ok well of course like a kid in a candy store i got my new manifold and i want to use it NOW but should i preserve the part and wait for my new cam and heads?

do you guys think it would be worthy to put it on now perfromance wise or not really worth the 15 horses and i should wait? upon taking off the intake i would probably do the ultimate tbi mod and adjustable fuel regilator as well.. idk you guys let me know do it? or wait for rest of combo

 

Should only take a few hours to swap intakes on a TBI engine...I'd say do it.

 

Depends on your driving habits. Without other mods, with that intake you're gonna gain top end and lose bottom end most likely. If you enjoy tire-roasting, hold off. If you like screaming it up top and really hauling *****, put it on. But you're not going to see what you want out of it til you get the other modifications to back it up.

 

While you have the manifold off you might as well do other mods as you will need to take it off again to do any more mods....:lala:

 

The only things you are liekly to loose are time and money. If you plan on doing this now then next month a cam swap or heads you might as well wait but if these other things are planned for summer or next fall do the manifold and the TBI mods now to get some use out of your new investment.

 

For starters I don’t recommend
Think about this first.
Is your motor high mileage if so building up top end?
Could cause a blow out of the old bottom end.
Also the more times you pull the intake the more
Dirt and contaminants get in even if you change oil.
You won’t get it all.
So if you think you motor is fresh enough then do it all
At one time. Save yourself some headaches.

 

What kind of intake is it? a performer RPM?

because with that intake you are NOT going to lose bottom end, like someone else said, you will GAIN bottom end. as well as some top end too.

My choice would depend on how long it will be untill i was going to swap the cam and heads.

if you plan on doing the cam and heads next month i would wait.

its not worth the time, or the money in gaskets.

if you are going to swap the cam and heads 6 months from now, i would go ahead and install the intake manifold.

its only about $30 in gaskets and anti-freeze. and a few hours of time.

 

You gain bottom end with that intake?? Man, that thing must be well-designed. I'd never heard of an intake that adds low-end while still giving significant top end.

 

Stealth.

 

first off i cant apprecisate all the responeses!! you guys rock... next off.. the manifold is a mild one with power band from idle to 5500 so if i lose any bottom end it would be very little if i could feel it at all anyway with peanut cam and **** heads... so i'm gunna take all your advise.. since money is always an issue even if gaskets and such are around 50 bucks... i plan on waiting for the summer for the whole thing so i can spend some cash porting my head sand getting some sweet springs and seals and all thet fun stuff..

also yeah it is very high milage..128,000+!! so i guess i'll just wait for now and maybe start fabricating my throttle bracket!

thanx again guys !

 

This statement is TOTAL BS. If the engine is in fine mechanical shape (Compression, leak down, no oil burn etc.) then you can do any and all of the same mods you would have done when it was nearly new.

This statment and people that peddle it bug the chit out of me. My "Professor" in tech school used to say that garbage all the time; "Drive it to 100,000 mi, slap a cam in it, and blow the botttom end right out of that thing!" He used say. As part of our "lab" we could get credit for a cam swap. I embarrased my prof by installing a cam in my T/A at 180,000mi, dropping a SECOND off my 1/4 and continuing to drive it for another 20,000 before selling -running perfiectly mind you- to my friend who sold it 30k later... still running perfect. Blow the bottom out of it. Der.


As for dirt getting into the engine during a manifold swap, wash it, dry it, use an air gun, and pull the manifold. To worry about whatever remaining cantamiation could get in there is a waste of wizzle-worrying energy. Dayum, if I worried about that crap, I'd have NEVER gotten my car to where it is today!

 

Tom, it's not total BS. Ive seen good condition engines go south when they were modified especially when someone slaps a good set of heads and a cam in. It does happen although an intake swap if done correctly wont hurt anything IMO.

 

Nope it IS BS.

If you have seen a modded engine "go south", then that particular engine was "headed for Florida" already. OR, the mods were not done properly OR, the mods were beyond the capabilty of the bottom end REGARDLESS OF AGE! The Mods didn't do it. I mean what result of the mod would do it... A sudden increase in cylinder presure and force on the crank?! ...That the engine isn't "used to" -like it's a living entity...lol.

Please imagine this for a moment.

Let's take two hypothetical 350 V-8's One is laughable LO5 (190 hp stock) and the other is an LT4 (330 hp stock).

Both engines are driven for 150,000 miles in such a manner as to put out hte same output, up to the 190 hp the LO5 is capable of. In other words, the LT4 is never floored completely to achieve 330 hp.

At 150,000 miles we start to FLOOR the LT4, and we put cam, heads, intake, headers, exhaust, TB, injectors, etc. on the LO5 increasing it's out put to 330 hp, and start driving it in the same mannor.

What's going to happen? Are the both going to "go south" or "blow the bottoms out" -because they're not "used to it? NO.

Is the LT4 going to be fine but the LO5 bottom end will die? NO.

What if you owned a ZR1 since the day it was new and only drove it around in "Vallet Mode" until 150,000 miles, then turned the key to "High Output" mode and started to romp on it. Would THAT head "south"? Of course not.

NOT IF THE ENGINE IS IN FINE MECHANICAL SHAPE -as I mentioned in my post above. OF COURSE if you replace the entire top end on a beat, marginal motor, there will be problems. Of course. And that is exactly where the old wives tales ("You're gonna blow the bottom end out of it!") come from.

 

Unfortunately A exception to the rule doesn’t constitute a new rule.
I have seen motors just out of warranty oil changed religiously
Owner swapped cam and intake within 500 mile blow up the bottom end.
I have seen old motors run fine with the same swap.
But that was not the post. I was asked what I thought. What I would do.
Stick to my first post. Anything worth doing is worth doing right the first time.

 

Geez Louise, the guy's talking about changing an intake

RUA...just curious, do you pull your engine and send out for a rebuild for every mod you do to it?

 

I'd be more concerned about blowing the tranny from the extra power than about anything happening to the motor.

 

8mike
No need to mod
built right the first time.

 

lol...I'll give ya that one

 

No doubt!

RUA can you give any type of intellegent response to hypothetical situation I posted above. Anecdotal examples are fairly worthless, as the history and other variables are unknown.

For every engine that you point out that "blowed the bottom end out" after changing the air fliter (LOL), I can give you examples of high milage GOOD CONDITION engines that recieved substatial mods and loved them.

So that aside, please explain how an engine -an inanimate object- can "get used to" a certain power level, and then break when that changes. Use the post above as a basis.

The "exception to the rule" is NOT the engine that continues to run fine, but rather the engine that "blow up the bottom end" as you put it, due to a variety of reasons, including improperly done work during the mod.

FYI I have performed ONE cam swap which resulted in a "blow the bottom end". It was on a 145,000 Mile motor. But I know that putting in a bigger cam DIDN'T CAUSE THE FAILURE! The cam was faulty, it wiped four lobes, and the shrapnel was what caused the bearing failure. Had I not investigated the situation, I could be in here, chanting ignorantly,

"Don't mod your high mile motor! It'll blow the bottom end out!" But I know better.

To the original poster, the intake swap is fine. Being afraid of swapping parts because of whatever reason, is what holds so many people BACK on this site.

BTW, about two weeks ago I put a TRD supercharger on my brothers 150,000 mile, Tacoma, and guess what? IT STILL RUNS! Holy chit! How did that happen?? Some how that old engine was able to "adjust and get used to the extra power"! IT even towed a two place trailer with two snowmoblies from Utah to Tahoe with the new blower. This is just another anicdotal example, but gat dayum, to recomend against a simple MANIFOLD swap.... wow.

 

tom Do what you want to do
It's your money and your feet that will be doing the walking.
I dont care.
personally I think your .
I never said I wouldn't do mods. I said I would do it all at once.
No need to tear open a engine more times then you need to.
No matter what you think they can blow out bottom end,
go south, and even smoke. why take a chance today when you know you will be taking it apart soon anyway. Every person In this forum knows its possible so what is your problem.
Get over it.

 

felpro gasket is about $15

tube of RTV is about $3

can of carb cleaner $1.25

for under $20 + however long it takes you, its on the car...


if you're willing to spend $20 to go play with your toy, do it... if not, just wait.

 

Der. My feet. Good one. Haven't had to walk yet, pard. And if you peruse my sig, you'll see I have been into my engine(s) many, many times, yet STILL, never "blowed", "Southed" or "smoked" any engines, except the one bad cam incident. If I were afraid of changing a manifold... whew I'd have never gotten anywhere.

What's my problem? People like you who spread mis-information and folklore-rumor. Upgrading parts, if done properly on a mechanically sound engine, will result in a better running engine.

 

OK..........I'm not taking any "sides" by saying this....

If the bottom end is mechanically "sound", you won't "blow out" the bottom end. Unless you over-rev with your new found power. Period.

Of course you would be "assuming" the bottom end is good unless you take off the pan and do measurements, at which point you may as well rebuild it.

If you have any rod knocks, excessive oil consumption etc...why would you waste money on an intake, carb , nitrous WHATEVER anyway?? No need to polish a turd. It's expensive.

Just my take. Peace.

 

also, id like to point out that taking off the intake isnt "opening the motor"

the ports are already open to teh air... go look down the TBI.

the lifter valley is open to air coming in thru the breather on the passenger side valve cover.. and the oil cap, and the dip stick tube, and the PCV...

just be sure not to drop crud down there when scraping the old intake gasket off, and you're golden.

 

also, the first mod i ever did to a SBC was swapping the intake... lil intimdating at first, but you'll soon realize that its not very hard, and its not a big deal.

 

Mr dude is right. Change the intake and learn how to do it before you have to do it again during the top end swap. One less thing to learn later on when other things become more important.

Remember guys this is on a stock 305TBI. The intake will most likely give him 3 to 5 HP. I installed the same intake he is getting on my LO3 when I had only a cat back and open element and thats it. I didn't even know I added anything after the manifold swap. I had a little better top end and a little stronger low end but that was it. An intake manifold will not gernade a bottom end and will yield small gains on a stock exhaust manifold, heads and cam 305.

The only benifit I see from swapping it is to learn how so that you don't get confused later with the cam and heads swap. Plus the Edelbrock TBI intake is a direct bolt on. The stock intake can flow enough to supply the stock LO3 garbage heads and cam so you won't feel much improvement at all. So spend the 20 bucks on supplies and wrench a few hours and enjoy your first engine modding experience.

 

for a little background... i had to change the head gaskets when i baught it to make it run so i actually have experience taking off the manifold AND the heads lolol but thatx for the advise anyway!

yeah i'm a little intimidated because now my car is running bad! just suddenly... i think its a fauled plug but it might be an injector.. she runs great tghough and new can and intake would not "Kill" her! i'm suprized my tranny is still going after so many red lights... but

myu engine is very tough and has taken alot of punishment and still runs like the day she was built...(exceot for this new problem) but in the end she'll run like new i just have to chang all the pugs in the middle of a new jersey winter!!!

man i cant wait for summer

again thanx for all the replys