opening up my stock intake plenum.

turbominivan

turbominivan

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May 5, 2013
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so as im in the process of replacing pistons in my rat rods 12v and as usual, while its apart and in pieces, i figure i might as well modify things more.

while looking at the crappy factory intake i found a few placed i could cut away to get some better volume and flow.

took the plasma cutter and started hacking. i cut open the top at the #1 and #6 runners to add some vlume and also gain access to the huge brick that blocks flow to #1.
i cut that out as best i could with the plasma and then used a cold chisel and hammer to break the rest of the cast off as the plasma couldn't cut as deep as i wanted and it was hard to get the torch in there all the way.
i then cut out the big brick that makes up that extra oil filter thing below the intake. i cut it most of the way around as best i could and then used the chisel again. after i cleaned everything up with a die grinder and while the area was hot, i welded up the holes that were left after cutting up the secondary oil filter area.

then today i took a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate and made myself a longer intake plate that will eventually get 2 ports for a twin ram style feed to distribute air more evenly. best part is, i can still use my factory injector lines doing it this way, and it should flow WAY better

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i made a jig and used a router as my mill to hog out the back side of the intake plate to add some more volume. i did it at work so not to make a huge desaster of my own garage. haha. it worked very well by cutting about 1/16" deep each pass. i cut 5/16" deep.

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ill drill it tonight and tap a few more mounting points into the head to bolt it down. i will seal it with RTV as obviously a regular gasket wont do.
 
What are your plans on the pipe/pipes coming into your new plate? Any thoughts on getting after ports with a carbide bit?

I love the ingenuity you are putting into this. Do you have a build thread I've overlooked on here?
 
i plan to dual feed it right between 2/3 and 4/5.
the head is heavily ported in and out and O-ringed.
i got the plate drilled and the head cleaned and valves back in tonight. i wont actually start to build the dual pipes until the new pistons are in and the head is back on so i know where im routing all this piping.

i dont have a build thread but i suppose i should start one. ill work on that
 
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What you did is going to make zero difference in flow. Your still feeding the head from spots that could have been done on the stock shelf with no cutting
 
I hate to discourage , but I agree with disturbed. The reason for cutting off the intake is to gain access to port the runners. The stock intake shelf can flow a lot more than people think. You have to be over 1000hp to even see a HP difference.
 
You really don't even have cut of shelf to gain some access to the runners though. He can reach them all pretty well with a 6" cutter the way he opened it up.

I like your creativity, I think it might help a little.


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I don't think you gained any flow either and you might have some sealing issues, but it gives you great access to 1 and 6. I'd definitely hog out those intake runners and bowls while the head is off.
 
I would see about milling the top down to try to have a good flat surface to seal all the way to the ends. As long as it doesn't make it too thin anywhere.

Also I agree that the twin ram doesn't take much advantage of it, think triple ram...one at the front, one at the back and one in the middle.:rockwoot:
 
perhaps it wont add a ton but i figure its worth a shot and not going to hurt by any means. i have the time and materials to do it all for free so id say thats worth it.
 
so 'dvst8er' was over the other night and we were discussing the sealing issues you have pointed out and he suggested i braze up the low ares then file it to match the sealing surface. we did it, and it worked perfectly. so no more thoughts of gobbing on ghetto amounts of RTV. thanks Brett!

also, someone asked about a build thread. i forgot that i have a somewhat watered down build thread here.....

http://www.competitiondiesel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169878
 
Yeah I got back from some vacation, and was a little horrified at what had happened, but nothing that a little bit of brazing and a file couldn't fix.

Was it a waste of time? Likely, but if you really think about it, so are race / pull trucks, or this car in general. It is a hobby, and we would be out in the garage working on something anyways, if nothing else it was a learning experience, and it will end up looking cool when it it done.
 
well its done and seems to seal good. im very happy with how it turned out.... thanks to brett for the welding and piping. im especially happy about how it looks with the open engine bay..... even if it was a waste of time as far as performance =)

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