Phenolic spacers

[Motoman991]

I got the spacers on yesterday. I havent driven it any yet since some other things still need to be taken care of since it needed a trany swap. But anywas the car seemed to run just fine sitting there and i didnt have any issues with clearance.

 

[Mr. SHO]

Mine are going in today. I'm also tossing the butterfly plates and shaft.

Did you use the original gaskets, or did you just stick the spacers in and use engine paint to seal everything up?

 

[Motoman991]

I just sanded the gaskets some with some fine sand paper and just spray painted them. My dad hooked me up with some new gaskets that go on top of the surge tank where the air horn things go.

 

[Mr. SHO]

Got mine installed today, along with some new iridium enhanced spark plugs.

Fitment was perfect. My LIM gaskets were shot, so I just sprayed the phenolic spacers on both sides with high-temp paint and assembled everything while the paint was still wet. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how they perform, since I pulled out the butterflies and shafts and now I have to wait for the RTV to cure before I can start the car.

 

[Silvapain]

I put my spacer in a couple weeks ago. Reused the old LIM gaskets (after separating them, of course). I also pulled out my butterflys and shafts. Car still runs great.

 

[Motoman991]

Does pulling out the butterflys and shafts do anything for performance?

 

[Silvapain]

No, but neither does leaving them in. I noticed absolutely no difference in performance with butterflys working or not.

 

[Mr. SHO]

Does pulling out the butterflys and shafts do anything for performance?

That remains to be seen. I would think it would help at the higher rpms since those butterflies and shafts have to be introducing turbulence, even when they are wide open. You've looked in there at them so you know what I'm saying. Of course, the practical difference with them removed could be so small it's negligible.

I highly doubt anyone would spend the time and money on dyno testing just this one mod. That would involve opening the intake, cleaning everything up real nice, then dyno-ing several times, then going back in there and removing the butterflies and dyno-ing several times again. And there would still be speculation that any differences in output could be attributed to other incidental factors.

I guess someone could put the intake on a flow bench and show some improvements in flow, but again, that might not equate directly to a HP increase and there will always be doubters.

If nothing else, tossing them is worth a couple pounds of weight reduction.

 

[SHOZ123]

To really appreciate this mod you need to add fuel from 1k to 3.5k rpm with a chip or tuner.

FWIW the rod takes up 3 square inches of space in the intake track.

 

[2 4shofast]

I got mine today...thanks again Paul!!! More fun for Gen~~~

 

[BodylessSHO]

Can we still order these? I'd like a set, but wasn't around for the GB. If so, how much, and can I wait 2 weeks until I get paid?

 

[SHOZ123]

The washers

I took my upper intake off today to put in some more washers as I was short a couple back in April. And I guess we need 10 washers and not 8 eh? I will send two more for all that bought them at N/C.

But I found that they had compressed a bit over the 3 months they were on. So be aware that you will probably be wise to take the upper intake off and re-torque the LIM bolts after a 100 heat cycles or so......

 

[Mr. SHO]

You know, I was going to mention that... but with all the RTV combustion and other drama I forgot!

 

[SHOZ123]

Can we still order these? I'd like a set, but wasn't around for the GB. If so, how much, and can I wait 2 weeks until I get paid?

I still have a couple of sets. $80 shipping included.

 

[BodylessSHO]

What sort of gains are these going to give me? I understand this will cool down the engine, but what should I tell my girlfriend I'm buying these for?

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Because you want to.

You will not see huge power gains. It helps keep the intake cooler so you are not sucking in hot air at the stop light when Alex's old Sunflower pulls up next to you.

 

[SHOZ123]

The spacers will not cool off the engine. They will help slow down the transfer of heat from the heads to the intake manifold. This will help at the quarter mile or around town driving but don't expect miracles. Especially after the car sits for 20 minutes or so the spacers eventually get hot and the aluminum intake will suck up the heat through them then.

But while the engine is running the intake won't heat up due to the incoming air keeping it relatively cool.

 

[Wess]

What sort of gains are these going to give me? I understand this will cool down the engine, but what should I tell my girlfriend I'm buying these for?

They don't make ponies, they save ponies! Tell her your helping the environment!

 

[Motoman991]

Because you want to.

You will not see huge power gains. It helps keep the intake cooler so you are not sucking in hot air at the stop light when Alex's old Sunflower pulls up next to you.

lol watch out for them sunflowers