FAST 102 Questions and need advice
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 305
Likes: 1
From: Houston, Texas
FAST 102 Questions and need advice So everytime I look into getting a FAST 102, it keeps getting more expensive, complicated and frustrating. I know I want one but I need to know ALL of what I need.
I know I need new Injectors, new fuel rails, fuel line adapter?, Throttle body, new 104mm Lid (will it even fit the factory Z28 hood?), New 100mm MAF, Some Hose between the MAF and the TB, and a retune. I also heard something about cutting my water pump?
It's getting a bit crazy lol. Like intake is $800 but it'll cost over $2k by the time its on the car and using it.
So naturally I have some questions.
Thanks for the help! I am kind of frustrated with all the complications and extras required to work. I will get it to work though. I will Also get some heads soon thereafter.
I know I need new Injectors, new fuel rails, fuel line adapter?, Throttle body, new 104mm Lid (will it even fit the factory Z28 hood?), New 100mm MAF, Some Hose between the MAF and the TB, and a retune. I also heard something about cutting my water pump?
It's getting a bit crazy lol. Like intake is $800 but it'll cost over $2k by the time its on the car and using it.
So naturally I have some questions.
- Hows Drivability? Does this setup drive like crap with a good tuner?
- How much of a role do injectors play in all this? I know there are all different kind of options so I am curious.
- If I am dynoing at 410 right now (I have evidence of making more but thats what the dyno said), what can I expect to make after this investment?
- Why do I need to grind my water pump? I was going to get a new Flowkooler pump here very soon, and I dont want to cut up an expensive pump.
- ANYTHING else I need lol? I always come accross something else I need everytime I look lol.
- Where do I get the smooth bellow for the setup?
- Lastly, once I get this intake, Should I port my 243's or get some PRC 227's? How much of a difference would it make spending extra coin on 227's? I would really like to see 475 rwhp+.
Thanks for the help! I am kind of frustrated with all the complications and extras required to work. I will get it to work though. I will Also get some heads soon thereafter.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 305
Likes: 1
From: Houston, Texas
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 305
Likes: 1
From: Houston, Texas
Well yeah if I had like $5k-$6k laying around I would totally consider that, or a procharger lmao. Just dropped $7K on the engine couple months ago lol and I still need a 12-bolt or 9".
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 305
Likes: 1
From: Houston, Texas
Gotcha. But you would also need new injectors for the Fast as well, plus the other harware. I'm not trying to steer you away from the 102, I just think doing the heads is definitely a better bang for the buck
So everytime I look into getting a FAST 102, it keeps getting more expensive, complicated and frustrating. I know I want one but I need to know ALL of what I need.
I know I need new Injectors, new fuel rails, fuel line adapter?, Throttle body, new 104mm Lid (will it even fit the factory Z28 hood?), New 100mm MAF, Some Hose between the MAF and the TB, and a retune. I also heard something about cutting my water pump?
It's getting a bit crazy lol. Like intake is $800 but it'll cost over $2k by the time its on the car and using it.
So naturally I have some questions.
Thanks for the help! I am kind of frustrated with all the complications and extras required to work. I will get it to work though. I will Also get some heads soon thereafter.
I know I need new Injectors, new fuel rails, fuel line adapter?, Throttle body, new 104mm Lid (will it even fit the factory Z28 hood?), New 100mm MAF, Some Hose between the MAF and the TB, and a retune. I also heard something about cutting my water pump?
It's getting a bit crazy lol. Like intake is $800 but it'll cost over $2k by the time its on the car and using it.
So naturally I have some questions.
- Hows Drivability? Does this setup drive like crap with a good tuner?
- How much of a role do injectors play in all this? I know there are all different kind of options so I am curious.
- If I am dynoing at 410 right now (I have evidence of making more but thats what the dyno said), what can I expect to make after this investment?
- Why do I need to grind my water pump? I was going to get a new Flowkooler pump here very soon, and I dont want to cut up an expensive pump.
- ANYTHING else I need lol? I always come accross something else I need everytime I look lol.
- Where do I get the smooth bellow for the setup?
- Lastly, once I get this intake, Should I port my 243's or get some PRC 227's? How much of a difference would it make spending extra coin on 227's? I would really like to see 475 rwhp+.
Thanks for the help! I am kind of frustrated with all the complications and extras required to work. I will get it to work though. I will Also get some heads soon thereafter.
- Driveability is not bad if you have a good tuner and a good throttle body. IMO, the throttle body set up has more to do with the driveability than the intake itself. Now, being honest here, FAST 102 is harder to tune than LS6 intake. The fast102 throttle leaves a lot to be desired. The nick Williams is a better starting point, but I still ended up doing some modifications to get a stable idle.
- I got the EV1 style injectors (tall, narrow body) and have no issues. FAST sends oversized O-rings with their intake. You need the oversized O-rings to seal up the ports. Little bit of silicone grease to prevent pinching the O-ring and making a vacuum leak. I also run the FAST fuel rail with spacers. Others have run LS2/3 hardware with no issues. YMMV.
- Dyno gains will depend on the bottleneck. If the intake was holding you back, you might gain more than average. If the exhaust is holding you back or the heads are, you'll gain less than average.
- Waterpump grinding is typically necessary on stock castings with the stock WP. I run aftermarket (mamo) castings and an electric water pump and had no clearance issues or grinding. Again, YMMV.
- Anything else - yes, the MAP sensor. if you try to hook it up like stock, it will bump the firewall. Some will remote mount the MAF, others mount it tot he front. I rotated mine and mounted vertically in the stock location with a fender washer. I recommend SD, as the larger card style MAF puts an obstruction in front of the TB and you don't get good laminar flow anyway across the MAF on a F-body with a 102 set up. A screen helps, but SD seems to run better IMO.
- smooth bellows, use google. I found what I needed by being creative at home depot
- Heads. No big shocker here: I'm going to suggest you go aftermarket castings. Especially if you're aiming higher than 475 on a 5.7. There are vendors that do tremendous work on 243 port jobs, no doubt, but there are some advantages to the AM castings, such as improved runner flow paths, raised valves for improved PTV. IMO, the Mamo 220 is tough to beat. He's also got a sportsman 223 that is a bit easier on the wallet. Trick flow 220's are also very good heads, as are PRC. There's really not a bad AM head out there in recent memory. Even the AFR 205's from ten years ago still hold their own. CAN you hit 475 on ported 243 heads? Yes you can, and there are plenty of threads where guys did it. It typically requires bigger cam vs aftermarket heads to hit the numbers.
Completely understand the frustration, and there's so much info out there for good and bad. In the end, and you probably don't want to hear this, if you truly want the big power numbers AND you want to drive the thing on a somewhat regular basis, you're going to end up paying for premium parts. It will end up cheaper to budget for them and buy them once. Say for example, you port your heads, then decide you want more - would have been cheaper to just buy the top end heads vs buying heads twice. Plus every tear down means fluids and gaskets, which rarely get figured into costs.
Also, consider when you pull your heads for whichever path going to a shorter travel lifter vs the stock lifters. You still have power to gain in optimizing your valve train beyond the cam swap. The closer you get to solid, the less power you leave on the table. As the motor can move more air and rev better, the FAST102 will become more valuable.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 305
Likes: 1
From: Houston, Texas
Here is my direct experience with the FAST102, FWIW, which isn't much. I won't really get into pricing and such, because so many different options, and I prefer to let vendors speak for themselves on money. BUT here goes...
Completely understand the frustration, and there's so much info out there for good and bad. In the end, and you probably don't want to hear this, if you truly want the big power numbers AND you want to drive the thing on a somewhat regular basis, you're going to end up paying for premium parts. It will end up cheaper to budget for them and buy them once. Say for example, you port your heads, then decide you want more - would have been cheaper to just buy the top end heads vs buying heads twice. Plus every tear down means fluids and gaskets, which rarely get figured into costs.
Also, consider when you pull your heads for whichever path going to a shorter travel lifter vs the stock lifters. You still have power to gain in optimizing your valve train beyond the cam swap. The closer you get to solid, the less power you leave on the table. As the motor can move more air and rev better, the FAST102 will become more valuable.
- Driveability is not bad if you have a good tuner and a good throttle body. IMO, the throttle body set up has more to do with the driveability than the intake itself. Now, being honest here, FAST 102 is harder to tune than LS6 intake. The fast102 throttle leaves a lot to be desired. The nick Williams is a better starting point, but I still ended up doing some modifications to get a stable idle.
- I got the EV1 style injectors (tall, narrow body) and have no issues. FAST sends oversized O-rings with their intake. You need the oversized O-rings to seal up the ports. Little bit of silicone grease to prevent pinching the O-ring and making a vacuum leak. I also run the FAST fuel rail with spacers. Others have run LS2/3 hardware with no issues. YMMV.
- Dyno gains will depend on the bottleneck. If the intake was holding you back, you might gain more than average. If the exhaust is holding you back or the heads are, you'll gain less than average.
- Waterpump grinding is typically necessary on stock castings with the stock WP. I run aftermarket (mamo) castings and an electric water pump and had no clearance issues or grinding. Again, YMMV.
- Anything else - yes, the MAP sensor. if you try to hook it up like stock, it will bump the firewall. Some will remote mount the MAF, others mount it tot he front. I rotated mine and mounted vertically in the stock location with a fender washer. I recommend SD, as the larger card style MAF puts an obstruction in front of the TB and you don't get good laminar flow anyway across the MAF on a F-body with a 102 set up. A screen helps, but SD seems to run better IMO.
- smooth bellows, use google. I found what I needed by being creative at home depot
- Heads. No big shocker here: I'm going to suggest you go aftermarket castings. Especially if you're aiming higher than 475 on a 5.7. There are vendors that do tremendous work on 243 port jobs, no doubt, but there are some advantages to the AM castings, such as improved runner flow paths, raised valves for improved PTV. IMO, the Mamo 220 is tough to beat. He's also got a sportsman 223 that is a bit easier on the wallet. Trick flow 220's are also very good heads, as are PRC. There's really not a bad AM head out there in recent memory. Even the AFR 205's from ten years ago still hold their own. CAN you hit 475 on ported 243 heads? Yes you can, and there are plenty of threads where guys did it. It typically requires bigger cam vs aftermarket heads to hit the numbers.
Completely understand the frustration, and there's so much info out there for good and bad. In the end, and you probably don't want to hear this, if you truly want the big power numbers AND you want to drive the thing on a somewhat regular basis, you're going to end up paying for premium parts. It will end up cheaper to budget for them and buy them once. Say for example, you port your heads, then decide you want more - would have been cheaper to just buy the top end heads vs buying heads twice. Plus every tear down means fluids and gaskets, which rarely get figured into costs.
Also, consider when you pull your heads for whichever path going to a shorter travel lifter vs the stock lifters. You still have power to gain in optimizing your valve train beyond the cam swap. The closer you get to solid, the less power you leave on the table. As the motor can move more air and rev better, the FAST102 will become more valuable.
As far as the water pump clearance is concerned, If I am replacing my pump soon anyways, is there one that I can buy that will allow me to forgo grinding it?
The guys over at HHP wanted me to do a 100mm MAF and 104mm lid with the setup I have now, which would have been nice but after a new engine I was just trying to drive it. They also told me they have experience tuning those MAF's so I am hoping he can dial it in.
I was looking at different injector options. Probably in the 36-42 range. I just wasn't sure if there are some better than others and what the differences are. Injector dynamics makes a 750cc injector thats super nice?
What do you think about the PRC 227cc heads?
Thanks for your response and input. As far as the water pump clearance is concerned, If I am replacing my pump soon anyways, is there one that I can buy that will allow me to forgo grinding it? The guys over at HHP wanted me to do a 100mm MAF and 104mm lid with the setup I have now, which would have been nice but after a new engine I was just trying to drive it. They also told me they have experience tuning those MAF's so I am hoping he can dial it in. I was looking at different injector options. Probably in the 36-42 range. I just wasn't sure if there are some better than others and what the differences are. Injector dynamics makes a 750cc injector thats super nice? What do you think about the PRC 227cc heads?
For injectors, the best option at your power level is the gtp 36# injectors. I run 39# injectors and I get 70-80 injectors duty cycle.
The PRC isn't a bad head. I would tell you if you're planning to spend for aftermarket heads, might as well step up to the good stuff instead of wondering what if. But it's all money.
1.Ive had the FAST 102 on the 346 and now on the 402, its all in the tuner. Using the NW102 TB mine took some time with a great tuner to get right.
2.Ive been running the FAST 42lb injectors, with the stock ls2 rails
3. 10-15hp or more with it ported
4.I run a ls2 water pump no grinding needed
I like TEA/TFS for heads. I am still running the 215s from them that I used on my 346 that made 462hp and now 515hp on a 402(had them opened up to 4" bore). Its all in the cam/head selection. My 346 had an EPS 226/234 cam and made great power. I am now at 242/246 and can surprise some people.
I too went to a SD tune. No restriction for airflow and drives just the same.
2.Ive been running the FAST 42lb injectors, with the stock ls2 rails
3. 10-15hp or more with it ported
4.I run a ls2 water pump no grinding needed
I like TEA/TFS for heads. I am still running the 215s from them that I used on my 346 that made 462hp and now 515hp on a 402(had them opened up to 4" bore). Its all in the cam/head selection. My 346 had an EPS 226/234 cam and made great power. I am now at 242/246 and can surprise some people.
I too went to a SD tune. No restriction for airflow and drives just the same.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,845
Likes: 255
From: Coast of San Mateo County Between Pacifica & HMB
Great and extremely valuable info from Darth!
If you truly want 475+, really 500 RWHP and the
Ability to daily drive and Enjoy your ride,
Read his build thread and
5 liter eaters as well and you will Know what it takes and
Have a Masters in Knowledge, saving a lot of time
And Money on the journey, and it will be a journey
LOL, Choose your partner/vendor wisely.
Good luck!
If you truly want 475+, really 500 RWHP and the
Ability to daily drive and Enjoy your ride,
Read his build thread and
5 liter eaters as well and you will Know what it takes and
Have a Masters in Knowledge, saving a lot of time
And Money on the journey, and it will be a journey
LOL, Choose your partner/vendor wisely.
Good luck!
1.Ive had the FAST 102 on the 346 and now on the 402, its all in the tuner. Using the NW102 TB mine took some time with a great tuner to get right. 2.Ive been running the FAST 42lb injectors, with the stock ls2 rails 3. 10-15hp or more with it ported 4.I run a ls2 water pump no grinding needed I like TEA/TFS for heads. I am still running the 215s from them that I used on my 346 that made 462hp and now 515hp on a 402(had them opened up to 4" bore). Its all in the cam/head selection. My 346 had an EPS 226/234 cam and made great power. I am now at 242/246 and can surprise some people. I too went to a SD tune. No restriction for airflow and drives just the same.
I too went to a SD tune. No restriction for airflow and drives just the same.I really like those über head and mid sized cam builds. They run so fast and yet can DD. Break a lot of br0 hearts
But anyway, OP, I think that's two completely different aftermarket head builds that didn't have to grind away. Hope that helps
And Navy - thanks! I'll PayPal you that $20 later
Tony makes some great stuff!! I wouldn't hesitate to use his stuff, ive got one his 102s now . Ive had 2 sets of heads from TEA the 5.7 stg 1 and the 215s which I purchased after seeing Chris1313 and his build years ago pushed me that way. I also had some issues on the first set of heads (5.7Stg1) and that was when Brian was still at TEA and he went way above and beyond any customers expectations. He would be right up there with TEA and MAMO to order another set from.
. Ive had 2 sets of heads from TEA the 5.7 stg 1 and the 215s which I purchased after seeing Chris1313 and his build years ago pushed me that way. I also had some issues on the first set of heads (5.7Stg1) and that was when Brian was still at TEA and he went way above and beyond any customers expectations. He would be right up there with TEA and MAMO to order another set from. 
TECH Junkie
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 3,048
Likes: 714
From: Poplarville, MS
You will have to grind the LS1 water pump to get the mouth of the intake and TB to clear. I am told that a LS2 water pump will clear without any grinding. My experience is with the Trick Flow 220s. I also used stock style injectors with LS2 fuel rails. My tuner said he wouldn’t tune the car if I didn’t use a NW102 TB.