Well, it seems as though John has his manifold all squared away properly. This post got out of hand, so thats why im editing it. I asked if anyone knew of any problems with the Lt1 cause i heard there were. I never doubted that John made his swap properly cause apparently he does, i'll actually be ordering one from him any day now.

 

Not just for smog reasons but thats why I went with high flow aftermarket pieces to stay away from some of the problems you stated above. I wont get the same results at all but its a step above what I got now and less headaches. If it wasnt for emissions id have a mini ram on there and not think twice about the extra $ I was spending. I didnt look too deep into the what ifs of the LT1 intake swap but you brought up some valid points. I still think it was an exercise of if theres a will theres a way and still may be a work in progress. Hopefully those who have it already installed, are in the process or will be in the future will have better results/luck than what your mechanic friend was informing you about....

 

I decided to hold off on the LT1 swap for a while for these reasons. It's too new, and I wanted to sit and wait and see how people liked the swap a year or 2 after they first did it. If some of Millican's converts are still going strong in a year or two, then maybe I'll consider the swap.

 

You will eat your cam gear unless you drill the distributor hole at a 6 degree angle and make a spacer that holds the distributor at a 6 degree angle (I think it is 6 degree’s, correct me if I am wrong) and make sure it mounts at that angle.

 

I don't know much about this LT1 intake swap, but I know this. Good engineering works, and bad doesn't. Things done right work, things done wrong don't work. I am sure that whipping out a die grinder, hand drill, and prepping an intake in a half hour probably will result in a non-reliable intake. Using good measurement practices, precise tools and some time will probably result in a reliable finished product.
Did I hear someone is offering free LT1 intakes? I would be interested in that. Is there a limit of how many per person.
Thanks,
J

 

I believe that Millican's intake has the distributer hole in the correct location, which would of course account for the 6 degree tilt. He transferred the hole location from a traditional manifold by making a template. I believe that's also why he's got the shim in there... to account for the 6 degree tilt in relation to the manifold floor.

 

THe distributor DOES NOT MATTER! Ive guess on two of them and they BOTH work. YEt the shim does matter, and mine will have the 6 degree angle

 

Wheres all the disaster stories?

I came in here expecting to see stories and proof that it didnt work, all I found was someone talking about some other secondhand information they heard.

BTW, even if you wern't going to use it why would you EVER turn down a free lt1 manifold? Theyre selling for over $100 on ebay..





Have fun being slow

 

Can you send me the email or guys name that is giving away the LT1 intakes? I could use a couple. That would give me 3 of them.........one years worth at 5K miles a piece.
Where is the cracking(bending???) taking place on the manifold? You might recommend welding up the old holes and have the surface milled for trueness.

Thanks,
J

 

I just reread your post, and am wondering why no one has ever seen one of their setups if they have been doing them since 93?? "They told me quite a bit more, but i forgot as of this writing" What else did they say??

 

Has john millican seen this or had similar problems?

 

anyone have the Lt1 on 350-355?

 

i bought one of johns intakes and put it on my new 383 so far i LOVE IT!!!!!! i jus went out and check and so far not a single leak of any kind ive got about 500 miles on it so far had it on there about 3-4 weeks now i was expecting some sort of problem after the swap guess what ive had none at all i know 500 miles isnt alot but like i said nothing so far see if you can get the guy that was having problems post on here later

 

Any word on them free LT1 intakes yet? I'll have 2 please.
Thanks,
J

 

LOL....yeah ill take as many as you can give me

I have had this done and running since January.....no leaks ... no problems. I know there was some debate over the 8* tilt of the distributer hole too, but I personally have no leaks on the manifold. I think what was concluded was that the distributer will ALWAYS make correct contact with the cam gear because it is the block... not the minfold that holds it in place. Where the distributer touches the manifold only needs to be sealed to prevent oil leaks. And as I said before I have none of those either. There might have been horror stories about other LT1 swaps improperly done, but I have to speak up for John here. Just make sure you all seperate LT1 swaps in general from LT1 manifolds machined by John. Millican manifolds are A-O-K

 

The only problem I've had with my LT4 intake is a small oil leak at the distributor and thats because I don't have the angled spacer. I only have a flat one for now. And what was said before about the block holding the distributor at the proper angle is true. The intake manifold only holds it at the coorect height. And please tell me how you will get a hotter intake air charge using an LT1/4 intake as opposed to a standars SBC intake. That makes no sense to me. I'm incrediblt happy with my intake and have zero regrets.

 

You know.. ALLL this time has passed since the first guy converted to an LT1 intake. But ONE THING didn't happen yet. Nobody presented PROOF that this intake does anything for performance !! Does anybody have some numbers, either from the track or from a g-tech ? Is all the pain in the *** to convert worth it or not ??

 

This post is a worthless rambling words of nonsense. No one have put a LT1 intake on a SBC untill I made the tech article in the Fall of 2001. I did my swap last summer so that makes me the longest running LT1 swap there is. I have probally 6000 miles on the intake and it runs like a beast. No leaks, meltdowns or ANYTHING.

Let's explore you complaints shall we.

1) You get excellent results at 1st, more power, throttle response, times.

Well, this one I agree on.

2) The drilling....Youre gonna drill about 10 or more holes on it which is gonna weaken the cast and even slightly warp and bend it by all the vibration/pressure.

OK ya right. My drill is going to vibrate the casting and make it warp? OK sure.

3) The distributor gear got worn out because of exact improper hole for distributor, which, in turn fugged up the cam gear, which in turn gets the cam to "walk" if you dont have a cam retainer plate by the timing chain. And we all know what happens when a cam "walks." It has to be a precise hole drilled. Big companies (accell, edel, tpis) have precision machines and geometrical graphs mapped out. Your house drill doesnt, no cast you make will be perfect, and the 1/4 inch shim should be quite taller than that.

The intake has NOTHING to do with the distributor angle or cam alignment. That is set by the reamed hole in the block. The distributor hole is even 1/8th inch oversize also! Tell you what, next time you have the opportunity on an engine with no intake, stick the distributor in the block and see if you can move it in any direction. You won't. Nuff said.

4) Coolant where coolant wasnt prior. The pressure in the casting by coolant is obviously anticipated when manufactured. Drilling holes for a return lessens the pressure causing coolant "hiccups" in the intake and even causing a warmer air charge.

Coolant where coolant wasn't? What the h@@@ does that mean? I routed the cylinder head coolant from the head to the thermastat to the radiator. GM does the same thing. I'm done here also. This one was useless big time.

 

Right on. Congrats on the passing the 5K mile marker....ha ha. Does this mean no one is gonna give me them free intakes? Bummer.....ha ha.
Even if it doesn't make more power, it sure looks cool. Some guys say they are going to post results. That LT1 on an old block is one of the coolest things (car wise anyway) I have seen in quite some time.
Cheers,
J

 

Yet another well praised topic by formulagod. Keep up the good work!!

 

GofasterFirebird,
Another well praised topic by FormulaGod? What the He!! do you know? Im a certified ASE mechanic and have built more engines than youve seen kid. You dont know me, and i dont know you, get your head out of denial. Ive been wanting to do an LT1 intake swap on my TPi since 94 when Mike first explored it. And to John, congrats on the successful swap, really i mean that. You are although, not the 1st to do it. Just because you have posted it and brought it to the attention to an open forum, that doesnt mean you are the first. When i was 10 I made a lego castle and put it inside a jello mold. I thought no one has ever done this, maybe i was, maybe i wasnt. And to John, im going to have Mike email you as to the circumstances.

 

OK have him e-mail me. I would be VERY interested in seing how he converted way back in 1993 and no-one knows about it.

 

Did you bother to read the posts before mine?? Does building more engines make you more knowledged? You certainly have me on the jello prototypes. How hard was it to pass the ASE test? What makes believe I couldn't?

Also, on forums such as this I try to make a habit of posting truthful information, not unsupported slander. My advice is cut your losses. Good luck.

 

Gofasterfirebird,
You are making this post into something it is not. Cut what losses? I want an LT1 intake more than anyone else. I was just posting what i was told and was curious if anyone else had
John M,
I think your true colors are showing. You HAVE to have been the 1st right
There is NO WAY IN HE!! that someone else may have done it before, right? I mean NO WAY. They HAD TO advertise that fact He didnt find a cure for AIDS, he bolted a Lt1 intake on an L98, whats the big friggin deal.
:hail: John M :hail:
BTW your heiness, this guy also shoe horned a V10 Viper engine in a Ford Tempo, yes a Ford Tempo. Its obviously RWD. OH MY!! QUICK!!!! STOP THE PRESSES!!!

 

Why are you acting like that? All I asked was you put him/her in touch with me so we could swap tech info. Damn. You do have an attitude don't you.
It just seems that someone would have mentioned that's it's been done before. No one did. So as far as I know I DID start it and am even mass producing it.

I'm sorry there was no demand for the lego for your jelly thing but there is a demand for LT1 intake on a SBC!

 

Just what I wanted to hear.

 

they should just leave it be. if it works it works, if it doesnt it doesnt. no need to call john out to give him the 20 questions game on it. its been running fine for him so far so obviously it will work somehow.

 

I'll be ordering mine soon then John!! Thanks for the email!!!
-paul

 

that is what I meant by cutting losses

 

93 you say? Did he have one of those neato distributors that are bent at 2 45° to clear the fuel rail line?

IF "Mikes a PRO" I guess that makes millican his daddy

Get back to your tellitubies you child, anybody with a mig and a cutting torch can put an engine that doesn't belong in a car it doesn't belong in, just because the Vipers V10 made more hp at the factory doors than an engine you or your buddy could build doesn't mean putting it in a car it doesnt belong in is an accomplishment any greater than all these successfull people swapping LT1 intakes onto Gen 1 blocks and making it WORK is. As I recall your "ASE G0D" couldn't make it happen. If you wanna knock something that 95% of the thirdgen community attempting and doing successfully, then you should already know you need to be prepaired with facts, and possibly PICTURES of how it doesn't work, all your statements were vauge and incorrect, for example your coolant remark... Its not routed ANYWHERE through the manifold, its passing through a single hole on either side, now how that raises air intake temps vs a stock TPI with coolant routing through the manifold it would take an awefull lot of R&D, facts, testing, compairing before and after data to sway ANYBODYS opinion.

Please come back with maturity and facts


Thanks, 'roc.