I thought you all might be interested in this since the FIRST fits under the C4 hood and the SuperRam is no longer being produced.

I’m fully porting the base and siamesing the runners and plenum of the FIRST intake. The base intake porting is done, except for the final clean-up and port alignment for the head and runner openings. Top half of the picture below shows the ported FIRST base (Felpro 1207) on top of an unported FIRST. Bottom half shows the inlet side of the ported FIRST base. I haven’t touched the as cast opening yet – it is right at 1.85” ID so it won’t take much to finish it to the planned 1.9” ID. Pictures really do not do this thing justice,,, it looks more like a big-block intake in person – especially after the porting!


I wanted to siamese the runners on the FIRST, but the creases in the runners will only allow you to “notch” siamese the runners (similar to how the SLP TPI runners come out of the box).
Here’s a picture of where gbayfisher at TGO “siamese” notched the FIRST runners about 2” for his AFR383 build.


While notching the runners will add a few hundred RPM to the FIRST, I wanted to fully siamese the runners to about the halfway point. I expect this to shift the power band up about 500rpm and make peak HP around 5800rpm (6200rpm shift-point). So, I had the center creases of the runners welded where I could fully flatten the floor. Here’s a picture of the front and back welds - I threw in a fully ported FIRST runner (1.92” ID) to reference how large the bottom openings will end up being.


Here she is mocked up with the welded runners. There was some concern that the runners might warp,, but everything fit, sealed, and lined up perfectly. The plan is to blend in the welds and paint the runners with a black epoxy or crinkle paint for a bit of a stealth look.


Before people ask, I fully understand that the short/shorter runners have the potential of running faster when properly cammed, geared, and stalled. I’ve been there done that,, leaning more towards racing than driving and hated it. This is going in a relatively heavy 3650lb race weight car running 3.55 gears and a 3200 rpm converter – which tend to be less than optimal for most combinations utilizing a short runner intake. Still,, I have no doubt that I’m giving up a little ET and more than a couple MPH. However, I’m not going to be at the track much this time around and I’m more than willing to give up a little ET to get the considerable, tuned midrange boost for “cruising around”. Plus,, the TPI was designed for a 305,,, right???

Stay tuned for pictures of the siamesed ported runners and plenum. It may take a while,, I’m finishing up the 4,,, uh,,, I mean 305 engine this coming week.

 

Looks like a nice project. What heads are you using with the 1207 ports?

 

Very nice work, should work well with big cubes, big heads, and a peak HP of about 5600. Ken at First is a stand up great guy too. He'll stand behind his stuff 100%.

 

Thanks. They're old school Dart 220s CNC ported with a "semi-raised" port program. I bought them back around 1992 and at that time that "program" was the smallest minimum cross-sectional area and volume head available that flowed over 320cfm (at my cam lift) in a "standard" 23-degree head. There are smaller heads flowing as much or more now,,, but these are paid for!

While the FIRST will cover a 1207 port without welding material to the intake flange,,,, I had to get a little extra material welded to the top of the flange because of the "semi-raised ports. I had to have that done to the last intake I was running as well, a Brodix HVH single plane. Here’s a shot of the intake flange - left side after welding,,, right side after smoothing things out and blending it in.

 

Cool

 

It is a nice intake. However if anyone is dropping it on and using the injectors they supply with their full kit-don't use the injectors!
Was just helping a friend tune it on a zz4 engine-the injectors were sticking open most of the time.
Looked up the part number-they were used on 2005/6 ford f150 and up, 24lbs and were recalled......

 

..... I admire your commitment to the high speed grinder ... I ran the FIRST Intake a couple years ago and fondly remember gasket matching all the ports ... most people shrug it off without realizing that there are 41 ports to work on ... my hand still vibrates ... It is a great intake manifold but I really got tired of dealing with all the bolts and gaskets whenever the intake had to come off and go back on ... That's why I experimented and came up with an easier way to make top end power .......... Good Luck with your project ... it looks impressive .........

 

Very cool project. I admire your tenacity and your porting abilities. I can also identify with your desire to have better low end grunt for real life everyday driving. I have AFR 195 competition port heads on a 409 CI LTX The torque and throttle response is fantastic. I also spend the majority of my driving time under 4000 RPMS It pulls to about 6500RPMS when I want too (if my stock tach is correct) It looks like you will have a fun combo on your hands. Congrats.

 

Thanks,,,, I hear you - 32 just for the runners!

I've been lucky in the past and haven't had to pull an intake. Part of that came from using pop up roller lifters,, that and a two-piece timing chain cover made cam swaps a cake walk. I'm using pressure fed roller lifters this time,,, so I hope the cam pick is right - lol.

I do like that "TPI" plenum on the single plane,, that took a bit of work in itself.

 

Thanks. I know you're more than pleased with your combination - a "400" with good high-flow/high-velocity heads "cammed" to shift around 6500 rpm is fun no matter what intake you run.

 

OK,,, step one of porting the runners is to remove all the runner’s divider as far back as possible with the big short shank burr. Step two is removing the rest of the dividers with a 6” shank burr and blending the floor into the short side radius. Step three is to open up the diameter of the runners and gasket match.

Here’s step one completed on the first pair of runners. I knew it was going to take some time,, but man,,, these runner have a ton of meat to remove.

 

Looking good, imtrested to see how this works out..

 

Nice to see your going on that "305" Kevin!

 

Those sound like the old Conquest heads got a set on my 383

 

These are old Dart 220 "Race Series". They have a newer casting they're still calling the 220 Race Series,, but these were "new" 60/40 spacing heads back in the early 90s. I'll post a picture,, when I get the heads back from the "refresh".

 

That porting job looks like more work than I did on 16 ports on my LT5 plenum and injector housing runners. Either way, you wouldn't believe how much your hands hurt after grinding for about 5 hours.

 

I can tell you,, those that haven't,,, don't have a clue. It's been awhile since I've done much porting,,, but I know how to brace the grinder so the hand is OK. However,,, I've lost feeling in the end of my left thumb after doing two runners in one sitting. I'm glad I only have one more left!!!!

 

Ditto on porting
Specially with TPI stuff the runners are so long to make any difference you really have to dig in more than one would think. Its a buttload of time for sure. Not fun

 

GJ
I remember porting my SLP runners and stock intake. I thought I could do it in one weekend. I was so wrong.

 

Fraid I'm finding out otherwise........
Been helping a friend try to sort out the full kit he bought from them with 730 ecm and prom.
The injectors were recalled in 2007, used in 2005 f150/250 fords. They were sticking open dumping fuel. The 8d program they supplied-not even close.
When he called them they said so sorry, but it's out of warranty-he hasn't even been able to make it do more than stumble over idle since he bought it last year.
Yup the intake looks good, however I'm not at all impressed with the "full kit". So if anyone is thinking of it as a bolt on and go think again.....