What areas should I work on when porting my factory base? What areas need the most improvement? Is there anything I can do with the factory runners? They seem quite thin.. What about the plenium? So far I've smoothed out the egr walls and around the throttle bores, what else needs work?

 

gasket matching the heads and intake is essential

dont gasket match unless you do the heads too, you do not want the intake passage to be larger than the head passage

 

Most of the time the baseplate is the one people go after first. The plenum comes next. As for the runners most people just buy slp or edelbrock pieces, the stock ones are really not suitable for porting. There are people on the boards here that have done it, and the gains are not nessasarily the HP, but the powerband is extended past the infamous 4500. I would do it, but I am really heavy handed and would end up grinding way too far. Someone should port tpi manifolds for money!!!

Cheers!!!