Here are some lousy in-progress shots of my spare base. Yes i'm gonna run it even with the screw ups and yes it still has a lot of work coming to it...

http://home1.gte.net/res0t8sj/base/

Ouch, how the hell ya gonna fix the hole.

everyone's best friend, epoxy putty

send it off for some $5 tig work

I know your pain i was siamesing a tpi base this weekend, yet i stayed within the walls

Its a beeyatch getting the back of the wall cut out, even worse gettin the alum flake out of your hair

Mmm...aluminum flake...yummy. It's now all over my garage as I modify the LT1 intake for install.

haha

actually the LT1 is the other thing I was grinding on this weekend


Beautifull weather, and I was inside with face mask, goggles, ear plugs, and a die grinder

Gotta love the sport

Doh!!

I take a rubber hose and stuff it in one end of the port and tape
it to my shop vac hose. As I grind, the flakes get sucked out of
the other end of the port.

Clean as a whistle.

That makes sense...

But i like to look like i accomplished something when i walk out of the shop


Nothing like walking into the local quicky mart covered from head to toe in aluminum flake and be like "...... WUT?"

lol i always seem to run out of cigarettes half way into any type of car work im doing, so i'll run out to the quick check down the road lookin like a grease moster. and it never fails, there's always the cutest chick in there somewhere that you're ashamed to even smile at cause you look like a bum

I know the feeling

Whats funny is the chix probably dig it, all the while we hide behind the dorito rack

Actually, i may very well be getting it welded up, epoxy putty is just the last resort if i don't get around to sedning it out.

and hide behind the rack...you're kidding right? Who cares how filthy you are. Chicks dig confident guys, not those that hide cuz they have their face painted like braveheart w/ grease, even gives you a good conversation starter.

haha

"hey baby, im greasy"

Yea i use that one alot

Yeah, they dig it. I think it has to do with chicks digging a man who isn't afraid to 'get dirty' when he's 'working'.
You know, i actually heard there are people who won't have sex unless they just got out of the shower. And they're afraid to actually touch any of the important parts. Weird folks. I bet they drive saturns

ACK!

Haha

they're missing out on alot of fun i can tell ya that much

ED...You should have sent the base to ICON MOTORSPORTS of CINCINNATI....I would have done it on the mill for you.... I dont care to make 500 bases but would have hooked an ICON brother up...

Kenwood
-=ICON Motorsports=-

Actually I think I will buy up a few bases and run them....Just for fun...

The car is a 85IROC 305 A4. What is involved in setting one up. Thanks!

No really you can do my current base. I'll swap on this one, then i'll port my stock one, maybe matched to some runners, get it all powdercoated or something. I could really do a better job on the intake faces now that i have some practice. And then i don't have a mar from the hole in this one (lol)

Here is a shot of my base. It took a while to do all the porting, but I had the time. I just got her running last saturday. Started up fine, and ran good with no leaks. Just that the timing was off a bit. Can't wait to drive it. I have more photos if someone would like to see.

I've got two stock bases collecting dust, guess I should put them up for sale. Ed you might want to try JB weld or metal putty, your supposed to be able to grind on it after it sets.

I just worry abotu the epoxy putty because of the temperature cycling it's going to take. I'm sure short term it'd be fine, but after a year of hot / cool cycles, on that thin piece of metal, it wouldn't take much for it to crack.

Metal Putty is used to fix exhaust systems so it should do fine on the intake.

Use DEVCON.... I use it to PLUG the EGR ports in the plenum so I can MILL the floor lower.... Its basically a metallic paste that expands and contracts at the same rate aluminum does...And if you get the good stuff you can MACHINE it.... Tough stuff for sure..

word, i'll look into that...

I am also sure you can patch that hole. Aluminum is quite easy to work with, so try the above fixes. I am attaching another photo of my manifold. It is the pic that I really wanted to attach in my first post. I went 3" deep on both sides, and made everything smooth.

Yeah, that looks about the same as mine are going to end up. I plan on doing the same work on the opening that you did, smoothing the length of it, and you can see what i'm doing to the head face.

On a stock base, I've actually wondered if it would be possible and how effective it would be if you cut a square section from the top of the ports (center of one port to the center of the next) and welded in a flat section of plate. What this would do is open the top of the ports simular to the Big Mouth intakes. Instead of having the figure *8* shapped ports it would be more of a *B* shape (only laying down on it's side ) You would also remove the center divider at the same time and blend it in where the port divides back into 2 ports again. Is this clear as mud? Since this is just theory I don't have any pics.

Also...if you cut back your SLP runners approx 2" - 3" on each runner, how much more effective would a stock ported base be over an unported stock base?

Thats not an all bad idea. Except, instead of welding a plate on, why not just fill in the indentation w/ weld and then simply grind it open up higher. You'd still have to use something more substantial like epoxy / whetever to fill in the short side curve of each runner to straighten it out like i wanted to.

I feel your pain When I did mine, I went thru the wall near the thermostat housing. I had it welded then ported it again, though I was a bit more careful the second time