joebor1776

Just wanted to add my experiences to the thread, maybe it'll be additional help to somebody that's mechanically challenged like me. There's already so much useful info in this thread, but more can't hurt :-).

-I have very average/below average mechanical ability.
-Was a time-consuming job, but not too difficult, thanks to all of the advice in this thread and in other CL starter threads, and thanks to the Nutz about Boltz YT video (I followed most of it step by step).
-Took me a week to do this job, working a couple hours here and there. Probably 10 hours total. Next time it will probably take me four or five hours. Was able to do it solo, not a big deal, but I had to get up in the engine bay to lift the manifold out and replace it.
-Most of my wire harness wrap rotted and fell apart in my hands--I rewrapped all my harnesses using a $2 roll of friction tape/hockey tape from Menards (hope it withstands the heat) before putting the intake manifold back on.
-I didn't remove the fuel line, and just left the manifold in the engine bay, just balanced it as best I could on some pieces of cardboard--worked out fine. Someone on one of these threads gave that tip, and I'm very thankful for it!
-To get the starter out, I had to remove the water bypass, and I definitely needed to replace those two metal gaskets...they were shot.I got them for $7/apiece at oreillys. They were Felpro, but made in Japan, so probably same as OEM. I spilled a little coolant even after first draining about 3 1/2 quarts. It spilled into a catch pan and whatever got on my garage floor dried and cleaned up fine. Also spilled a small amount of coolant from the throttlebody hose, no big deal.
-To get the starter bolts out, I absolutely needed a 14mm ratcheting wrench that flexed. I didn't use the same one that Lextreme recommended, but just got a cheap set from home depot.
-Somebody suggested putting the starter bolts into the holes first, and then putting the starter back in--this was a critical tip that I'm thankful for...I messed around trying to start those bolts for 30 mins before remembering that tip.
-I didn't replace both rear bolts for the wiring harness--found that I needed that play in the wiring harness to get the manifold back in, and then wasn't able to get the driver's side harness bolt in after the manifold was in place. Didn't matter, it's plenty secure.
-I torqued the manifold bolts to 18 ft-lbf, which was my mistake--I misread the specs, which were in Nm (should have been 13 ft-lbf), but hopefully it'll be OK. Also note the correct torque sequence.
-I was able to reuse the manifold gaskets, just cleaned them up a bit.
-My throttlebody gasket was crushed flat, so I replaced that.
-My intake and valves were really dirty--I wish I could have cleaned them. Oh well.
-I rebuilt the starter with contacts and plunger only, and it worked fine. Got it bench tested at a local chain auto parts place.
-Was able to test the starter with a dummy key before putting the manifold back on, but after putting the water bypass back together. Didn't end up with any CE codes and everything works fine.