Okay, so I have a little project going on, and I just got all the pieces to put it back together. I had the intake manifold and head off, so now I'm trying to put them back together on the work bench before installing in the car.

The problem I'm having is with the intake bracket that shares a bolt with the engine hanger, the intake mani, and (I think) the t-stat housing. I took lots of pics before disassembly, but didn't get the right angle and can't remember how it mounts. It appears to only go on one way, but the bolt going to the t-stat housing has to go through that bracket. At least it appears that way.

Anyway, everything lines up fine except for the t-stat bolt. The hole in the bracket is a good quarter to half inch from lining up with the t-stat housing. I tried everything short of heating it with a torch and bending it, but it's pretty solid. I can't imagine that I accidentally bent it. Am I doing this completely wrong, or does anyone have any close up pics of that area? I know it's hard to get at. Thanks for any help.

Oh yeah, while we're on intakes - does anyone use the thermal spacer gasket thing from MAP? It doesn't seem like there's enough threads sticking through the manifold studs to safely get the nuts on there. Maybe it will squish enough when I torque it down

This pic was taken with everything finger tight just to get an idea of fitment.

 

try to loosen the others and get them all the fit at once

 

I tried putting the t-stat housing bolt in first, but then the other hole in the bracket is nowhere near getting over the intake stud. I tried flexing it a little by hand, but like I said, this thing is solid. I can't make it move more than a millimeter or two.

 

Can anyone at least verify that I have it mounted correctly, so I can rule that out? Then I can heat this thing up and bend it back into shape.

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm an idiot. I just mentioned in my first post about the thicker gasket, but it somehow slipped my mind that it might be the cause. I guess I'll see if it lines up after that thick *** gasket is torqued down.