Bargain week

gmfan24 · February 5, 2017

gmfan24 · February 6, 2017

$9.63 later and my inlet is 90% there.

There's a 96-99 Aurora intake tube, a K&N 3.5" epdm elbow (from an E150 with a CAI on it!), a Spectre 4" epdm coupler and a Spectre 4" x 3.5" epdm coupler both from an F150 with the CAI. Also shown is an aluminum pcv tubw from a 4.5L Cadillac. Not a bad score... Yes, I am an accomplished junkyard scrounger...

gmfan24 · February 6, 2017

I may have to do 4" from the MAF to the supercharger inlet, as the 4.3L tubes are a funky 3.8" OD. Not my first choice, but I may do something with pvc pipe...EEK!

gmfan24 · February 6, 2017

I'll sleep on it. Maybe a solution will come to me in a dream.

gmfan24 · February 7, 2017

I'll keep scrounging for some 3.5" or 4" plastic tubes, as pvc though lightweight, infinitely configurable, and cheap, it's only rated for 140°F. Sounds good except for the proximity of it to the radiator and upper hose.

gmfan24 · February 7, 2017

I did also find a Dorman intake manifold on a Silverado at upullit. Yes I bought it to play with. It'll go in the pile of parts for my LM4.

Stopped at my favorite quarter carwash on the way home. Gotta love a carwash with an engine cleaner setting for the spray gun.

I should probably relegate this to my LM4 topic...

gmfan24 · February 7, 2017

I got all of the gaskets and mounting hardware except for 3 of the little screws.

gmfan24 · February 7, 2017

Little update on the intake manifold... upon using a Q-tip to get the water out of the screw holes, the threads came out of one of the bosses for mounting the fuel rail. Perhaps threaded inserts are in order. I do not care much for screwing right into plastic.

gmfan24 · February 8, 2017

I don't believe it's a bargain anymore, since I have a $200 Vortech inlet assembly that I can't use most of...

gmfan24 · February 10, 2017

Made a little progress on the inlet today. From top to bottom are a complete 4.3L intake tube, one with the flexible boot removed, and one with the flexible boot and MAF connector and 90° bend removed. I cut it the old fashioned way, with a hacksaw and a hose clamp for alignment.

A 96-99 V8 truck intake boot.

Bad camera angle, the OD of the 4.3L intake tube is about 3.75". This is the cut end.

ID of the 96-99 V8 truck intake boot end is about 3.625".

I won't lie, I used a heat gun to make the end of the boot more pliable so I could get it over the end of the tube. It's so tight that I doubt a clamp is required to keep it on. I certainly agree with the looks of oem parts too.

A look down the boot. Looks pretty free flowing to me...

gmfan24 · February 10, 2017

Forgot to mention the part number of the tubes, in case anyone is interested. I will be mechanically removing them, and the casting flash on the seams.

gmfan24 · February 16, 2017

Got tired of fooling around with the oddball 3.75"OD tubes. Went ahead and ordered a 3.5"OD Airaid UBI tube and some 3.5"ID couplers from Speedway Motors. Should have them tomorrow, which also happened to be the start of my 3 day weekend with 65-70 degree weather no less.

And one of these, should I see fit to go to 4" intake tube later.

Interesting how the set of 3 is cheaper than the one for the 85mm MAF by itself...

gmfan24 · February 17, 2017

Okey dokey, here we go. I did some minor reconfiguring of the discharge. Basically I rotated the silicone tee for the bypass valve about 180°. This did 3 things, freed up sone space behind the inlet duct, made routing the bybass hose a lot easier, and pointed the vacuum connection towards the intake instead of away from it.

My Airaid 3.5"OD UBI tube.

First cut piece. Just a 90 with a long leg on one end. I wish I could have gotten more pics but it was almost trial and error.

The finished product...for now. I used a couple of the softer bends to get around the upper hose. I'll get some better pics from the sides tomorrow. Nothing is touching anything else.

gmfan24 · February 18, 2017

Would have had at least a half dozen more pics, but I have been fighting the flu all week, and lets just say I needed a bucket shortly after I finished up this afternoon ?.

gmfan24 · February 18, 2017

As they say, the devil is in the details. Not apparent in the previous pics, I haven't relocated the IAT sensor yet. Had to figure out a good place for it first. I decided that in the aluminum tube between the bypass valve and the throttle body would be the best place for the time being. So last night I prepared the tube to accept a thread-in IAT sensor.

Hate to booger up a polished piece, but it couldn't be avoided. I used a step bit to drill a hole close to the OD of the NPT bung that I got from Summit Racing, then finished it with a drum sander on my Dremel. After that, I deburred and prepped the surface for welding with a well seasoned 80 grit flapwheel, also on my Dremel. I also roughed up the sides of the bung, as it was quite shiny from machining.

Yes, I slipped twice with the Dremel. Still not feeling 100%. Got everything cleaned up with steaming hot water and paper towels. Going to use a MIG welder with aluminum spool gun attachment today. Might actually have this thing done this weekend.