I got a bit side tracked...my awesome wife got me a cool Craftsman workbench/toolbox/cabinet for Fathers day, so that kicked off a several week long re-organization of the garage. Anyway, back at it!
The upper intake came off pretty easily. There were several vacuum lines attached underneath that I tried to disconnect before removing it. Just remember there are bolts under the "5.0 HO" plate (which comes off with a Torx bit)
Next was the fuel rails. There are 4 small screws on the lower intake holding the rails on. Be careful; they're super soft aluminum and easily rounded out. I'm going to replace these with some steel ones.
Pop the rails off the injectors; gas will probably come out. (Yes, I bled them first)
Next fight with the injectors; they just pull out but they're pretty tightly in there!
Lower intake was pretty straight forward. Biggest issue was some coolant tube that attaches right above the waterneck. Had to use a very large adjustable wrench. I think it was probably a 1". Used a rubber mallet to hit the wrench to get any leverage.
To pry the lower intake off, I put a small screwdriver under the front of the intake so it was between the gasket and lower intake; ensuring I didn't damage the engine block itself.
Next was valve covers, again easy as can be. Just remove all the bolts and tap gently with rubber mallet and they pop right off.
Next was the passenger cylinder head. I pulled all the upper bolts between rockers first, then I started to pull the ones by exhaust ports.
As you pull these bolts a lot of coolant will pour out.
Next issue was the crossover tube between the heads; I couldn't get a wrench on it so I took a cutoff wheel to it and cut it in half. This had the added benefit of being a great handle to remove the head. (Safety note- always wear a face shield when working with cutoff wheels; the wheels can explode apart)
Next was repeat for drivers head. Note that I didn't pull the rocker arms.Just lifted the head over the pushrods. The pushrods went everywhere. I lost 2 between both heads; oh well I have replacements anyway
Next was the timing cover & balancer
To remove the balancer bolt, i bought an Ingersoll Rand electric impact wrench model # IRTW7150K2. It was very expensive but it consistently has the best reviews and the most torque of any electric wrench.
Crank bolt came out no problem.
Used a bolt style pulley puller that I grabbed from harbor freight and the balancer came off easy. I did remove the balancer pulley; used the impact wrench on the 4 bolts, but in hindsight I didn't need to remove the pulley. My balancer is brand new.
There are 4 bolts that attach to timing cover up through the oil pan. After removing those I used rubber mallet to tap it off.
Pro tip- Be sure to clean all the dirt and crud that sits on top of the timing cover as the oil pan is open to the air and all that dirt and debris will fall into your oil pan.
At this point I had access to timing chain; removed the bolt holding the top timing gear and slide the assembly off. You will have to pull the bottom and top one together.
I finally confirmed my diagnosis of why the engine failed to start; timing marks were off by about 2 teeth which is about 1". And the timing chain had a lot of slack in it.
Next remove the cam shaft retaining plate
Next remove the spider, dog bones and lifters.
Next I had to remove two small screws at the top of the AC Condenser and 1 screw that holds the AC line under where the CAI would be. I then just rotated the entire thing counter clockwise up towards the hood prop rod. (didn't fully remove it). It takes a bit of work and fighting to do this. The fins are extremely fragile so take your time.
Honestly, I should have removed the condenser when I removed the radiator. It would have saved a lot of headache.
Finally, I put the upper timing gear bolt back into the cam and used it to begin sliding the cam out. Go slow steady and easy so as to not scar the cam bearings. If it feels stuck wiggle the cam up & down easily; one of the lobes is hitting the cam bearings.
Finally I had the entire thing apart as it's gonna get!
I'm going to begin replacing the brake lines next.