so i realized my car was pouring out coolant onti the ground after i turned it off....and it had to JUST start leaking as i was driving it because i didnt see anything when i left from where i was at...but i looked to see where it was coming from and i seen it bubbling out the top half of the manifold on the laft side of the engine....i went to autozone and grabbed a gasket set and it came with all these different gaskets and some o-rings for the injectors.... im a first timer at doing this and i really dont wanna mess anything up...im just going by what i see when i take it apart since i dont have a haynes manual or anything... i dont know if i should use silocone gasket sealer on every gasket or not....i dont wanna put that stuff somewhere it shouldnt be.... any help would be great..and ive looked all over google and didnt find any diagrams or anything....its a 1991 tpi 5.7 if thats hepls any...

A manual would be helpful but pulling the intake aint to bad. First thing you want to do is mark the location of the rotor & the distributor so you can drop it right back in without having to time it all back up. You will also need to relieve the pressure on the fuel line unless it has sat awhile with the key off. You might want to drain some coolant to. Unhook everything and lift it off. Make sure you get all the old gasket material off of the heads & intake. I like to lay some rags in the block to catch the old gasket parts and lift it all out when I'm done. Clean & dry the gasket surfaces real good and lay the end rubber gaskets in place. A dab of silicone sealer on the ends where it meets the intake gaskets is good. If you have regular gaskets you will put a small bead of sealer around each water hole on both sides of the gasket. Some gaskets have a bead of sealer made into them,you can tell by looking. Gently set the intake back down being careful not to bump a new gasket out of position. Start all the bolts by hand then torque them to around 34 ft/lbs starting in the middle and working your way to the ends. Hook everything back up and start the car. Fill whatever is low and check for leaks a few times after it is hot. After a few heat cycles recheck the intake bolts.

okay man thanks...how long is this process normally?

I've done my LT1 before in about 3 1/2 hours. Your TPI looks alittle more complicated so give yourself a day.

First time doing it, I would give yourself the weekend. Just to be safe.

Matt

Do not use the rubber end gaskets!!!! They will leak, use lots of black silicone and go half way up the heads both front and rear. These cars are known for rear manifold leaks anyway, same with lt1 cars. There are alot of gaskets for the whole tpi setup, the runners are tricky, there is a bolt on each side that you have to get from the opposite side. You'll know what i mean when you go to do it. Also may be a good time to switch to allen head bolts. Usually you can get them for 30 a set on ebay from bolt locker, really looks trick. When your putting it back together leave all the runner bolts loose until the whole thing is assembled. Otherwise things won't line up, there is some play in there from the factory. Don't use silicone on any of the gaskets, but make sure you clean them well. I use a 400 grit paper on the plenum and runners to really clean it up. Also make sure you get the plastic tabs out of the runners, they like to stay in even when you pull the gasket off. Invest in a few cans of carb clener and really clean the inside of the plenum/runners/manifold/throttle body out. Some eagle one ethcing aluminum cleaner can make the tpi setup look brand new, just spray and let soak, rinse. Since you'll have it apart, ohm your injectors, if you have a few bad ones (88+ are known to go bad frequently) now is the time to replace them since you have it apart. Just take your time, get a box of ziplock bags and label everything by part and side, it's real easy to put the wrong runner bolts in the wrong places, there are a few different sizes. I've taken alot of these apart. If you were closer i'd come help you, but if you want I can pm you my cell if you need some help. A haynes manual can help you too, but it's pretty sraight forward. Also drain the radiator at least half way, you don't want any antifreeze running into the block, you'll be pulling your oil pan off to drain and clean it... When all is said in done the car should feel a little crisper and drive/idle smoother.

-Jim

ummmmm...yeaaahhhhh about that....
well i started to take it all apart and when i got to taking off the manifold star key bolts i had a little problem..one of the bolts stripped and its the bolt at the very front if the head...i tried and tried to get it out i tapped on it...tried using an easy out and broke it off inside the bolt 3 different times...so i then head to buy a carbide drill bit and do it again..and it still didnt budge at all...so now the hole the bolt is in is all oval shaped and i went and bought a helicoil kit and when i started to drill the whole the bit kept slipping to the other side of the hole..so i cant get the bit to line up w/ the manifold....im having a guy come and look at it in the morning and he will tell me what i have to do..but to me its looking like im going to have to get a new head...and i really dont have that much money....any one know where i can get a head for cheap?