If you can remove all of the hold down washers and the bolts on top of the manifold you should be able to remove the intake manifold with heat shield still in place.

No way.

You are saying you cant get to any of the bolts at all with the heat sheild in place ?

The four top bolts are accessible. most remaining are not. The intake manifold on a 280z shares some bolts/studs with the exhaust manifold.

I have stopped being a baby and managed to remove to heat shield. There was no mention of this problem in my search on this sight or elsewhere. So if anyone else runs into this dilemma I have a few tips. first remove any component you have to first, such as the PVC tube, the AFM and boot etc. Second the heat shield is in two parts (my stupid). if you can, remove the lower heat shield first (rusty phillips machine screws). and finally take your time, use bad language, don't think about barking you're knuckles or scratching you're forearms raw for four 12 mm bolts (use a wrench, sockie no fit).

A wire brush, anti-seize, and a variety of metric dies and taps makes reassembly a pleasure as the hardware turns like it is new and knowing the next time there will be no problems whatsoever.

Grant, yes, you've got a lot of heat shield under there. I honestly can't remember how it all bolts up. (It's been a year.) However, I do remember all the heat shield bolts are easily accessible. The hard part is FINDING them. Your best friends will be a good drop light and a small hand mirror. You'll also need to remove the shielding around the brake master to get the EGR stuff loose, so you may as well remove that now if it's in your way.

In general, if you can't free a bolt with Kroil, heat, tapping, gentle persuasion, and the requisite swear words, your only option will be to ring it off and deal with it later. You'll probably have to "give up" on a few fasteners to get the job done. That said, my heat shielding came off just fine. The real problem points for me were the manifold studs near the front of the engine (from chronic coolant seepage) and a few bolts on the top of the manifold that held down brackets and emissions stuff. I think my corrosion was probably about as bad as it gets.

Grant, I just re-read your post. I now see you're talking about the heat shield BETWEEN THE MANIFOLDS. Right? (I thought you were talking about the exhaust shields hanging down below.)

OK, this is easy: You don't remove that one! Believe it or not, you can slip a socket with two extensions right underneath it. Just get some light under there, and peer in sideways with a mirror. You'll be able to see all the studs shared between the intake and exhaust manifold -- the ones with the big hold-down washers. As I recall, it's a bit of a squeeze to get to the forward-most one, and it's necessary to flex the heat shield just a bit, but your drive will fit in there, possibly with one long and one short extension, as I recall.

I got the manifolds removed today. The bolds and nuts seemed to easy to remove like they were not torqued down at all. the old gasket was in pretty bad shape, it looked as though someone in the past had removed the manifolds and reused the gasket damaging it in the process and there was a piece missing from cylinder one's exhaust. This makes me happy in a way as I feel I am doing this for a cause instead of a hunch.

Edited August 14, 201113 yr by grantf

fast woman, What type permatex sealant did you use? my new gasket is a fel-pro. Looks sort of cheazy, paper bonded to metal.

Wow, congratulations! Yours was a LOT easier than mine. I'd recommend you replace all the fasteners, whether they look like they need it or not.

I sprayed both sides of my gasket with this:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=copper+gasket+spray&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7438551903716389274&sa=X&ei=3ctHToDXC6ipsAKJypDXBQ&ved=0CC4Q8wIwAA#

... and then I thinly coated all the port holes on both sides of the gasket with this:

http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_makers/auto_Permatex_Ultra_Copper_Maximum_Temperature_RTV_Silicone_Gasket_Maker.htm

I don't know what brand of gasket I installed. I ordered it from MSA, and it came in an un-labeled plastic sleeve. It looked reasonably substantial, to my untrained eye.

Wow, if your gasket was as bad as you indicate, this should make a HUGE difference in how your engine runs!

I used a Nissan gasket, no sealer, new studs from msa and put anti sieze on the studs and nuts.

As cozye suggests, this is what i did . You may be a better mechanic that me, i marked everything with numbers so i would remember where they connected. Heat shield and fuel rail was the pain for me.

Ok, so everything is back together. I fired up the engine and it ran great. Sounded better than before. But as the engine gets hot smoke starts poring out of the engine compartment. "I don't think this is an exhaust leak as I see nothing until the engine gets hot. it will continue to smoke till the engine cools down. I am scared.