[V8] 5spd throttle body questions

[urq]

Funny, some time back I was worried about where that hose went too!  It
turns out the thing is a stub of sorts that only runs a little past where
you can see ... there's no clamp, you can just pull the piece out without
much work and then see what you need to do to fashion a replacement.  

I've been wanting to pull the IM for a while myself ... I want to see how
the oil de-misting system was set up to see if I couldn't do something that
would make liquid oil less likely to get sucked out on hard acceleration ...
It's crazy really, I have an engine sitting in the garage doing nothing ...
it isn't like I'd have to take a car out of service to check ... 

Steve

-----Original Message-----

When I sprayed a good dose of cleaner down in by the front breather hose,
the one that disappears under/inside the intake manifold, the engine almost
stalled.  

Now, I assume that means the front breather hose is toast, which wouldn't
surprise me because I have never replaced it and I have no reason to believe
that anyone else has either.  There is still a small amount of doubt about
the sealing of the intake manifold coincidentally in that area, but I will
go after the hose first and on general principle since I have avoided it
much the way one avoids the dentist for fear of what might be found.  

So, is it possible to replace this hose without removing the intake
manifold?  I realize that may not be easy, but is it impossible?

Conversely, how big a deal is it to pull the intake manifold?  I assume
having new seals/gaskets on hand might be advisable.  Ultimately I'd prefer
to avoid this like the dentist, but you gots to do what you gots to do.

I'm going to proceed in trying to replace the front breather hose w/o
removing the intake manifold.  I believe I can just get some more of the
same kind of hose I used to replace the top breather hose.  I don't think
the bend in this one is that critical that it would present a problem.