Plenum porting - question!
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,625
Likes: 1
From: Zagreb, Croatia
Plenum porting - question!
I'm about to start with plenum porting. In past few months I have collected a lot of infos about this and I think it shouldn't be a problem. I'm only worried about error and SES light that could apear afterwards.
Is it still possible to drive the car with SES light and error on?
I found some infos about EPROM programing and I hope that soon I will be able to do programing myself but until that I would like that I can drive my vette normally.
Also if anybody have infos about EPROM programing or good links I would be very thankful.
Thank you! :)
Is it still possible to drive the car with SES light and error on?
I found some infos about EPROM programing and I hope that soon I will be able to do programing myself but until that I would like that I can drive my vette normally.
Also if anybody have infos about EPROM programing or good links I would be very thankful.
Thank you! :)
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 279
Likes: 1
From: Stonewall N.C.
Re: Plenum porting - question! (Sliding)
I just finished porting the plenum, runners and intake on my L98 and she runs better than I expected! and best of all no codes, good luck! by the way that was a stock intake system that i ported, not stock anymore. :smash:
Racer
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 433
Likes: 0
From: Durham NC
Re: Plenum porting - question! (Sliding)
You should have no problems error codes by porting the plemum & runners. There is lots of good info in the forum ifyou search both active and archived posts. About a year ago there was a series of pictures (before and after) that a fellow forum member posted that was excellent.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,157
Likes: 1,732
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Re: Plenum porting - question! (dbelnap)
yes you can drive the car with the SES light on, but if you got a code resulting from your porting, the car will probably run very crappy.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,525
Likes: 1
From: Sarasota, FL
Re: Plenum porting - question! (Sliding)
check out these pix of a Lingenfelter-ported GM base
http://mike89gta.bravepages.com/
http://mike89gta.bravepages.com/
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 14,130
Likes: 7
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: Plenum porting - question! (BobMachus)
It depends on HOW you want to port the plenum..usually a good gasket matching is all thats required for the main holes.
I installed the gaskets and looked to see how much material was still in the way and used a pencil to make marks around the circles and then grinded the walls rounder with a dremel tool and cutting bit.
Take my advice...use ALOT of duct tape around the places youre not going to grind smooth..its easy to slip and gouge the flat surfaces by mistake.The duct tape will help stop the damage if you slip.
ANother reason the car feels more alive after some minor porting is because usually its very dirty in the plenum and runners..once youre done porting and have them cleaned out, they flow alot better.
Its amazing how much carbon builds up in there over the years.
I brought my pieces to a machine shop and they boiled it in the hot tank and got every trace of the black stuff out.They were like new inside and out when done.
:)
I installed the gaskets and looked to see how much material was still in the way and used a pencil to make marks around the circles and then grinded the walls rounder with a dremel tool and cutting bit.
Take my advice...use ALOT of duct tape around the places youre not going to grind smooth..its easy to slip and gouge the flat surfaces by mistake.The duct tape will help stop the damage if you slip.
ANother reason the car feels more alive after some minor porting is because usually its very dirty in the plenum and runners..once youre done porting and have them cleaned out, they flow alot better.
Its amazing how much carbon builds up in there over the years.
I brought my pieces to a machine shop and they boiled it in the hot tank and got every trace of the black stuff out.They were like new inside and out when done.
:)
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 8,183
Likes: 3
From: Santa Maria, CA
Re: Plenum porting - question! (Sliding)
Did you happen to see the pics of the stock intake I ruined by porting TOO much? I did delete them accidentally off my homepage but I can shoot some new pics no problem. It's a pictorial of how NOT to port an intake :eek: :D .
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 765
Likes: 11
Cruise-In I Veteran
Re: Plenum porting - question! (89 Paul in cal)
Hey would you mind posting them? I am trying to port my lower intake right now and would like to know how "not" to do it:) BTW, what's the best cutting bit to use to port the intake?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 7,254
Likes: 0
From: Custer SD
Re: Plenum porting - question! (lowflyer)
If you want to see a real live ported lower (and upper for that matter), I can show ya mine. Sometimes seeing one in person is a heck of a lot more informative than seeing a picture of it. Of course, you'd have to make an excuse to come to the beach ;)
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 8,183
Likes: 3
From: Santa Maria, CA
Re: Plenum porting - question! (lowflyer)
here's some crappy shots(aol digicam :rolleyes: )
pic 1 is the passageway that the exhaust gas flows into. In the corner, I drilled too much and broke thru.
pic2 shows how much wall I took out. Not much left. This is same for all my tracts.
pic3 shows an ol' trick that helps the RTV "grip" alittle better. I centerpunched dimples along the edge of both ends.
pic 4 is the tape measure showing how deep it goes before it hits material.
I just used a dril and drill bit and rotary rasps.
Basically, I had an effect called "reversion" happening in the tract that feeds 5and7 intake valves. 7 fires right after 5 and air wasn't getting sucked in properly. To worsen my situation, I uncovered too much of the EGR holes at the interior bottoms of the intake tracts. The mix was real diluted and car ran like crap.
Sorry for the length on this, but can explain more if ya need.
Moral of my story, be real conservative on the wall that separates 5/7.
[Modified by 89 Paul in cal, 9:00 PM 12/22/2001]
pic 1 is the passageway that the exhaust gas flows into. In the corner, I drilled too much and broke thru.
pic2 shows how much wall I took out. Not much left. This is same for all my tracts.
pic3 shows an ol' trick that helps the RTV "grip" alittle better. I centerpunched dimples along the edge of both ends.
pic 4 is the tape measure showing how deep it goes before it hits material.
I just used a dril and drill bit and rotary rasps.
Basically, I had an effect called "reversion" happening in the tract that feeds 5and7 intake valves. 7 fires right after 5 and air wasn't getting sucked in properly. To worsen my situation, I uncovered too much of the EGR holes at the interior bottoms of the intake tracts. The mix was real diluted and car ran like crap.
Sorry for the length on this, but can explain more if ya need.
Moral of my story, be real conservative on the wall that separates 5/7.
[Modified by 89 Paul in cal, 9:00 PM 12/22/2001]
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 1999
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From: Former NCM Drag Racing coordinator, National director Corvette Challenge Spring Hill, Tennessee: Whiting, New Jersey
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Cruise-In VII Veteran
Re: Plenum porting - question! (Sliding)
Good luck :)
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,625
Likes: 1
From: Zagreb, Croatia
Re: Plenum porting - question! (Sliding)
Thanks for links and advices.
I will only do some porting because that siamesed thing doesn't look very safe to me, and if something goes wrong I don't know where can I find new intake base in Croatia, and to buy it from US is difficult and pricey.
I will let you know how did things go in about month or so, because I'm waiting for ordered gaskets to come.
I will only do some porting because that siamesed thing doesn't look very safe to me, and if something goes wrong I don't know where can I find new intake base in Croatia, and to buy it from US is difficult and pricey.
I will let you know how did things go in about month or so, because I'm waiting for ordered gaskets to come.
