I decided on thanksgiving night that I was going to make a box style intake out of a truck intake. It's made out of 1/4" aluminum with heli-arc welded seams. The T/B was made out of 3/8" plate with a 3.5" ID(1/4" wall thickness) tube connecting it to the plenum. I spent a few hours cleaning up the ports, smoothing everything out...I need to get some more pics up...but it should work well with an S-Trim and a little cam.(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e172/Viscica/PICT0184.jpg)
I'm REALLLLLLLY interested to hear the test results from this.Let us know.There may be money in it for you.
What are the bungs on the front and side for?
The one's actually on the backside of it, and one will be for brake booster vacuum.
The bung on the back is for a 90* fitting to go to the PCV...which will now be located in the passenger side valve cover. The one on the side is for vacuum "tree" as I like to call it...I will be using the one that came from the factory truck intake.
After welding it all up, I found that the gasket surface on the upper plenum had bowed like a bananna...I guess that's what happens when you rush. I used an end-mill to bring it back to a perfectly straight surface. I also pressure tested it to at least 20lbs...pegged the gauge.
I learned a lot from this and next time(assuming there is one) I'll have a better idea of how to replicate it more easily.
I'm still waiting on my money to come in...then I'll be able to see what a little forced induction can do with this intake. I was thinking about building the motor to what I want with the stock intake, then swap it out...but that's double work.
But, for now, I must focus my energy on finding another job being as the company I work for is closing.
Nice work.
more pics man.
Jim and I hadrecently talked about this. A very cheap alternative for 351 cars.
Cool :cool:
That would be sweet on a big cube engine. Would that bolt up to a 351 truck lower? How much would ya sell one of those bad boys for because I'm thinkin that would be great on a 393 or 408 engine.
Nice welds too, BTW. I never could weld aluminum worth a .
Not a bad idea Sick88Tbird you could do pretty good making and selling the especially w/all the mustang websites.
Whats the volume on the box?
It will bolt up but wont line up unless the ports are pretty radically ported where the upper meets the lower. The 351 EFI trucks used an elongated oval shape somewhat similar to the car 302 EFI lower intakes. I have ported the 351 truck EFI intakes to use a box-style intake or Vortech with port configuration like the 302 truck lower intakes. These things howl when done right but the amount of porting is considerable. A good thing about it is the hood clearance is potentially alot better with that set up when considering the 351 is taller.
This thing would be pretty sweet on a big cube motor...I wish I could produce more, but I'm no longer set up for that kind of behavior...the shop where I work has just shut down and everything is getting auctioned off. I have about 3hrs into smoothing the ports in the upper and in the upper to lower...but I left the lower end of the ports(near the heads) untouched...figuring it's better to wait on that so they can match whatever heads I'll be running.
As far as volume...the plates for the plenum were sheared at 4"x13"(can't remember exact length). So figure roughly 3.75" square and about 13-14" long. I also ended up making it about 3/4"-1" higher than I originally intended. Thanks for the compliments.
If I get into another shop that's set up for aluminum, I may make a few of these...but they would most likely not be priced for the faint of heart...considering that I have to go to the junkyard, pull it, spend the time hacking the upper plenum to bits, then figuring out where everything should be and selecting and cutting the materials, plus welding time...if done right...two 8hr days should cover it from going to the junkyard to letting the final coat of paint dry.
FYI-everything I fabricated was made from 6061-T6.
Unless anybody knows a local race shop that wants a decent fabricator...lol. Then I have no problem making them all day long.
-Don
dam don, you got now luck... there's a few places around me you might try...
sorry to hear about your job Don, hoep you fidn a better place to fabricate, that looks sisk too, watch out more horsepwoer, may be going into the feidls more often!!!
you for bringing that up! lol That was a good time...I'm just hoping that a vortech S-trim(or equivalent) with around 10lbs and a mild cam are enough to take advantage of that intake. If not, I may have to sell it...won't know till I test it though. Too bad I'm not building a blown 347. :cool:
Looks good. I bet it would work great with a centrifugal blower setup.