I have everything on the intake pulled off and am done porting the plenum and one set of runners. Just wondering if anyone whos ported the intake manifold can tell me how bad it is or if it will be the weakest link in my intake system... It looks like kind of a bitch to take off, is it worth it?

 

It's a big job to fully port the base plate. The base plate is the weakest link of the TPI system on 5.7L. If you can afford it, try to find a used Edelbrock or Accel base. The price they want for a new one is absurd. It used to just be bad.

 

ewwww Id rather hear that the stock base can support up to 400hp but thats good to know. Anyone know of any used aftermarket bases I can get within the week? Probly not but I will try and look around. If theres no luck by wednesday I guess I just rip it off and try my best... I got 2 new die grinders that are workin great. a 1/4 22 000 rpm and an adjustable speed 60 000 rpm 1/8 micro grinder good for small spaces. Its the same as a dremel except dremels do 10 000rpm, its air powered of course and the base is 5/8s, good for tight spots.

 

Be careful with the carbide cutters, they go through aluminum REAL fast, also the chips will fly. When I did mine I didn't use the gasket as a template, I made my template from the head's port. If you need assistance/advice, PM me. Good Luck.

 

It's not worth it porting the intake, you're gonna spend a lot of time on it and the gain will be barely measurable. An aftermarket intake would be a better bet for you.

Check with a few stores, there may be one with an intake in stock. I know karbelt had a few intakes on the shelf and in back, its worth a look at the least.

If you do end up working on it, be very very careful. The gaskets make for really good templates.

 

Ya I am leaning towards aftermarket now... just feeling it I can tell its pretty restrictive and it would be hard for me to get in there that deep with a die. Im just going to hope that I get some gain for porting the runners and plenum and wait till i can afford an aftermarket base or find a used one. Acceld was right about prices though... Theyre pretty damn expensive. I would probly buy one if I could find one for less than 350 though (not likely). I will probly check some stores for prices like you said though, cant hurt. Can you ask karbelt for me next time your there pls? If they have it in stock it might not be to bad...
greg

 

I may be passing by there today... hate how they mark synthetics... why are synthetics 946 ml??? I'll never understand why...

 

dood... if you can find another stock intake, you can send it away to get ported. And I disagree with ya there Slade, I have heard guys porting there stock intake and gain quite a bit, as well as shifting the torque curve up the RPM range.

Also... even if you end up not doing any performance mods to the intake base, do change the gaskets!!! I had my plenum and runners off last year, perfect time to do the intake gaskets, but I didn't, and now I have the usualy intake coolant leak Another winter project

 

As for porting the stock base plate..........that's what ASM and Doug Rippie MS offer for their engine packages and they've been doing TPI just about as long as TPI has been around. A fully ported or extrude honed base will flow just as much as an aftermarket one. You just can't take it any farther after that and it costs a fortune in both time and money.

 

Thanx Acceld we agree on something LOL

 

I was thinking of changing them but if I go that far I know I wouldnt have the self control to not take it all the way off and mildly port what I could... And I dont really have the time for that but its probably what I will do this winter if I dont get an aftermarket one. Thanks for the advice.

 

Sure if you send it out and get it ported professionally, you could probably get it real good, but at the cost of a job like that, why not get an aftermarket one?

The kind of porting you do yourself will not be able to get those kind of results though...

 

Slade, have you priced an afermarket intake base for a TPI? Try 400bux american!!! as opposed to 150bux american. And if you siamese the ports 4 inches in where therunners bolt on, that gives you quite a bit more horse...

 

If I recall, it's about $300 for Extrude Hone to do the manifold. DRM and ASM sell them on an exchange basis with a core charge. It's not cheap.

 

Ahhh.. you know what I was thinking of? The charge for porting a plenum A fully ported intake base is $775 american, including the $300 core charge.

A TPiS Large Mouth intake base is $425 American, and LPE is around the same price, Edelbrock is cheaper at around $350 American, but I don't think it flows better than LPE or TPiS.

 

Nope I knew what I was talking about lol

I looked at porting prices from various shops and saw the ones for tpi's as well as carbs... I was blown away by pricing at the time... porting of intake and heads are not cheap by any means...

 

Ya I used to think getting your stuff ported was expensive too, until I mildly ported plenum and runners, and thats aluminum... Its not hard by any means but it takes FOREVER... Cant listen to music cause its to loud or do anything else for that matter. I wouldnt even want to try porting cast iron if its as hard as I think it is.
My preferred choice is if I can find someone running a super ram or aftermarket base and runners switching to miniram, stealth ram or lt1 intake. Probly not the easiest thing to find... but I am sure it happens.

 

I may switch to a Stealth Ram this winter