Ported intake manifold?

amarillo250 · Jul 19, 2013

I didnt want to jump into this, but the force is stronger.
Since day one I followed this whole Manifold discussion, already back in the nation days.
Take the following words for what they are, My Opinion.
If people/ Companys, put time and money and work into something like this, we are not talking about companys they do this just on the side. No these are real good and big names in the scene, they have a reputation to protec, like said, if they go thru all these R&D and put their NAME on it, then you better believe the phrase, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
Ask me how I know. Learned the hard and expensive way. Btw. I dont have any intake from neither of the above responding, or not responding, companys, just years of reading and listening carefully what people did and do.
Again, just my 0.2cent.
Flame suit on, LOL

Jeremysmith9902 · Jul 19, 2013

im not gonna pay some one to do all that... im an outside machinist.. if nothing else ill run the one i ordered and machine out my stock one and when im down ill machine the one i ordered and sell it.. no big deal...
i dont expect a huge power gain out of the manifold i orderd but im sure it will be better than a stock... if i need more air ill make changes.. its what you do when you are building a performance truck.. its not an exact science..

amarillo250 · Jul 19, 2013

to Jeremysmith9902,
it is not that complicated if you know excactly the clamping force on the top of the manifold or how much material you can take off on the bottom to make sure it wont blow or crack while you tight everything back on top of the engine. Lets not even go so far to figure out how to pressure test it and get flow numbers etc.
Everything sounds and looks easy, until your in it and have to figure it out all by yourself.

Powerstroked162 · Jul 19, 2013

Jeremysmith9902 said:
im not gonna pay some one to do all that... im an outside machinist.. if nothing else ill run the one i ordered and machine out my stock one and when im down ill machine the one i ordered and sell it.. no big deal...
i dont expect a huge power gain out of the manifold i orderd but im sure it will be better than a stock... if i need more air ill make changes.. its what you do when you are building a performance truck.. its not an exact science..

That's awesome man. I love the DIY guys. I'm curious why you would even order one though for $550 if you can and plan to do it yourself. You could have saved yourself the money and started on your own out of the gates. Regardless, if that's your goal, great! Not everybody is gonna want to or even go through that hassle when they can pick up the phone and buy one in a box ready to rock and roll. So again, if your beef is based off price, don't expect others to see it the same way as you do. This industry revolves around performance, functionality and quality. That's what people want and that's what I give them. I've never had a manifold returned, I've never had a problem with one, and I've never charged anybody $1300. I love my 6.0 manifold customer feedback. It makes me feel great to know they are satisfied with everything from A-Z. I'd never trade that off for anything.

When you go to make your own manifold, give me a shout. I've got tons off stuff available that will save you the hassle of trying to figure out coolant and exhaust issues you may run into.

.

Powerstroked162 · Jul 19, 2013

amarillo250 said:
to Jeremysmith9902,
it is not that complicated if you know excactly the clamping force on the top of the manifold or how much material you can take off on the bottom to make sure it wont blow or crack while you tight everything back on top of the engine. Lets not even go so far to figure out how to pressure test it and get flow numbers etc.
Everything sounds and looks easy, until your in it and have to figure it out all by yourself.

Well said. I'll be honest. I probably have over 15-20 hours into each manifold that goes out start to finish. It's not as easy as cut and weld lol. I wish it was

.

Jeremysmith9902 · Jul 19, 2013

im not claiming that it for sure was a product of Elite or GoGo or any one else.. but im simply stating that for the sake of a budget tight build... a less expensive, moderately ported manifold should be enough..
and for bigger builds that people are putting gobs of money into the engine and spending lots of man ours doing testing on the dyno and track and are wanting to race competitively then yes by all means get the top dollar manifold because people have spent more time and money perfecting them.. but at the same time until the big name guys set them selves apart from the wanna bes there will be instances where people claim to have a fully ported manifold costing as much as the big name people and it not be as good of quality... resulting in people being gun shy to invest the money in other people claiming to have good manifolds... in my case i was warned that certain ones didnt fit on the first try and so i went the direction i did.. thats all

amarillo250 · Jul 19, 2013

When you go to make your own manifold, give me a shout. I've got tons off stuff available that will save you the hassle of trying to figure out coolant and exhaust issues you may run into.

WOW, and the winner is?????
Man this one phrase said it all!!! Still helping others and standing behind his work. I know where I get my manifolds from....

amarillo250 · Jul 19, 2013

Jeremysmith9902, as far as I know, people here are serious about their work and they put lots of effort in it. There is the one and the other black sheep once in a while, but believe me they get sorted out real quick. LOL Bipolar rings a bell???? LOL
Seriously, there is some people in here I have no problem to give them a blank check to do the work. The only thing you have to do is read and ask questions.
Back on track, if you spend x amount on manifold A, that does not a lot. Or wait a little longer and get it right the first time, what makes more sense to you???

Jeremysmith9902 · Jul 19, 2013

for what i am wanting to do with my truck... the one i ordered should be sifficient...

2wd-fire · Jul 21, 2013

I wonder how much of the gains are just from having no soot caked up inside the intake from the egr.

ford rules · Jul 21, 2013

I would say most of the gain is from removing the posts that block off half the manifold.

smokinstroker · Jul 26, 2013

ford rules said:
I would say most of the gain is from removing the posts that block off half the manifold.

This is where I would say lack of research has your impression skewed.

Pull a manifold apart and put in some r&d

There is alot more going on than bolt posts that need to be drilled out to increase flow. The posts are a minimal increase.

ford rules · Jul 26, 2013

Im not implying to just drill the posts out...
You cant argue that they arent a huge restriction though.

Most improvement comes from cnc porting the floors and giving everything a nice path to flow in is what i would assume although i dont know, Im sure theres a ton of chit in there that needs to be removed to make these intakes perform.

I dont have the resources to properly port one of these and weld it back together, thats why i have one ordered from steve right now, but i do have another manifold i might hack apart just to look at.

therabbittree · Aug 6, 2013

Doing your own intake is A LOT of work.. lol. There is a lot of ridges on the roof of the intake that have to come off and those ridges extend into the mouth area. Also the alternator supports need to welded up on the inside, your fan stator bolt stands need to be cut out and welded shut, the egr housing is a big restriction too, and cutting that out is fun too. I would recommend leaving the floor humps in and counter sinking the floor to let the bolts sit into the floor. I built a jig to keep mine flat and the jig warped. So I had to rebuild it and really reinforce it. Make sure your jig allows for welding underneath the front / mouth area of the intake. I had to modify my jig again for this. I recommend preheating it if you are going to mig it. I don't recommend using the mig without preheating , trust me. I think Tig is the best process to use. You need it really clean! there is ALOT of casting contamination in the aluminum. Also be careful your sanding and grinding doesn't contaminate your weld area, its takes a lot of heat to melt up those contaminates and reclean it to get a nice weld. Some of the other posters here already mentioned heat is what causes the warping, and its also needed to weld correctly, so you need to be real careful in how you do it. I'm a diy guy and I am on my second manifold due to learning mistakes. I can post up some other pictures later. Also I recommend using ORB plugs to access the bolts. seals well and no issues from pipe thread in aluminum. Also I recommend Pressure testing the intake! It is very important, and will save lots of headaches in the future.

I am currently rewelding this intake with tig now due to mig welding without preheat.

ORB Boss plugs

Alternator supports filled and top ridges cut out

Floor humps left in, posts cut out, and holes countersunk

Pressure testing the intake, I found lots of air bubbles with soapy water. I'm fixing them now..

Link to my build thread on Powerstroke .org. My mistakes hopefully will help some one , and save them lots of aggravation.
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/6-...n/403050-05-excursion-cab-driveway-build.html

Thanks,
Deo