Hi everyone,

I just bought an old super ram intake and I noticed it looks a little different then the pictures I've seen of other super rams.

The lid on mine is smooth rather than 'finned' and is held down by 27 small fasteners. The gasket for the lid I got from LPE has only 17 bolt holes arranged in a different pattern. All the pictures of other Super rams I've seen seem to have the same bolt pattern as the gasket I got from LPE.

Did the look of the plenium lid and number of bolts change part way through the production of the Super ram intakes?


Here's a picture, it's pretty worn out looking but I will be refurbishing It before install...

 

We made a casting for my SR with an embedded C4 emblem. The casting was based off the original finned lid which does not have as many fasteners as yours.

 

That is one sharp looking super ram and one beautiful engine you have.

My lid just seems to be a piece of flat 1/8th aluminum, I might make a nicer looking lid. Still wonder why mine has more bolts in a different pattern than the other super ram's i've seen? maybe mine is an early production batch?

 

Sounds like the previous owner cut his own lid and tapped extra holes to get it to seal.

 

The PO may have made the lid, not sure why since I think the finned ones look better, but who knows.

I also thought the PO might have tapped extra holes, but the only thing is that none of the holes line up with the bolt holes in the gasket I got from LPE, the bolt pattern Is different as well as there being more bolts and they are all evenly spaced, no sign of any holes being filled in either. Which made me curious if there was a change in the design part way through the production run or maybe different lid designs were optional?

 

Sure looks that way.

 

Yes it looks to me that he cut it down to try to make it seal up properly, they are notorious for vac leaks for that reason.

Either way, I do not know of any change they made at LPE in production of the intake.

 

Beautiful engine bay there fellow NEOn

 

Very nice. What did it take to make a casting like that?

Anything a DIY'er could reproduce?

 

Anyone have a unit for sale?

Richard Newton
Valve Trains 101

 

I disagree about even spacing. Look at the spacing of the bolts from the edge of the lid. It varies. I suspect the spacing between bolts isn't exact...to the hundredth if you check that too.

It looks shallower, so it might have been cut down. One of this forum's highest profile tuners talked to Lingenfelter "back in the day". The scuttle-butt was he liked the superram design but hated the execution. It had too many problems with LEAKING. That's why this member avoided them...and talked me out of getting one.

That doesn't mean people can't get them to seal...as evidenced by the number of SUCCESSFUL installations and owner stories. But, you MAY be the recipient of a unit that finally caused an owner to crack. Maybe he/she had a vacuum leak that was seemed to be rooted in the intake...and wanted to be sure of a good seal?

Are there cars where more clearance is necessary?

Hard to guess the reason. But I don't think it's hard to determine this is a homemade solution. I would bet money against it being some custom prototype...or otherwise.

 

I've got an extra lid floating around the shop somewhere if you are interested.

 

Greggpenn, In fact you are correct! I did not buy the super ram with the intention of scoring a prototype, I alway thought it just looked like a worn out old super ram I could fix up and put on my corvette because I think they are cool. It was only after I got it home I noticed the difference in the number of bolt holes and that made me curious. Also I got a pretty good price on it too so no regrets.

upon close inspection it turns out the old bolt holes still exist they had just been filled in with some sort of gray gasket material that looked like aluminum so I didn't notice them on my first look. All the old bolt holes are in good shape, so looks like its my choice If I use the modified pattern or the original pattern.

i'm not to worried about leaks, a bit of playing around with it on the bench before install should allow me to fix any issues that might arise.


Raid magic, thank you for the offer on the lid Let me thing about it a little and I will PM you.

Thanks to everyone for chiming in.

 

I think the PO dropped the lid and broke it and said oh damn.

And a few other cuss words.

 

Probably, lol

The good news is that lid aside it seems to be In good shape and is unported, so it should clean up quite nicely

I think the PO probably said a few more cus words when he agreed to free shipping then found out shipping a large 50lbs box from texas to B.C, Canada Is not cheap...

 

Eleo Martin made this aluminum casting - a one of one. It was a boatload of work to do it, he bought a furnace to do this one.

I asked if he was willing to do more and he wouldn't because of the hours it takes.

But I would think someone could cut a nice lid with a waterjet from a billet sheet....

 

Hey how about some detail info on these things for the folks like me that's clueless about super Rams - thanks.

 

This is the original top cover.

 

I know there are some folks on here who know more than me, but from what I understand the super ram has shorter runners, but a larger plenum than a regular tpi intake which allows the power band to be extended upwards by about 1,000 RPM without too much bottom end torque loss.

The reason for the intake allowing an extended power band has to do with the frequency at which the air pulses move down the intake, which is determined by runner length... there have been a number of in depth discussions about this in the past...

The Super ram was developed by lignenfelter originally for the tpi engine so it works well if you are still using your original heads (as I am). They have been discontinued for almost a decade now but used one still can be found if you look hard enough.

From what I understand the super ram is a good choice for a milder engine like mine looking to get a bit more rpm and hp, but their are more modern intakes like the HSR and eldelbrock pro-flow Xi or even MR that are better suited for big ci or high rpm engines.

Some people have stated that the Super ram can be hard to get working right because of vacume leaks and also difficulty installing it is a concern for some people, but I'm sure its nothing I can't overcome.

I choose the Super ram because I have wanted one for quite a while, I like the look and I like that it is a 'period correct' mod for my car. Plus I have never seen another one in person ever, in my area so it should make for a talking point at car shows.

That's about all I know, if anyone has anything to add I'd be interested to learn more...

 

You have basically covered it. TPI was designed for a 305, but when they went with 350 they had to scramble and use it anyway, and didn't get to properly design an intake manifold until the LT1 motor in 92. The Miniram is basically an aftermarket LT1-type of intake.

Either can work well, and can run the same times depending on combo, it just depends whether you want a high-rpm engine or a torquey cruiser.