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I don't get around to the forum like I used to. I bought a cathedral port Hi Ram a few months ago. Returned it for the same reason. Its off everywhere. Spend bucks on ported heads only to put that piece of crap on. Don't think so. Jegs took it back no questions asked.
Sir, if I had half the skills as you as a fabricator; I would have never considered buying a manifold. The one that you fabricated is simply a work of art. Then again, I wouldn't feel right driving a car with an engine that looked that good.
Quick update. Holley did stand behind the product and send a new one as a warranty replacement.
The bad news is the fitment on this one is probably worst than the first. I wonder what in the hell magazines get as the sample units that they write glorious reviews about. I suppose port alignment is not a big deal to airflow. Well for all interested, here is the port alignment on the second base.
Don't be a sucker for the magazine articles that don't show you what you need to see before buying.
Both units were drop shipped from Holley's warehouse. Since the ports do align with regard to their bank, I will get the runners cut off, and weld up a new plenum to fix the issue as this will be cheaper than fabricating a whole intake from scratch, or just another very expensive lesson.
If you are so inclined to torque to spec on this thing, get a set of ball end socket wrenches. There is no way I could get my torque wrench with a socket on it in the space between the runner and top on the sides of the manifold.
FWIW, I had mine port matched by Brett over at Landspeed in Indianapolis last year. I believe his experience with getting the these runnerrs to match is such that he won't do them ever again LOL
Those look good. I saw Wilson's work in Hot Rod. That'll probably be the best option considering how off they are. How bad were yours before they were matched?
I'm not sure since I was in the middle of rebuilding the motor and had already sent the heads up to Landspeed for port work. It took a few months, but the result was well worth it considering the alternative shown in the pics in post 22.
Sir, if I had half the skills as you as a fabricator; I would have never considered buying a manifold. The one that you fabricated is simply a work of art. Then again, I wouldn't feel right driving a car with an engine that looked that good.
Dude,
If the Holley worked out, that's what I would have on my motor. The pics of the new one is ridiculous. From what I saw on mine, by the time you got the ports to match the wall on the Holley will be paper thin. I think most people do not even check it out. I see you have ported heads. Are you really going to compromise all of that? I fully understand your situation. I liked the looks but you will never know what kind of performance you are leaving on the table with ports that are like a quarter inch off. I couldn't do it. I sent it back. One thing, I was not willing to polish the whole damn thing knowing how mismatched it is. That was part of the deal breaker. Would not judge you if you kept it. It does look kind of cool.
That looks like ****. How the hell do they sell these things if they're that bad? You would think the competition with Edelbrock would make them put out a quality piece.
Dude,
If the Holley worked out, that's what I would have on my motor. The pics of the new one is ridiculous. From what I saw on mine, by the time you got the ports to match the wall on the Holley will be paper thin. I think most people do not even check it out. I see you have ported heads. Are you really going to compromise all of that? I fully understand your situation. I liked the looks but you will never know what kind of performance you are leaving on the table with ports that are like a quarter inch off. I couldn't do it. I sent it back. One thing, I was not willing to polish the whole damn thing knowing how mismatched it is. That was part of the deal breaker. Would not judge you if you kept it. It does look kind of cool.
Ignorance is bliss, but knowing how much it's off, there is no way I can run it. I talked to Wilson, and they can fabricate a new plenum to get everything in alignment for substantially less than a 100% fabricated intake. Luckily the runners in each bank align pretty good. They' also weld up the existing bolt holes to bring them back in line. Also it would get bead blasted to make everything have the as-cast look.
I am looking at a few other options before committing to any manifold. Whatever I do, it'll be built to the heads to eliminate any potential for error. I guess this is just one of those dirty little secrets that everyone else knew about and just doesn't want to discuss. I wouldn't have been nearly as upset if it weren't for the fact that the old truck manifold I have laying around fit perfectly.
That looks like ****. How the hell do they sell these things if they're that bad? You would think the competition with Edelbrock would make them put out a quality piece.
I'm wondering the same thing. It seems like it has received the aftermarket blessing. I guess my standards need to be lowered to get inline with the rest of the aftermarket. It must be extremely lucrative as a publisher to write rave reviews about a product and just ignore issues like this.
I don't doubt this may be a good intake once it is fixed, but I would have been a lot happier just buying runners, and building a manifold around them. $300 seems reasonable for a set of blank runners.
I would love to see some pictures of this manifold fitting with reasonable port alignment before rework just so I don't feel like we are getting **** dumped on us. I had the Edelbrock single plane, and fitment was much better. I would've had to run a huge cowl hood to fit it with the DBW throttle body, though.
I'm wondering the same thing. It seems like it has received the aftermarket blessing. I guess my standards need to be lowered to get inline with the rest of the aftermarket. It must be extremely lucrative as a publisher to write rave reviews about a product and just ignore issues like this.
I don't doubt this may be a good intake once it is fixed, but I would have been a lot happier just buying runners, and building a manifold around them. $300 seems reasonable for a set of blank runners.
I would love to see some pictures of this manifold fitting with reasonable port alignment before rework just so I don't feel like we are getting **** dumped on us. I had the Edelbrock single plane, and fitment was much better. I would've had to run a huge cowl hood to fit it with the DBW throttle body, though.
Here's your pic back, I'd cut the red & orange sections out, slide the red section to where it lines up, trim/move the orange section to the other end, and weld away. I don't weld aluminum, but that weld job here would be way less than $300. Plan on taking a block with heads & gaskets installed to use as an alignment jig...
Really old post - my hi ram is getting delivered today...
S10-GX, your picture is cutting the wrong side and sliding the wrong direction. It'll make it worse. Just an observation but the idea is right. Other than the bolt holes will be jacked with this change.
The two I've had drop shipped from Holley around the time I posted were exactly the same. The first one was slightly better than the second one, so maybe you'll luck up and get one where casting shift aligns the ports relatively good.
Really old post - my hi ram is getting delivered today...
S10-GX, your picture is cutting the wrong side and sliding the wrong direction. It'll make it worse. Just an observation but the idea is right. Other than the bolt holes will be jacked with this change.
It was more an idea than a blueprint. Hope yours fits better than the OP's...
Yes my LS3 Hi-Ram fit much better than yours did. Very minor cleanup needed to make heads and intake align properly. Got car started after almost 3 years a couple weeks back and still tending to other issues but it ran
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