Smoothed Truck Intakes
#262
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The nbs or tbss intake are made for cathedral port heads. I don't have any #'s to back it up but the tbss intake definitely pulls harder above 5000 rpms.
#264
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The tbss intake is worth 15 horses or so over the basic truck intake.
http://www.hotrod.com/features/1507-20-ls1-intake-manifolds-tested/
http://www.hotrod.com/features/1507-20-ls1-intake-manifolds-tested/
#266
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HotRod did a comparison of 20 intakes, the TBSS was very good.
http://www.hotrod.com/features/1507-...ifolds-tested/
http://www.hotrod.com/features/1507-...ifolds-tested/
#269
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Each journey starts with the first step...wonder if I slipped? Day one of the smoothing process. Used a hole saw without the drill to cut the round bosses out. Think I'll move the MAP and PCV hose to the rear of the intake. Will also try to get full penetration with the plastic welding. Wish me luck!
#270
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Got things smoothed out a bit. Found out an easy way to do it. First use an air operated body saw to cut things off then to knock the ribs and stuff down to flush use an air operated aluminum rotary file. It has large widely spaced flutes that will not clog or overheat the material. Only took about 20 minutes to grind the ribs down. Plastic welded one small hole with my 40 watt iron and think I need more horsepower to melt things better.
#271
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Got the holes all plugged up. Again, found a quicker method that makes me feel better about the seal of the patch. I used my soldering gun (230/150W) and drive the end into the patch seam. It's hot enough to melt things around it and flow just a bit. Used filler as I went, sort of like TIG welding. In a few places I used black zip ties and ran the tip over everything to smooth it out better. After cooling I used a wood rasp to knock the edges down. Again, this was quick and didn't leave big groves in the material, just knocked the "welding" down. Now I have to relocate the PCV and MAP to the back but not sure if they should be in the large back cap or alongside of the brake booster fitting. Any inputs?
#272
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Have relocated the MAP to the rear plate but thinking about where to put the PCV hose. From other reads I have noticed the PCV system sucks a bunch of oil which means (to me) there is a little too much vacuum going thru the hose. I could relocate the hose bib to #7 runner which MAY cut down on the amount of vacuum but may also take some vacuum from the brake booster right above it. Any ideas? input?
#273
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Here's My intake for My 5.3 63 impala swap. Turned out decent for My first try. Im in the same boat. I got the intake all done and wondering about the ports for pcv,map fpr. Can I just run the brake booster hose to a vacuum block and run everything off of that?
#274
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Don't know about running to a block but here is something to think about. The brake booster and the MAP sensor are both dead end. What I mean is they are (should) be air tight so any vacuum seen at the intake should be the same on both the booster and MAP. The PCV is a different story. It's trying to draw a vacuum on the entire engine even if it is through a small hole in the PCV valve. Maybe it will only drop the vacuum by half an inch or maybe 2 inches...don't know. On a side note Pyro, did you use just a rattle can primer? Did you sand the whole intake before priming? I have some self etching primer that says it's good for metal and fiberglass. Wonder if it will bite into the intake? Says it has Ketones in it.
#275
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I will most likely drill and tap some brass fittings on the back of the intake. I only sanded the the top for smoothing. I used vht engine primer and enamel it's tough **** and holds up to the heat.
#276
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Got the intake smoothed and painted. Moved the MAP and PCV to the rear. Have to color sand and buff the top a bit to get rid of the orange peel then maybe put a few blue pinstripes on just to break things up a bit. Have an LS1 set of blue fuel rails coming. Some people say they won't fit on a 5.3 so stay tuned. I'm guessing all I will need to do is make a new set of brackets.
#277
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Looking good! It's about time that I'll be doing another soon. I've got two sitting here that I've chopped the crap off of the top and need to fill the holes. One NNBS and one regular.
The one that I plastic welded with no reinforcement over it is still on my truck, daily driving and working, but it's got two tiny vacuum leaks and you can see fractures from the welds. Been that way for a few months, but my to-do list is too long. So i'll likely drive it until I suck a hole into the intake. lol
Nah, but seriously, I'll get one of these other intakes done and swap it on, hopefully soon.
BTW, I'm a believer in the 3M Panel Bond. Love that stuff. I made one for a customer and used it to coat and reinforce the top. I expect much better results with that intake compared to mine without any coating on top.
The one that I plastic welded with no reinforcement over it is still on my truck, daily driving and working, but it's got two tiny vacuum leaks and you can see fractures from the welds. Been that way for a few months, but my to-do list is too long. So i'll likely drive it until I suck a hole into the intake. lol
Nah, but seriously, I'll get one of these other intakes done and swap it on, hopefully soon.
BTW, I'm a believer in the 3M Panel Bond. Love that stuff. I made one for a customer and used it to coat and reinforce the top. I expect much better results with that intake compared to mine without any coating on top.
Last edited by AGearHead4Life; 06-29-2016 at 11:19 AM. Reason: more info
#279
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In a comment under my YT video on shaving these, a guy said that he had coated his with stuff called "LabMetal" and had pushed 10psi of boost on it so far. He said that he'd get back with us this season after he turns the boost up.
#280
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all my pics are on my old phone, but when I smoothed mine I actually put a layer of fiberglass over top of the whole intake and smoothed it in just for added strength and security. I knew it was going to see a good bit of boost, and that intake got pretty thin in some areas.
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