don't you guys think this would be cheaper, cooler, smoother, lighter, easier to design with?

They do it on the new intakes from the factory.

Imagine a clear tpi?

Wow maybe I'll start a business!!!

Plastic injection molding is big in my home town.

I prefer aluminum.

Engines produce carbon. Your clear TPI would be black in a few thousand miles.

I believe that the aluminum intake manifold is a structural integration with the heads and block. In simple speak, they all work together to make a solid, stronger mass. Putting a plastic intake on may cause irregular stresses on the heads and block. Then again, maybe not.

Perhaps the intake base provides some structural integrity, but certainly not the runners or plenum.

And as far as carbon build-up, eliminate your EGR and your intake should stay very clean. After all, without EGR the only thing flowing through your plenum and runners is clean filtered air. With EGR though it's a whole other story.

I saw a pic somewhere on these boards sometime last week of a chopped aftermarket intake with a custom lexan top bolted to it.

jRaskell, i know what ur talkin about, the top was lexan or something.. the ls1 intake isnt just plastic, its a composite that is comprable to an aluminum intake... its lighter, and saves weight thats tru, but to make the moldings would be a pain. not to mention the machines to make the intake... i saw a machine that makes golf *****, the machine that just puts the white covering on them costs 1.5mill.... so is that worth it, or just get and LT-1 or a miniram or a HSR? thats up to u.... mechanical engineering is fun!!

Someone actually did, but of course like many TPI parts they never sold.

The stuff they are using now is some sort of composite. I dont think its injection molded, although I could be wrong. You'll want to find out what exactly GM and Ford are using and then go from there.

The composite intakes they have now are injection molded....I helped with some development work on the first version LS1 motor. Pretty well engineered piece if you get a chance to take a close look at one.

jRaskell, even without EGR your intake will coat itself with carbon....it comes from reversion.

James

The company was MRP (Modifed Research and Performance?) They produced the whole deal in plastic. I'll see if I can find the article. Old Carcraft somewhere.

Model Research Products
I don't think they ever made it past the prototyping stage.
I imagine it would be next to impossible to achieve proper sealing to the heads without making the flanges much, much thicker, requiring a complete redesign of the manifold.

For example, look at how the LS1 intake bolts distribute the clamping load.

why couldnt you just reinforce the flanges with some aluminum set inside of the mold?

Kat

I guess if someone wanted to make these "plastic" parts, they would have to offer products for many applications to make a decent amount of sales. Someone like edelbrock or holley could do it if they though it was worth it. It's probably just cheaper to go with aluminum intake manifolds at the moment and the designs they have now aren't hard to mold with aluminum.

I figure you could make some pretty wild and new designs that have all sorts of cool power curves with plastic runners and plenums for all types of fuel injected motors. I think if "plastic" manifolds and such were readily available at a decent price, racers would love the weight savings, smoothness for air flow, constant cool air temperature, and easy porting.

I guess it's just a matter of waiting for someone to think it's worth it, reliable, and cheap.

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welp.. .there she is... in all her plastic glory. Good first post new guy!! Welcome to TGO!! Is that intake yours?

And 3 MRP mono-blade

wow!! Does this company still exist?

lol Actually the intake belongs to a buddy of mine. He goes by j91z28d1 on here. I'll be installing this plenum, large tube runners and ported lower from a L98 vette on my 305 5spd (91Z28) as soon as I decide on a cam. We're curious to see what It'll do compared to the stock setup. Someone posted on a previous thread about the company changing its name to "performance resource" which I actually bought a chip from back in 94-95 I beleive, back when I had my 90 formula (305/5spd). Anyhow, I may post some track times before and after if I get a chance and thanks for the welcome.

Later
~Randy