upper intakes, but only for the Series 2.

ya, i'm going to look into seing if my shop teacher will let me use one of the many steel upper intakes that we have lying around on the engines. i already asked for him to let me do an engine swap, cause they are series 2 i believe. he said no. o well. hector, will there be an option for the series 1 sheet metal upper intake? i'd be interested if the price was right.