Going to start my port and polish of my intake tonight

[Comp Orange 04]

Hopefully my PHP spacer will be on the way in the next two weeks so I decided to start the polish job today. I will post some pictures (hopefully as good as Rcodegirl's) and we will see how it comes out. Then after the spacer install, need to head over to Mach 1 Cal Man for a tune.

Here is a good link I found on how to dissassemble the upper and lower intake. It's for a 01 Cobra but it should be pretty darn close.

Pics to come....

http://members.cox.net/tazcobra/int_inst.pdf

[Comp Orange 04]

Well here goes:

Before I started:



Shaker off. Don't forget the 2 bolts on the side



Shaker frame off:



Upper intake off. I left the EGR on the tube.

[Comp Orange 04]

This is what I did with the fuel rails, I didn't like leaving them unprotected.



Another shot with fuel rails off:



Side view. You can never have too many pictures of how stuff looks

[Comp Orange 04]

All off. The lower intake cleared the EGR !! I will still probably wind up taking it off with the PHP spacer



And there they are !! I will start later tonight or tomorrow.



On a side note, is it ok to leave the hood up on the prop rod for a week or so?

I will add some more pics as I attempt the polish job.

[loathe]

you sir are a wizard:p its looking so clean

[PapaTango]

A couple of Q's:

Are you planning to cut the intake open to reach the entire runner, or just grind on what you can reach from the top?

Do all of the various gaskets look like they can be reused when you bolt everything back up?

Isn't it amazing how oily and dirty the inside of something is that is only supposed to flow filtered air!

Take some before and after pics of the internal surfaces.

[ITLRUN]

What kind of gains to you expect to see by "porting" or polishing the intake?

I not 100% convienced that it will help. I have heard that it will and I have also heard that it wont. I'm not trying to start a flame war at all. Im interested in proof positive. I have thought about working mine, but not sure its worth any gians at all.

[ITLRUN]

Originally posted by PapaTango
A couple of Q's:

Are you planning to cut the intake open to reach the entire runner, or just grind on what you can reach from the top?

There are plugs (like a freeze plug) in the bottom of the manifold that can be removed to access the bottom of the runners.

Originally posted by PapaTango
Do all of the various gaskets look like they can be reused when you bolt everything back up?

They intake gaskets are reuseable if you are careful with them. I am a bit hesitant to reuse them. After all they are fairly inexpensive.

Originally posted by PapaTango
Isn't it amazing how oily and dirty the inside of something is that is only supposed to flow filtered air!

Not only filtered air, but the intake is also injesting the "dirty / oily" air from the PCV Valve on the LH head and the vent on the RH head. I have vented mine to the atmoshpere with small filters to try to keep this contamination to a minimium.

[Comp Orange 04]

Originally posted by PapaTango
A couple of Q's:

Are you planning to cut the intake open to reach the entire runner, or just grind on what you can reach from the top?

Do all of the various gaskets look like they can be reused when you bolt everything back up?

Isn't it amazing how oily and dirty the inside of something is that is only supposed to flow filtered air!

Take some before and after pics of the internal surfaces.

I am going to pull the freeze plugs/casting access ports out and do some work inside also.

All the gaskets look mint, but I am going to get new ones. No reason not to while it is all apart.

the biggest culprit is the PCV valve pulling oil in. I am also seeing some marks from my EGR line.

Plenty of pictures to come!!

[Comp Orange 04]

Originally posted by ITLRUN
What kind of gains to you expect to see by "porting" or polishing the intake?

I not 100% convienced that it will help. I have heard that it will and I have also heard that it wont. I'm not trying to start a flame war at all. Im interested in proof positive. I have thought about working mine, but not sure its worth any gians at all.

I agree with you. I may not see any gains from this folly, but heck why not? The car is basically in storage and I already had to do 1/2 the work getting the upper intake off. Plus you never know. Stranger things have happened.

[Comp Orange 04]

What really baffles me is the 6 holes to 8 setup they have in this intake? Why the heck is it like that? Was there that much difference in 6 holes vice 8?

[ITLRUN]

BTW, nice pics... now go get busy!!! lol :p

[mustangmike2003]

How many miles do you have on that intake?

[Comp Orange 04]

Originally posted by mustangmike2003
How many miles do you have on that intake?

9500 miles

[Mach1_cal_man]

Erik,

This brings back memories!

I noticed you intake showed signs of oil pullover through the PCV system . My intake was pretty clean with only 2300 miles on the ODO when I did mine although there was some oil in the lower which is normal.

I think I have some spare gaskets if you need them too.

Good luck with this!

[Comp Orange 04]

Thanks Brian, I think this will be my most challenging thing to date. Hopefully I will have it done by new years, then we can look into getting a tune done. With the intake filter mods I did and this I definately want to get my A/F checked as a minimum to make sure I didn't lean her out too much.

[MA-MACH1]

awesome pics - looks like there is a lot of restriction in that lower intake - would a Cobra R intake fit? I think I remember seing a pic where all 8 inlets are trumpets inside a big casing. BMW do something like that on the M5 I believe (and that company seems to know a thing or two about tuning stock engines) - If I could I'd throw the stock intake out and try to fab something a bit freer flowing (though if you lose that longer intake I guess you'll potentially lose that nice bottom end torque we get). I don't think the polishing makes much difference - the air-flow turbulence could even benefit a little with combustion from unpolished intakes, but the porting has gotta help. I'm curious about the potential power gains however as they are essentially free - dyno results please!!!!!

[Comp Orange 04]

Well the process has started. Let me tell you getting those dang port plugs out was a pain in the ***! Tried many a technique and when all the smoke cleared I wound up drilling a pilot hole, making it bigger with screwdrivers prying up at the same time, then forcing it out with vise grips. Here is a picture (I believe) of the part number for the freeze plugs:



Here is what a plug looks like after it is forcefully removed:



All the plugs out:



And started the process. I need to go out and get a little rougher grit set of stones for my dremel so I will post more later. This is going to take a while....

[Comp Orange 04]

Well, grinding continues. I have a couple in process pics I'll post up later. Most of the flashing to be removed so far is in the first bends heading down to the bottom. Looks like they stick something square down 4 of the six openings to remove the intake from the mold. Lots of stuff to remove there. Also I removed a lot of metal on the sides leading into the holes. I did some work on the flutes on the bottom, but mine were actually in good shape. I don't know if I want to thin out that area too much due to the fact I am having a hard time getting into the center of the intake passage.

I removed all the rough stuff from the top of the runners and I will set to smoothing later tonight.

[rjw158]

You need those tapered emery cones to get into the corners, that's what I used and they worked pretty well.
rjw

[Comp Orange 04]

Originally posted by rjw158
You need those tapered emery cones to get into the corners, that's what I used and they worked pretty well.
rjw

Yup picked up a set earlier. Thanks for the tip. More pics to come later.......

[rjw158]

What did you end up doing with the top cover? I deburred, blended the corners then polished it, if I can find a pic i'll post it.
rjw

[Comp Orange 04]

That is what I am thinking also, I am not going to polish the outside, just clean up the inside, around the throttlebody and call it good.

[rjw158]

Exactly, just blend around the divider after the TB and polish the rest, my top cover ended up looking like a mirror. On the bottom mostly deburring and blending. It looks like they just ran an end mill down into the runners on the lowerto clean up the seam on the casting.
rjw

[Slicksaleen]

Originally posted by Comp Orange 04
This is what I did with the fuel rails, I didn't like leaving them unprotected.



Another shot with fuel rails off:



Side view. You can never have too many pictures of how stuff looks

ALDI RULES! Keep the pics coming, very nice writeup so far