ya the bolts for plate im getting with the plate and in addition im buying the new intake bolts,just didnt know if they would still bottom out, how thick is the original plate?

 

^ factory steel plate is about 1/8 inch. hughes or aps aluminum plate is 1/4.

 

ok that makes sense now, so the new bolts are good to go.

 

I think i might have to do this. I dont think I have a leak yet,145,000 miles but extremely well taken care of from what I could tell from previous owners. Is there any sign of this being done already without takin anything off? I have to be the 4th or 5th owner of this truck and the engine was rebuilt 11,000 miles ago from what I was told. It would be a shame to have to do this afte every bolt on ive already installed. My truck does not seem sluggish for over 4,400#'s. Its got plenty of low end to bark tires and top end to keep up. Im scared about the possibiity though.

 

take the air filter off and look down into the throttle body with a good flashlight and look for oil, if theres oil its leaking from whst i understand, mine wasnt real bad but i only seen the area right below the tb.

 

If you're curious to know if there's an aftermarket belly pan in there, just remove the air hat and stick a magnetic retriever through the throttle body bore to the pan. If the magnet doesn't stick you've got an aftermarket aluminum (or some other non-ferrous metal) belly pan.

There's a test in the TSB (look in the forum FAQ/TSB section for it) that will tell you if you have an appreciable leak. "Look for oil" doesn't work because a failed PCV valve will fill the intake with oil, too. That said, you could have a very small leak in there and pass the TSB test. So if the magnet sticks to the belly pan and you want peace of mind badly enough to do it, order up a replacement belly pan kit and kill off most of a day replacing the stocker.