I was scouting my Lingenfelter manifold to get an understanding on what I'd be looking at to polish the runners, and the intake bolt pattern caught my eye.

It looks different than a typical TPI manifold, particularly the two middle pairs of bolt holes. They look wider apart. What am I looking at here? Is this a Vortec manifold? Centerbolt?

 

OK, just read that Vortec heads don't have center bolt holes. So we are looking at a cetnerbolt style manifold, right?

I was planning on getting some new heads for the motor anyways. So instead of having the manifold bolt pattern redone, could I just buy a set of centerbolt heads? Will centerbolt heads bolt right up to a block that originally had perimeter bolt heads?

 

LT1.

 

I'm not doubting you but why they make an LT1 manifold for a TPI? LT1 WAS the intake (Among other differences).

Shouldn't I be able to have the manifold bolt pattern re-drilled and the old holes plugged up by a muffler shop?

 

It's so you can bolt a Super Ram on an LT1.

 

Which bolt holes would need to be re-drilled for a set of perimeter bolt SBC heads? All of them?

 

Do a search for the LT1 intake conversion.

 

Can someone post a link to a thread/website regarding this? The search function isn't being very helpful. I keep finding either an LT1 intake for sale. Someone with a "question" or a dead end website.

Aside from the bolt holes, I am concerned about how just about everything else on the manifold will match up IE runner ports and coolant passages and EGR (EGR will be deleted but I want to make sure nothing is left open).

What am I looking at to make this work?

 

Jump over to the "alternative port EFI intakes" sub-forum... https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/alte...t-efi-intakes/

Click "search this forum" at the upper right, type in "LT1 intake" without the quotes and hit enter. Jump back to about the 2nd or 3rd page and start reading. It was a hot swap for about 10 minutes, and whatever has to be done to make a LT1 intake match up is gonna be necessary to make a LT1 super ram base fit.

Personally, I'd sell the thing. It's gotta be more uncommon then the one you're looking for, therefore, it's probably worth more then the standard old school intake.

Take a look at this thread... https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/alte...am-vs-tpi.html

 

If It's as easy as having the center holes redrilled, I'm not trying to sell it since I bought it with the cast finish already sanded away and that would be a HUGE PITA for DIY (To do this to the plenum which is far less complicated took 3 weeks between work and family). However, at the bottom of this post a guy shows a pic of an LT1 superram base and he says that they welded up the T-stat and Dist holes. Both are open on mine however and don't show any signs of ever being plugged.

The only thing I can tell you about this manifold is that I bought it off Ebay already polished. It was used as a show piece and has NEVER been fired. This claim in re-enforced by the lack of watermarks in the T-stat passage and carbon on EGR passages/oil marks on the intake passages.

 

Lingenfelter used the reg TPI base casting for LT1's.
Just drilled the intake pattern different.
A LT1 has no coolant to intake so most LT1 owners just put a cover plate on the thermo hole and a frost plug in the unused dist hole

 

LT1 vs an early style SBC, which holes are different? Just the center 2 sets or all 12 of them?

 

http://www.lt1engine.com/tech/lt1-to...-bolt-pattern/

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...=Google+Search

 

WOW! That looks so easy I'm gonna do it myself. The only thing I'd worry about though is the method he used for plugging the holes. Sure JB Weld is some GREAT stuff, but over time with the temperature having such large fluctuations over the seasons and the heat from engine operation, not to mention the pressure that is being applied to some of those plugs from the bolts because the new holes were drilled so close, I just don't think it would be up to the task.

Wouldn't it be a much better idea to take the manifold to a muffler shop and have the old holes plug welded?

 

Maybe , but you might get distortion so you would have to get the intake faces machined square
I would be going to a shop that specializes in alum fab and welding that know what they are doing; not the local muffler shop

 

JB Weld is a terrible idea. It's bad enough trying to find a muffler shop that can weld mufflers. Welding aluminum is a little more specialized. I wouldn't expect it to be cheap. I'd still sell it and buy what you need instead.