TPI Intake Plenum inlet air restricting bump- kill it?
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
TPI Intake Plenum inlet air restricting bump- kill it?
My TPI-style FIRST fuel injection intake has this annoying air flow inhibiting bump right at the bottom of both the throttle body outlet and the plenum inlet.
I talked to Ken and on the actual TPI intakes it was for some sort of EGR inlet. I will NOT be implementing EGR so I'm thinking I should probably grind the thing out into oblivion and remove the air restriction.
Thoughts?
I understand all I'd be doing is moving the bump back and making it a more gradual ramp, but with the restriction right at the throttle body outlet it seems like the worst possible place for it. If I move it back 1-2 inches by grinding it down the bump doesn't happen until the midst of the plenum where the air speed has already slowed down and there's a lot more room.
To be honest, I already removed half of the bump, but my dremel sandpaper flapper wheel died in the middle so while I wait for new ones to show up, I figured I'd pump the brakes for a second...
Adam
I talked to Ken and on the actual TPI intakes it was for some sort of EGR inlet. I will NOT be implementing EGR so I'm thinking I should probably grind the thing out into oblivion and remove the air restriction.
Thoughts?
I understand all I'd be doing is moving the bump back and making it a more gradual ramp, but with the restriction right at the throttle body outlet it seems like the worst possible place for it. If I move it back 1-2 inches by grinding it down the bump doesn't happen until the midst of the plenum where the air speed has already slowed down and there's a lot more room.
To be honest, I already removed half of the bump, but my dremel sandpaper flapper wheel died in the middle so while I wait for new ones to show up, I figured I'd pump the brakes for a second...
Adam
Last edited by NewbVetteGuy; 02-12-2018 at 12:39 PM.
The following 2 users liked this post by ezobens:
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#3
Team Owner
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St. Jude Donor '05
Leave it be it wont restrict anything
Last edited by cv67; 02-12-2018 at 03:07 PM.
#4
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Yup, the bump is for the old EGR crap.
My builder ground it down and filled it when he ported my FIRST.
Attachment 48254201
My builder ground it down and filled it when he ported my FIRST.
Attachment 48254201
What did he fill it with? -I don't want to break through to any hollow cavities so it's good to know that if I make it perfectly flat that that will happen. I'm probably going to just clean it up from where it is now when my new flapper wheels get here, match the gasket to what I have and then grind the throttle body side to match and call it good.
What's the state of your build these days, Ezobens? You get the CAI figured out?
Adam
#6
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Yup, the bump is for the old EGR crap.
My builder ground it down and filled it when he ported my FIRST.
Attachment 48254201
My builder ground it down and filled it when he ported my FIRST.
Attachment 48254201
Adam
#7
Drifting
OMG that's beautiful! And insanely time-consuming / expensive-looking.
What did he fill it with? -I don't want to break through to any hollow cavities so it's good to know that if I make it perfectly flat that that will happen. I'm probably going to just clean it up from where it is now when my new flapper wheels get here, match the gasket to what I have and then grind the throttle body side to match and call it good.
What's the state of your build these days, Ezobens? You get the CAI figured out?
Adam
What did he fill it with? -I don't want to break through to any hollow cavities so it's good to know that if I make it perfectly flat that that will happen. I'm probably going to just clean it up from where it is now when my new flapper wheels get here, match the gasket to what I have and then grind the throttle body side to match and call it good.
What's the state of your build these days, Ezobens? You get the CAI figured out?
Adam
Yeah, my builder said it was the first and last one of these he was porting just due to the labor involved.
The EGR tube will need to be filled if you grind it down.
I believe he used block fill- The stuff they use to fill-up water jackets.
I suspect you could use JB Weld or something similar as well.
I'm neck deep in the CAI issue right now.
The biggest challenge is that the TPI sits so far forward and with the MAF on top of it really gives almost no room to play with.
I decided to go with the 82' core support for more air flow and ended up getting a new radiator while I was at it (talk about project creep!).
#8
Drifting
Elm
#9
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St. Jude Donor '05
welcome to tpi porting...lol the time spent is rediculous not many guys want to fool with them. At least you sprung for a good one instead of fooling with a factory piece- you can make good power with a FIRST
#10
Drifting
#11
Le Mans Master
Somewhat similar, but I port matched my 82 crossfire manifold with my trusty dremel. Took one whole day per port. Ears got tired of the high pitch of the tool. Anyway, to the point, I took off the egr runner and filled the hole with JB weld and then smoothed the whole thing over. Wish I had pictures, but I lost them all when Crossfire Injection Forum went ka-put. Pictures stored there. Good ole Ken73 deleted all my pictures over a dispute. But he is long gone and I am still here.
#12
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St. Jude Donor '05
It will youll love it ezobens.
Last edited by cv67; 02-12-2018 at 06:00 PM.
#13
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
The EGR tube will need to be filled if you grind it down.
I believe he used block fill- The stuff they use to fill-up water jackets.
I suspect you could use JB Weld or something similar as well.
I'm neck deep in the CAI issue right now.
The biggest challenge is that the TPI sits so far forward and with the MAF on top of it really gives almost no room to play with.
I decided to go with the 82' core support for more air flow and ended up getting a new radiator while I was at it (talk about project creep!).
I believe he used block fill- The stuff they use to fill-up water jackets.
I suspect you could use JB Weld or something similar as well.
I'm neck deep in the CAI issue right now.
The biggest challenge is that the TPI sits so far forward and with the MAF on top of it really gives almost no room to play with.
I decided to go with the 82' core support for more air flow and ended up getting a new radiator while I was at it (talk about project creep!).
Are you going with a stock GM TPI ECU?
I don't even have the option for MAF as I went with Holley EFI and they're MAP-only.
I am getting a new radiator as well, but now I'm curious about the 82 core support? -you're talking about the bracket that goes under the radiator, right? -Does the 82 core support lower the radiator to give more clearance to run CAI up and over or something?
Adam
Last edited by NewbVetteGuy; 02-13-2018 at 12:34 PM.
#15
Drifting
I'm done with grinding mine down then; I do NOT want to deal with filling the EGR passage. I'm just going to clean it up so it looks a bit more pretty and gasket match it, then match the throttle body bump to the gasket and call it good..
Are you going with a stock GM TPI ECU?
I don't even have the option for MAF as I went with Holley EFI and they're MAP-only.
I am getting a new radiator as well, but now I'm curious about the 82 core support? -you're talking about the bracket that goes under the radiator, right? -Does the 82 core support lower the radiator to give more clearance to run CAI up and over or something?
Adam
Are you going with a stock GM TPI ECU?
I don't even have the option for MAF as I went with Holley EFI and they're MAP-only.
I am getting a new radiator as well, but now I'm curious about the 82 core support? -you're talking about the bracket that goes under the radiator, right? -Does the 82 core support lower the radiator to give more clearance to run CAI up and over or something?
Adam
Yes, I am using the GM 1220411 PCM for my install, which is an LS PCM not a TPI PCM from the 80's-90's. I'm tuning it to work with the TPI (sequential injection, 1 coil configuration).
Elm
#16
Drifting
The challenge I seem to be having with this site is that I can upload like 1 pic and then the upload tool doesn't seem to work again unless I reboot and try again. Very annoying and I can't figure out why I'm having the issue since my pics are within posted size limits..
#17
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Here's the weird thing: I talked to Ken @ FIRST and he said that the intake's EGR passage is solid cast now; it's not drilled out, nor cast with an EGR passage way... I'm confused why yours had to be filled.
Did you ask to have the EGR passageway put in yours?
-I know he keeps slowly changing stuff with the FIRST overtime, but now I'm confused why yours broke through into an EGR passageway that supposedly doesn't exist on mine...
Adam
Did you ask to have the EGR passageway put in yours?
-I know he keeps slowly changing stuff with the FIRST overtime, but now I'm confused why yours broke through into an EGR passageway that supposedly doesn't exist on mine...
Adam
#18
Race Director
Not that this matters....but has anyone every tried this.
I have and it works.
I often times get customers that want to get that last little bit out of their engine for whatever the reason.
I will say that doing an intake for an engine with a carburetor is something I would not do if the car is street driven.
DUB
I have and it works.
I often times get customers that want to get that last little bit out of their engine for whatever the reason.
I will say that doing an intake for an engine with a carburetor is something I would not do if the car is street driven.
DUB
#19
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Not that this matters....but has anyone every tried this.
I have and it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QBc59YZYxA
I often times get customers that want to get that last little bit out of their engine for whatever the reason.
I will say that doing an intake for an engine with a carburetor is something I would not do if the car is street driven.
DUB
I have and it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QBc59YZYxA
I often times get customers that want to get that last little bit out of their engine for whatever the reason.
I will say that doing an intake for an engine with a carburetor is something I would not do if the car is street driven.
DUB
I also had the FIRST intake and my combo modeled in EA Pro by a guy on ThirdGen and increasing the inside diameter on the FIRST intake runners loses me more torque than it gains me in HP in the RPM and displacement that I'm using.
Maybe if I had one of those big cubic inch FIRST builds it would be different but with my 350 cubic inches now and 383 in the future and my desire RPM peak of 6,300, it's a move backwards after emptying my wallet.
Adam
Last edited by NewbVetteGuy; 02-13-2018 at 07:25 PM.
#20
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
The cost to have a full TPI or FIRST intake extrude honed back in 2008 was $900... My entire FIRST intake only cost me $1,050...
I can't remember how much material one pass of extrude honing removed but I think it was 1/10th of an inch... for $900?!?
I can't remember how much material one pass of extrude honing removed but I think it was 1/10th of an inch... for $900?!?