In my seemingly never ending quest to a) improve my 3.1 and b) put together the most beautiful V6 engine bay EVER, I have been trying to figure out a way to improve the airflow without attracting the attention of the smog police here in California. Having gasket matched my intake and polished it, I was still frustrated by that sharp bend the airflow has to make to get from the upper to middle plenum manifold, when I suddenly had a revelation and came up with THIS!



These spacers straighten the airflow and ease the transition between the two manifolds, so here is the entire setup, less the middle manifold already installed. * the top part is my hand made coil bracket, complete with 'bowtie' cutout!



Here is a shot of it installed (the ignition wire looms are another mod of mine too).



These are prototypes, but I am willing to sell them as a kit if anyone is interested. The cost will depend on how many orders I can put together, since the CNC initial setup is expensive, so the more folks that want them, the better. Given that this was a first time prototype, how did it work? FREAKIN' AWESOME!! I have not flowbenched them yet, but the car seems- and this will sound strange- LIGHTER. It just gets up and goes quicker, as it it can finally BREATH.

These are 1/2 inch 6061 billet aluminum. At this thickness, the manifold still clears my STB by 1/4 inch. Without the STB, I can run 1 inch spacers and still clear the hood.

If anyone is interested in this ridiculously simple, effective mod, let me know. Keep in mind that I polished these (wetsanded up to 1500 grit them Mother's polished) to match my intake. It makes more economic sense if you want some to get them raw, so you can polish, powdercoat or anodize them to your needs(I may end up anodizing mine red to accent them, but NOT until I pass smog in September!).

Let me know what you think!
*patent pending

 

interesting... I've heard of people trying that, but that they found that it didn't help performance at all.

on the other hand, great looking plenum. I've done that to mine, and I know how labor intensive it is.

 

And I did the MIDDLE manifold too, so TWICE the work!

 

Heh, don't take my comments the wrong way, this is just the kind of mod I like, but a few things in your post struck me...

Is it T6 also?


not sure it matters at all what grade aluminum you're using, it's not like you're welding to it or lifting the engine with it... wood would be as good, in some ways better, but you couldn't polish it.

Really???

 

lmao he cant pattent them i made them years ago and still have 6 sets of them lol

 

That was meant more like a "you've got to be kidding."

It's expensive to do, and I'm sure there isn't the profit in it to waste your time doing it, and you'd be hard pressed to show that it's an original enough idea to be granted one... Heck, along those lines the crossfire guys have been making spacers to use between the top and bottom of their manifolds since probably at least the early 90's, I was running on in the mid 90's...

 

1) I made it out of 6061, simply so I could polish it like the plenum(and that is what was available at the time!)
2) It doesn't cost much for a patent pending application, so I did it on a whim
3) I don't mind the criticism- good or bad, it all helps us learn, right?
It was an idea that I had that I ran with and it has been fun doing. If enough guys and gals want them to justify me making some, then great- if not, oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained...

 

I've heard something like this makes a huge difference.

 

yes he can if you or anyone else didnt.

 

ummm... what the heck is that? looks amazing... more info please

 

it's a custom dual plenum upper put on a stock fiero mid/lower.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/114503-2.html

I know there's a couple more threads showing different designs, but I can't find them. that one is two pieces of thick wall aluminum pipe, with a flat side machined on them, throttle bodies stuck on one end, and a quad 4 coil cover thrown in between for looks.

 

That is outstanding! Very professionally done. How did the computer handle it?

 

PM sent

 

Good job man. Well done.

 

I wish I could take credit, but it's not mine. it would definitely need a tune after a swap like that though. lots of tuning...

 

Here's a few more threads.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/114107.html

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/A...-2-077346.html

http://www.realfierotech.com/phpBB/v...ic.php?t=15875

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/A...-2-099063.html