i just put in my slp runners this week and while i was putting them in i realized i had to take the valve covers off to get the bolts in. the new bolts that come with them are too long and the bolt head won't go past the valve covers. also, another thing, i had to make an extension for the oil sending unit behind the distributor because the runners would not go on with out removing it and when i went to put it back on after the runners were on, it wouldnt fit. but after all that work, it seems worth it because you can definitely feel the gain in performance with them. just a warning. thanks

I didnt have any of the troubles youre talking about above and beyond the lower bolts being a major PITA to get in place due to their length and to tighten correctly with various things in the way but it was more or less time consuming. Also do you have times before and after with the runners?? If not dont trust the butt dyno its not accurate and I went some .2+ slower after my SLP runner install about two years ago when I installed a set on my 92 L98...

I didn't have to take off the covers, it was tight. but thats what the pivit end of that special tool is for. :-) and my oil sending unit was fine too. I have an 87 L98 though too

well i can say that before i had them on, i raced my friend a few times who has the exact same car and we tied almost everytime and last night i beat him so.... and i do feel a difference. how would you not have those problems, there was no way else i could get the runners on without doing these modifications. is your's a 350 or 305, the valve covers might be farther away on a 350 tahn the 305. but i'd say the runners are worth the money. i bought them used for $150 and sold my stock ones for $100. haha. they came siamesed and i ported the plenum a lot so that probably helped also. thanks i'll post some pics of the port and polish job on the plenum later tonight

i also think they look really good, i polished my plenum up and painted the runners with high temp aluminum paint, looks kind of intimidating.....

I didn't have any problems at all with the lower bolts or the oil sending unit, but I did need to file out the top holes for the plenum bolts a little just to make sure I didn't cross-thread any of those bolts by starting them at the wrong angle. I gained a nice amount of power from my home-ported SLP runners, although I also added a 58mm TB (worth maybe a few hp) and a better muffler (maybe 5 hp). You can see a graph comparing before/after runners/TB/muffler mods at:

http://www.erols.com/gcwestph/Dynocmp4.jpg

and my IROC webpage with all the mods and other graphs at:

http://users.erols.com/gcwestph/IROC.html

The small loss in low-end power/torque is more of a result of a little less timing and more fuel than due to the SLP runners. With 11.1 compression, I was fighting a little detonation in that range, and since the engine doesn't go below 4000 rpm after I shift it at the track anyways, it doesn't matter.