[Invictus]

well the new valve covers just came in (i cracked my old one trying to wrestle it off for the cam swap) and they are almost an entire inch higher clearance wise than the stockers... with the stock ones i could just BARELY get them in by prying my engine back a good 1/4 and managing to get my cam caps off while they were still on by reaching my arm underneath and doing it without looking lol. (only way i could figure out). so these new ones dont stand a chance! it's the driver side in particular the clutch cable and master cyl and all that assembly in the way ahh..

i think the only way i'm going to have any kind of clearance is to lower my engine a couple of inches only problem is i don't have the sligtest clue as to where to even start in doing this. is it just the motor mount bolts? how do i support it to be able to lower it its in my driveway.. the old covers are off so i cant drive it up any ramps.. any help with this appreciated thanks.

[Invictus]

sry.. basically what's the best way to to lower my engine enough so that i can get enough clearance up top to bolt the new valve covers down. keeping in mind my car is in the driveway and what about my headers, and tranny and all that??

[superbeef1000]

yeh you could jack the car up place it on jack stands and then use a good floor jack with a piece of 2\6 wood and place the jack under the oil pan or crank pully jack it up just a little to puport the motor then undo the motor mounts take them out , then lower the engine a little ,you may need to take off the starter and steering rod , h pipe then just put it all back when yur done but its a lot of work i had to do this when i installed my headers

[Invictus]

how do i get the master cyl. off and how do i get the clutch cable out of the way??? if i get these 2 out of the way i think i could pull it off.. there's no way the new valve covers are just slipping in there though. i even took the cam caps off for an extra 1/4" of clearance and still not even close!

[Invictus]

the directoins say remove 2 5mm bolts from the firewall.. lol that didnt do anything is there something im missing on the clutch cable..? and does anyone have a writeup as to how to remove the master cyl? appreciated.. thanks!

[acmillr]

If I'm not mistaken, you will need to look above your brake pedal, inside the car, and remove the nuts that are put on from the interior of the car to completely remove the brake booster and master cylinder together.

[Keegan_Vann]

Originally Posted by acmillr If I'm not mistaken, you will need to look above your brake pedal, inside the car, and remove the nuts that are put on from the interior of the car to completely remove the brake booster and master cylinder together.

yeah this is right I had to do the same thing for my headers and when replacing my clutch.

[acmillr]

Invictus, Im proud for you- You are going to know every nut and bolt in your car within the next few months.

[Invictus]

hehe im gettin it bro.. alright i got the master cyl. setup those 4 bolts on it off completely and managed to actualyl rotate it a bit a good inch or 2 out of the way, and i think that will be sufficient. how in the world do i get this clutch cable off though?! it's now the only thing stopping me. the BBK BS directions say remove the 2 5mm bolts at the firewall.. okay i took them off lol and that didnt do me any good. if i got the clutch cable out of the way i'd be home free. thanks for the help so far! and yes im gettin it, i love doin this though. nothin better than hands on experience.

[Invictus]

AlRIGHT! i manged to do this without lowering my motor!! yes yes i know im a beast.. =) lol jk... alright... So i ended up having to take off the entire master brake cyl. assembly and brake lines and there was a little metal bracket holding the clutch cable in place that i un bolted and it gave me just enough slack in the cable to move it out of the way just enough. had to take the coil packs, fuel rails, injectors, power steering fluid resovoir, wireing harness, and yeah about 24,000 other things lol but the covers are in and bolted down and over with. i'm now in the process and putting everything back on.. but obviously my brake lines were exposed and probably got an assload of air in them... so i dont know where to begin to bleed the lines. isn't there a bleeder valve or something? what's the best way to do this?? i'll have everything hooked back up here in an hour or so and i'll have to bleed the brakes and hopefully be done with it tomm morning sometime. any brake bleeding tips appreciated, thanks

[superbeef1000]

Invictus could you post some pictures when your done id like to see how thees valve covers look when in place oh and a job well done

[acmillr]

Get someone to pump the brake pedal while you bleed off the air at your calipers. *Start with the caliper closest to the master cylinder (front driver's side) and work out from there.

What you will need to do is

1) Take all of your wheels off.

2) Locate your bleeder valves on your calipers.

3) Make sure you have plenty of fluid in your master cylinder BTW: You will have to repeat this step throughout the process.

4) Get whoever is helping you to pump up the brake pedal and hold it down (hard). Then back off the bleeder valve with a wrench. Let all of the pressure come out then tighten the valve back down. After that tell the other person to let off of the brake pedal (DO NOT LET OFF OF THE BRAKE PEDAL WHILE YOU HAVE THE VALVE OPEN OR IT WILL SUCK AIR INTO THE SYSTEM). Repeat this process as many times as necessary to get all air removed from the lines.

5) Crank the car and cycle the brakes to see if they feel spongey. If they do, you still have air in the system and you need to repeat all steps.

*Have plenty of brake fluid on hand- you will need it.

[Invictus]

i start with the closest one or the furthest one?? seveeral people ahve told me to start from the passenger side Rear of the car (farthest from master cylinder). i have 3 bottles of prestone brake fluid from walmart will this do the trick? if i run out can i reuse the fluid that gets pumped out? thanks i didnt have much time to get on it today i'm about to jack it up and get er' done

[mdvaldosta]

On a side note getting the clutch cable off is as easy as popping it off the clutch fork to make slack, slipping it off the clutch quadrant under the dash, and taking off the two small bolts holding it to the firewall. Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes once the car is in the air.

I had trouble getting the driver's side valve cover off as well when I did the cam swap. Had to play with it for a few minutes then it magically came off. Took the clutch cable off but not the master cylinder.

[Invictus]

yeah i could've gotten the stock plastic ones in with no problem just takes some moving around and elbo grease.. however the new BBK valve covers are much more bigger in volume and the removal of the master cylinder and brake booster and that entire assembly was necessary not to mention the bolts are HEX bolts which makes the job even more of a hassle.. it took me several hours but they're in now and i RTVd the hell out of them and so far no oil leaks. i haven't bled my brakes yet because they still work the pedal is just very spongy so i will definately have to do it tomorrow morning.

lol... to anyone reading this thread if you've been planning on adding some nice new titanium or chrome BBK valve covers, be prepared to spend an entire day under the hood with a lot of patience. i dred the day ill have to take these things off again for any reason!

[acmillr]

Start with the closest. You want to push the air out of the system gradually.

[Casper98GT]

Youre mustang has hydroboost you know this right ? You might not have disturbed youre brake lines, in fact maybe powersteering lines. Check it first. I'll get back to you tonight on how to bleed the hydroboost.

[tommyboy2008]

Originally Posted by acmillr get someone to pump the brake pedal while you bleed off the air at your calipers. *start with the caliper closest to the master cylinder (front driver's side) and work out from there. What you will need to do is 1) take all of your wheels off. 2) locate your bleeder valves on your calipers. 3) make sure you have plenty of fluid in your master cylinder btw: You will have to repeat this step throughout the process. 4) get whoever is helping you to pump up the brake pedal and hold it down (hard). Then back off the bleeder valve with a wrench. Let all of the pressure come out then tighten the valve back down. After that tell the other person to let off of the brake pedal (do not let off of the brake pedal while you have the valve open or it will suck air into the system). Repeat this process as many times as necessary to get all air removed from the lines. 5) crank the car and cycle the brakes to see if they feel spongey. If they do, you still have air in the system and you need to repeat all steps. *have plenty of brake fluid on hand- you will need it.

you start from the passenger rear and work closer to the m/c

[Tang Stang]

Originally Posted by acmillr Start with the closest. You want to push the air out of the system gradually.

Originally Posted by tommyboy2008 you start from the passenger rear and work closer to the m/c

[Willy Mo]

you always start with the furthesrt away from the master cylinder when bleeding brakes. Its fairly easy with 2 people. One to push the pedal and another to oper the bleerder screw.