I'm looking to get a bit more power out of my build (details at the end), and as part of that I want to get my Superram ported. These days it's hard to find anyone who even knows what the Superram is, much less someone who has experience porting it. Due to its rarity/value, I want to be sure the porting is done by someone who knows what they're doing.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm in central VA, but I can ship it if necessary. Would I ideally bring in my heads as well so they could port match the base to them?

383ci, 9.3 static compression (will be replacing head gaskets to get it to 9.9 with 0.04" quench)
AFR 190cc heads (old ones, considering replacing them)
Lunati Voodoo 211/219 hydraulic roller (will be upgrading to a Mike Jones 228/232 @0.050)
Edelbrock High-Flo base
Superram runners and plenum
Hedman 1 5/8" headers (I know 1 3/4" would be better)
3" dual exhaust with X pipe and bullet cats
33lb fuel injectors

Chad speier

Thanks, shot him a message. I've read of a few guys getting theirs ported at Total Engine Airflow back around 2005 - anyone have any thoughts on them nowadays?

A FIRST tpi setup will out perform the Super Ram and probably be about the same price as porting it. They are only $1k and replaces that Edelbrock base which is also a restriction.

GD

FIRST TPI is very cool, and I looked at it years ago when I got my Superram. Sadly, I need to be able to pass a visual smog inspection. Looks like a few people have run high 10s/low 11s with the Superram, so I'll work with what I have. If that's enough there's always Procharger!

I doubt the smog ref would be able to tell the difference between stock TPI and the FIRST. Then it's just a matter of figuring out the EGR - Ken at First Performance can help with that. There are ways to do it. Porting is going to cost just as much and may not get you to where the FIRST is out of the box.

GD

That's crossed my mind, but I'd rather have the peace of mind that I'm guaranteed to pass. I had figured maybe $750 to have the SR ported - is that low?

How fast are people running with FIRST? It's hard to search for stuff since "first" is such a common word. Some guys on the Corvetteforum ran as fast as 10.3 at 130 with the SR on a 420, and there are 383s that have run in the low 120s.

People who don't like putting their "mechanic" 's kids through braces and college, don't run SuperRams.

I could make a snarky comment about C4 owners in this regard (and C5, C6, C7, & C3 ones for that matter) but you've probably already heard it. After all, this IS a message board for F-body cars, and we're not snobbish about our cars the same way.

I can think of few things worse to put on a car that I would have to work on myself, than a SR. Now, people who don't mind just dumping cubic dollars on their "shop", maybe that's a different matter.

If it was me I'd look to get rid of that and put something modern and PRACTICAL on it. Yeah, it could be made VERY fast back in the day; butt those days are GONE. Lots of other stuff has come out since then (*cough*LSx motors*cough*) that has rendered it obsolete.

AFAIK TEA doesn't fool with that old legacy nostalgia stuff. They're into LSx these days. I could be wrong though.

I realize you're in CA and that severely constrains your choices, but I still think I'd look elsewhere than the SR.

Yeah that's likely low. These days - likely no one is going to look at porting the SR and the base for less than a kilobuck.

And everything Sofa said...... definitely a PITA to work on/around. The FIRST manifold is significantly easier. Not easier than a stock TPI, but easy by comparison.

You could sell that SR for a LOT to a collector of such ancient things and get more than enough for the FIRST and EGR setup, etc. I do understand the CA issues - definitely investigate that by calling Ken at First Performance.

GD

Eh, it's not that bad. I can have it off and back on in a couple of hours, and it's not like it needs to come off all that often. You just gotta be smarter than the intake. To me "practical" means being able to register my car because I can pass smog. Plenty of people have made it into the low 11s with a SR on pump gas (and a few deep into the 10s on 400+ ci engines), and if that's not fast enough for me I'll just supercharge it. LS swap? Yawn.

Ouch. I might just see what I can do with it as-is, or jump straight to boost. Honestly, I just kind of like the Superram. Maybe I'd get the same reaction with the FIRST, but any time I pop the engine people are guaranteed to go "Wow, that's a cool engine!"

I get pretty good reactions with my FIRST as well.

Boost is an excellent idea. My Procharger is on the way. If you decide to get one hit me up - I'm a Procharger authorized dealer and tuner. It takes a bit to get one for the older cars as they don't keep stock of all the old school SBC brackets and stuff but they can still make them.

LS swap is NOT a "yawn" when you see one on the dyno. Just had an LS swapped S10 on my Dyno. Just a 5.3 with ONLY a cam swap and it put down 380 HP at the tires.

GD

Fair enough! I do appreciate the TPI look - I definitely had a hard time choosing between the FIRST and the SR. I didn't realize you had a FIRST yourself - what kind of performance (dyno, 1/4) are you getting? Are you supercharging that engine or something else?

Will do. It's looking a little less realistic by the day, as the $5500 supercharger kit has turned into nearly triple that once I started adding everything up (trans rebuild, clutch kit, fuel system, standalone, etc.). I think the only way it would happen within the next couple years is if I could find one used, but needing the CARB EO complicates things. Apparently only the one specific kit (Procharger 1GB212-08I) comes with an EO, so I couldn't, for example, buy a used head unit and piece together the rest of the kit myself. Or that's what Procharger told me.

Oh, for sure. No one can question the power an LS puts down. We've all seen the million and a half Richard Holdener videos where he straps some turbos to a junkyard LS and makes 1000hp. Someday I plan to do a turbo LS in a third gen for a drag car - that's just not my goal for the Corvette. It's primarily a street car/daily driver, so I wouldn't have any use for more power than a supercharged SBC could put down. Might as well keep it old school.

For whoever might be interested, I hear that Extrude Hone in SoCal will do a Superram for $800. I'm leaning toward that; a few of the fastest SRs in the 1/4 (125mph) were extrude honed.

Oh come don't over generalize. I own almost all of those, plus a C8 and just sold my Tesla. I love my Thirdgens and have had 3 of them, a 4th Gen too. I talk to everybody about their cars and motorcycles not snobbish at all. Maybe you are thinking of Huracan and Porsche owners :-). I am working up a 383 for my Thirdgen next, need to get the Stealth Ram Ported as I don't think they will match up well with AFR 195 heads.