Ok so Ive been through it, and its ALMOST done. Mine was not perfect by any means, but maybe Ill share with you some very fresh advice Ive learned over the past few days.
For starters, the manifold is simple and straight forward, no mods needed although verying by year there will be some holes not used that need to be plugged.
The runners arnt to difficult. To do the job I had to remove three rocker arms, one on the drive side cylinder 7 intake I believe, and then cylinders 4 and 6 exhaust on the passenger side. This allowed me to reach the ever so hard bottom bolts. Now, I took the right size allen wrench and cut it at the bend. What I ended up with was a long custom hex head driver that worked flawlessly once taped into a maching socket. I would suggest using the hex head bolts for ALL runner bolts. Again for ALL runner bolts, go to the harware store it will cost $2 or so. Much easier to put on and take off. Follow basics like installing the fuel line before tightening the runners all the way down and your set there....
Now the real bear, the plenum. This is my purpose for posting this.... It is so POORLY DESIGNED.... Im pretty mad infact. All the 12pt head bolts screw from the bottom, I suppose for air flow ?????? Which to me is the worst design idea since...well pretty bad.... Anyway, I would suggest the following for ANYONE installing this thing.... Before Installing the runners thread the holes.... All of them, then run a drill through the holes in the plenum as to remove the threads.... Now while your buying those hex screws for the runners, pit up some studs.... This is a must I want to beat myself over the head hard for not having done this one..... HARD..... With a stud kit, you install the studs in the runners, slide the plenum on top of the studs and then tighten bolts down on the studs.... There are 16 bolts which is way to many for a piece of cast aluminum.... So there shouldnt be to many problems with them losening up..... Although I suppose this one is definately up for debate. You could put lock tite on the nuts, as well as some silicone at the top to keep them from coming clear off and creating definate problems....
None the less I fealt Id vent, I installed the plenum by sloting each 12 pt bolt and then running them up that way, but it is still very difficult, I would definately suggest going at it from inside the plenum. You wouldnt even have to use studs, just bolts threaded through into the runners. Just thought Id share since alot of people seem to install these guys it all seems to make sense to me.
Paul

 

I may be installing one of these, what do you guys think of this idea. Sure would make it easier. Jesse

 

Over the years, I must have put on and taken off my SR 10-12 times. I was so tired of it that I purchased a MiniRam. Yes I know that it may sound silly to some people but believe me it was worth it!

 

I dont think you can stud the outter plenum perimiter as the nuts to go on the studs would hit the inner walls of the plenum?

 

You can reverse the bolts on some, but not all. if you look inside the plenum many come thru where there is a curve and you couldn't square up a bolt from the inside. I think Monty had the best idea: got studs with allen heads inside the stud, then welded nuts to the other side...then he could turn them up from the inside with a ball head allen wrench (knida replaces the slot & the screwdriver).

Well Nomar, now you've been initiated into the SR installers society. Hope that you don't have to do it again.

 

I guess Im just fearing the need to go with higher flow rated injectors.... We'll cross that bridge a few months down the road I suppose, thats when Ill figure something out to simplify the install. I also didnt know the PCV hose needed to be in place before the runners were put in, so I havnt figured out how Ill lay that one in attractively....
Paul

 

About a month ago, I posted how to modify the SR to remove most of these problems. I welded up the holes on the inside of the runners. Bolted the runners up. Drilled new smaller holes, drilled and tapped for the same size bolt. Drilled out the corresponding holes in the plenum. Chamfered the plenum holes. Installed countersunk allen bolts. I always seal over them with black RTV. Makes for a nice easy install. I can pull the plenum quite easily. the bolts for the runners are all still allen head. The PCV (aluminum) line has been "flattened" near the runner area to allow install after the runners are on.

The SR is really not that bad. BUT, I now have a MRII, and the install is like 20 mins for the whole unit.

I can again write up all the mods required on the SR and the MRII mods made as well. But this time I will do them in Word, so that they can be saved and redispensed each time this topic comes up.

The SR can be seen on my home page on the forum.

Aaron

 

Add it to tech tips.... Be descriptive and Ill definately be going that route next install...
Paul

 

i have the SR its a pain in the #@%!!! :smash:


[Modified by miker61588, 9:16 PM 9/13/2001]

 

AKS do you have pictures of the inside of the plenum. I'd like to see how you modified it to fit those allen bolts. That sounds like a great idea, but it also sounds like some tools would be required that i don't have...ie welder and tool to chamfer the holes.

My best record at removing the SR is 1hour 20min....reinstalling about 1h45min (not including cleaning and scraping and other prep), but it usually takes longer. my longest re-install was about 4 hours..don't ask.

 

I have installed a Super Ram three times. The plenum is so easy for me. I install bolts up from the bottom like they are designed. I cut a slot in the bottom of the bolts and turn them up in. I always run a tap through the holes and die over the threads of the bolts. Maybe I just have a good casting. Doing it the way you did includes a risk of ingesting the nuts.

Jason

 

After installing my old SR 3 times I decided I didn't want to deal with it anymore. Even after slotting the ends of the mounting bolts I couldn't get them all started and tightened down before the silicone RTV setup in the Kansas heat and humidity. The cast runner flanges had varying flange thickness. Some of them were thick enough to thread, others weren't. There wasn't room on the top side of the plenum to put nuts on all the studs. Maybe a mixture of studs and nuts would have worked.

I still think it's unbelievable what you have to put up with for a $1300 intake system. It shouldn't require any welding, threading, or drilling for that price. I know Lingenfelter is a very talented guy but he really soured me on his products after dealing with that SR. I finally decided that I wasn't going to put up with it anymore and sold it on Ebay. I kept the lower intake and bought some siamesed runners and ported a stock plenum. I know I'll be giving up some torque and hp, but I won't be spending 6 hours installing an intake ever again. Maybe I'm just overly opinionated, but I don't see why anyone would buy a new SR when they could have a new TPIS Miniram for the same price.

I'm not ready to start a fist fight over this or anything, it's just my opinion.

 

Yeah, but the MRII is not emmisions legal and SR is. What a shame.