Jesse

This post is very helpfull and contains a great deal of information.

But, it is usually a good idea to only post your signature once in a thread.

Vic

 

Vic89,
Hey there, Thanks. Point well taken. I guess I just never gave it a thought. Opppps! I will shut it off and only use it once from now on.

 

If you click near the top left of the page, it gets much cleaner. :)

 

SCORP,
I will try that. Thanks.

 

New Update:

Well here is my first big snag. I went skiing all day Saturday so the car waited till Sunday for some more action. I first tried Ralphs method of finding the correct pushrod length. I turns out I need 6.800"+0.400"=7.200" total pushrod length. This put me right at 1/3 intake side and I did roll the engine over once just to see, knowing it would depress the lifter some and it put me just a little past center. With the lifters pumped up, I should be right on the money. Thanks ralph for the help. Let me know if anything sound fishy!
Next I looked at the gaskets for the intake manifold. These were not to teh best fit so I ground the areas that would be causing air obstrustions. This took about 3 hrs, I am very picky :D After this was all done I put a small amount of "the right stuff" around the coolant holes at either end. Since my intake manifolds are in Hawaii now, I could not remember if the rear coolant passages just had a small 1/8-1/4 hole in them like the Felpros had? Could someone let me know if this is correct. Anyways I assumed it was right. I then positioned the gasket carefully so that no edges were interfering with the air. I then applied "the right stuff (RTV)" along the front and back of the manifold. Here is were I got PI$$ed. I then lowered the manifold down onto the gaskets carefull not to move them and lined up all the bolt holes. The 4 middle bolts would not line up!!! I could see that the angle was not going to line up. I tried the manifold on before without the gasket and everything "looked" like it would line up. I could get 2 of the 4 to start in but I had to cheat it that way. Then there was no way they would line up on the other side. I was very displeased this point. You spend all this money and things don't line up. I could not tell you if it was AFR's mistake or Accell's. Frankly I have no way of telling who is to blame. Without having a similiar setup to compare to I will never know. Oh well, here is what I did. Naturally I had to take the manifold back off because this was going to require some grinding. Off it came and all the RTV was cleaned off both the block and manifold. I began grinding away at the 4 bolt holes favoring the outside edges of the through holes. This is were the clearance lacked. After about 3-4 hrs of this crap and countless refits on the car I finallt got the holes reamed out enough that the bolts would go in with no clearance issues. Obviously this could have been done much quicker with come correct tools but I got the job done with a Dewalt drill and a reamer. It was quite the ordeal. I then tightened all the bolts to spec and called it a night. I am going to attemp to sand blast my AC braket and power steering one today. Have you guy any suggestions for me on how to make they look better. They don't look all that bad, but I figure why not make they better while they are off. My Dad said that you can buy powder coating colored that you can apply then bake in your oven and they are really nice looking. Anyoen every heard of this stuff? He never tried it, but thought it might be neat to mess with. Let me know and thanks for reading.


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 8:14 AM 1/7/2002]

 

If the holes did not line up it's probably Accel's fault. I was lucky I guess because mine lined up perfectly. On the powder coating, I can help you there. My uncle owns a custom powder coating business. I had my AC bracket on my 89 powder coated black. You can also have the parts bead blasted and powder coated clear so the always look new. Email me if your interested.

Jason

 

89 VETTE,
What kind of lead time and cost would I be looking at. I think that clear would look real nice. Let me know ASAP. Thanks.

 

Hey all!
Got some pics of the project and thought I would share them with you! Wish I would have got the camera out when the heads were still off. Oh well. Here they are.


Vette up on the gurney


superram_pass_side


These parts are still left over??? Do you know were they go? :p:


Accell manifold Runner hole with Ruler


Old Exhaust with precats and gutted main cat


This vacuum tube also lost its lable, It appears to go to the cruise control device and also goes up to that ball shaped thingy (real descriptive I know) under the drivers head light


Vacuum Fitting passengers side, back of manifold. I seriously lost the lable for this and was wondering were it connects to??? Thanks

I think they both connect to the plenum, but were on the SR? Thanks.


Drivers side of Engine


Drivers side AFR head with Hooker Comp Headers (NO SMOG) :p:


Drivers Side with Fuel Rail and Distributer in


Pictures of the bolts on either side that would not line up. They needed to be reamed out a bit. Hard to see how much though becuase they were already egg shaped


1.6 Pro Magnum Roller Rockers

Hope you all enjoy the pictures there is a lot of work there and more to come. I guess I shouldn't call it work though. I love it too much. Let me know if you can identify those two vacuum lines and were they go. Thanks.


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 9:12 AM 1/8/2002]


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 9:15 AM 1/8/2002]

 

Nice work so far.

Don't bolt the fuel rail down until the superram runners are slid into place.

Also, what did the stock lower intake runners measure ? I see the accel intake is about 1.5".

Vic

 

Thanks Vic,
Yeah the fuel rail is just sitting on there. The stock manifold was about .25" in diameter smaller if I recall correctly. Like I said earlier all my intake pieces were sent to Hawaii.
Do you have any idea were the two vacuum lines in question go? I did away with the EGR valve and am wondering if the one that has the pipe type fittings went to that? I wish someone had a vacuum line diagram. Thanks and if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks and keep the comments coming.
:cheers:


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 12:27 PM 1/8/2002]

 

Anyone? :confused:

 

Also, run your tranny TV cable under the superram before you bolt the plenum lid down, it is a bitch to try to slid under the plenum after you get it bolted down, trust me.

 

If I remember correctly, iI think the fitting at the back of the manifold beside the EGR tube inlet is a coolant passage that runs into one of the two heater hoses on that side. I am pretty sure that is what it is, becasue if u look down the fitting it is also antifreeze colored.

 

i think Bret is correct, but my 85 desn't have that fitting.

 

Guys,
thanks for the replys. Last night I looked at all the fitting and figured out were they went. The night before when I asked the question I dropped my trouble light and broke the bulb. Therefore I had no good light to look around for mating vacuum lines. Last night I fixed the bulb before I got started and found them all. Thanks though and Yes Bret is correct. The line goes over to one of the heater hoses. Thanks.
Last night was spent trying to get the superram on. I am not very impressed with the way things line up to say the least. The bolts that go in and the runners slide over do not even fit in the cutouts! This seriously wants to make me write Accell a letter. Why waste the time though. Never the less, I got the drivers side on after reaming, once again, the hole that has the through hole on the manifold and threads into the runner. Actually what I did was use a step drill and started on the head side of the hole and worked my way in. This proved very effective in allowing me to angle the bolt to were in needed to go. Any other tight spots are getting the same treatment. The way I figure it, it should lighten the car up a bit too. :D If you have not noticed I am trying to keep a sence of humor about me through the final steps of this process. In addition, to the above mentioned method of lining holes up I am also having the lower bolts put in a lathe and tapering the SHCS so they aloow for more clearance and movement. I will let you all know how I make out.
One other question is I thought the TV cables went up and over the SR when completed? They go under the plenum? I know I have a pic somewere that showed it up and over. Thats great though if they do I did not like the way the up and over looked. I will wait to hear from you all and thanks for the pointers. :cheers:
P.S. The 7.200" Magnum pushrods will be here in ~10 days :cry On backorder. And one other note for you that were following my saga of pushrod length determination. I used an indicator and found exact mid lift just to see if this method using my predetermined length of 7.200" (obtained by Ralphs method...Base circle + 1/3 across vavle stem intake side = 7.200" ) Anyways, at mid lift I assembled all the components with the pushrod at 7.200". When the RR was jiggled back and forth, then removed. The trace line was dead center in the middle of the valve stem. This proves that geometry is correct and both method yeilded same results. For what it is worth I think Ralphs method is better and makes more sense since the valve is in the closed position. Thanks Ralph and the rest of you for your help! :cheers:

 

Hi. If you need to get in tough with me ASAP then please email me as I don't always get time to look at the board. His price is $65.00 for blasting and powder coating clear those brakets. Cast aluminum brackets are difficult because they need to be outgassed prior to coating.

Your project looks good. Makes me want to tear mine down again! I am considering pulling my heads and having them ported further as well as my Super ram. Most people complain about the Super Ram being a bad casting. Mine was pretty good and did not require any coating. Do yourself a big favor and chase all the threads prior to assembling. The little bolts that hold the plenum on need to have the threads chased also. Cut a small slot in the bottom of the bolts and screw them up in with a small screwdriver. Then tighten with a 1/4" wrench. The tap and die you need is 1/4-28.

Jason


[Modified by 89vette, 9:08 AM 1/9/2002]

 

The TV cable definetly goes under the plenum.
Make sure you lay the cable under the plenum before installing the plenum bolts.

There is no way you will get the TV cable to slip under the plenum once you have the plenum installed.

Having the TV cable over the plenum will cause it to bind alot.

Vic

 

if you are anything like me, put a note on the plenum to remind yourself of this. At least twice i've installed the plenum and forgot to put the TV under it. Do everything that 89vette suggested and i might add that you should slightly enlarge the holes at the top of the runner giving you some play in the plenum to start all the bolts. I've had mine apart several times without having alignment problems, however the last time i installed it, one of the runner to plenum bolts (the last one of course) wouldn't line up....go figure. Had to remove the entire plenum and drill out the holes.

You might also consider running your wires under the plenum to make things look neater. this takes some thought and some prefitting. I separated my bundles into three different groups and retaped them with that silver heat tape. this enabled me to fit them in between the runner and fuel rails.

Also if your anything like me, write yourself another note on top of the lid, reminding you remove the paper towels from the runners....but that is another story....LOL

 

Ralph,
Thanks for the info. WOW 11 sec with papertowles in runners. Just think what you could do with those removed! I was thinking of putting surran wrap between the throttle body and plenum, that should make me good for at least 9 sec! Just kidding. :lol:
I will have to investigate running those cables under the plenum. Will have to wait till Thursday night though. Any other pointers are welcome. Thanks guys.

 

Well Fella,
My Dego temper flared last night! :mad I got the other runner on the with no problems and then for the plenum with the TV cable underneath. I did not forget. I first drilled all the holes on the runner's for plenum out to 5/16" for insurance. The drivers side all went in no problems in about 15 minutes. Slotted back ones for easy tightening, really worked slick. Moved on with the confidence that the drivers side was the hard side. Guess I forgot to knock on wood. I couldn't even begin to get acouple of them lined up. I started working on it at 5:30pm and quit at 12:30am. I figured it was time for a break since at ~11:45pm, I picked up a hammer and almost smashed the figgin plenum! Boy was I hot! This is the first time through this process that I got POed. Everything was going so well. Its not the fact that I have difficulties doing something, its the fact that you spend all this money and things don't line up correctly. I dismissed the first misalignment of the manifold to head with the excuse they were different manufacurers, but this is blatently ACCELS fault. Their engineers, if they worked for me, would be fired! Perhas they have fixed the misalignment problems, hence the significant increase in price everyone is talking about. Give me a break!
This weekend will not allow much time for work, therefore I will have to wait till Monday night. I will be sure to keep the hammer well out of reach. Perhaps with a fresh start I will have no problems. Never-the-less, I thought for a moment I would be able to report to you guys that the SR went on with no glitches thanks to your help. I can't imagine trying to do it without the advise you gave me! What were they thinking? I am still looking for a good reason not to drill the threaded holes out and tap the runners with the appropiate threads. The only reason I can see is they might be afraid of a bolt working loose and getting sucked into the intake. Yeeks! But with some locktight and proper tightening there is little chance of that happening. This would take all the trouble out of the installation. And probably allow much better tightening of the bolts. Let me hear your thoughts. The edge bolts might be a little hard because they are so close to the plenum wall, but I think it could me done.
Thanks and later!