i just got a new tig welder and i want to play i was thinking about makeing a set of custom runners, i have seen a full siameesed runner, and i was thinking of makeing my own set, if i cut out the middle of the stock tpi runner and weld in a center section, do you think it will work, let me know what you all think

 

I say go for it. I wish I had a TIG welder so I could weld those plugs into the extra coolant ports on my aluminum heads without having to take it to a shop.

Go for it and let us know how it turns out!

 

now to search e bay for a cheep set of runners, how does a semi siameesed base sound, open it up to maybe a few inches before it breaks to go in to the heads, i love the tpi look but i wanna make it haul ***

 

Grandprix, you will need access to a shop mill if you want to "semi siamese" the intake base. I used a 1" cutter on an old Milwaukee horiztonal mill with power feeds on all axes. I cut the dividers between the ports out to a depth of 2". This took a total of 2 or 3 hours actual machining, and an hour setup (3/8 hex bolts with 9/16" caps fit in the core plugs on the bottom of the intake, so I welded them in and then bolted the intake to a piece of angle iron, which I clamped in an adjustable angle clamp on the table of the mill). I knife edged the remaining divider walls and hogged a ton of metal out of the ports using hss cutters and a die grinder. Don't even attempt to remove the dividers between the ports with just a die grinder, you really need a mill, its a ton of metal to remove.

 

327 after all that work what did the improvements show, was it worth it, im looking to make up upstairs power, but keep the tpi look i know i can easily chance to a upgraded intake set up but when you open the hood and see those runners and the deck of the top standing out it looks almost "alien" to the unkowing

 

Grandprix, this setup is on my fuelie headed 1969 327 TPI conversion. I have not run the car yet w/ fuel injection, so I will have no idea how a stock TPI would have performed on this engine. From what I've read on the board, the semi siamesing the base will make the hp curve substancially flat to 5500 rpms, and boost low end torque as well. I'm trying to feed a flat tappet cammed up engine with 2.02/1.7 valves, so I figured I'd get as much flow out of the stock intake as I can. I too like the look of the stock TPI runners, I think the siamesed aftermarket runners take something away from the cool tube-iness of the TPI (I'll have to go to siamesed runners eventally though)

 

so basically you are saying doing the intake is a good thing, i have a nice 220-230 with 520 lift on a 114 lsa cam, might be a plan, even the slp runners look cool, its the whole runner thing that makes it look good, lt1 ls1 hsr and all the others just dont look cool. when you go to car shows the older hot rods are still running tpi for the coolness factor