corvet786c

iTrader: (6)

Why doesn't anyone come up with something like this. I've seen polished MAf Housings and Throttle bodies. What about were the air 1st comes in? This should be polished or have some kind of smooth surface for air to just gulp up in the air lid. LS1's have been on the market now for what 12 yrs. I think this is a good idea.

The closest Ive seen was fast toys lid, but I dont think it is polished. Correct me if I am wrong?

3800RS

iTrader: (15)

some guy in the appearance section was making one from aluminum

kmracer

iTrader: (1)

polished for what reason?

corvet786c

iTrader: (6)

To get better air flow. The surface area is not smooth enough so polish it up. Think about it. A polished air lid from underneith.

LustrousWS6

iTrader: (1)

I could be wrong here but as long as the surface isn't so rough as to cause significant turbulence, air (and fluids) actually flow better over "rough" surfaces as opposed to a perfectly smooth surface.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

IMO, most aftermarket offerings are smooth enough underneath as is. My SLP certainly is, as were the two previous to it (from TSP and LS1 Motorsports).

I think once you get beyond the ribs in the stock lids, there isn't too much else you can do to get any more appreciable gains from that design, and certainly not from just polishing the underside.

ShortChevy

iTrader: (21)

I'm with this guy, my SLP is smooth on the bottem already. Even if it wasn't I doubt you would even gain a single HP from "polishing" it smooth. As for the guy who was talking about the somewhat rough surface being better for flow. That's what I have always been told too, kind of like how a golfball has dimples in it. Like p&p heads, leave the intake dimpled and polish the exhuast.

corvet786c

iTrader: (6)

Correct me if I am wrong, Yes it is smooth, but can get smoother. Stock LS1 throttle body is smooth, then there are ported and polished. Why? Same concept for an Air Lid. That is just my opinion?

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

ported throttle bodies get rid of a large hump in front of the blade that disrupts flow...polishing a throttle body is not necessary

even with a smooth lid you still have a MAF and tb downstream, I would be surprised if there was so much as 0.05 hp gain

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

That last time I looked at my ported and polished throttle body, it wasn't a mirror finish. Aftermarket CNC heads also don't have a mirror finish. I just don't think the time and effort is worth the negligible gains you might receive from doing this.

As for the golf ball thing:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question...cs/q0215.shtml

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

I guess a better example would be an aluminum intake manifold vs. a plastic one - yes, the aluminum one can be polished all to hell, but when is the last time you've seen one put down numbers appreciably higher than the plastic ones available, "heat soak" aside?

In this case, I think the overall shape has more to do with performance than the surface finish.

Soul TKR

iTrader: (4)

I was working on the idea of this for a while about 8 months back... I started designing an air lid that could be made of metal and polished to give the BLING factor for those that would like that in their engine bay... as well as give some good flow numbers... however, I was never able to find a way to fabricate it... all the metal fabrication places I called either didn't have the capabilities, weren't interested, or the price was out of this world for tooling...

This wasn't the finished version of the lid of course, but was as far as I got when getting turned down by the fabrication companies...

wannafbody

iTrader: (2)

Plastic is so much easier to mold.