freddyvette

Hi everyone.

I've had my Mamo ported MSD intake for a few years, and I've always had trouble with the bolts coming loose, re-tightening them by feel (way past the torque spec, but not too much for the bolt "gutentite").

I had the car apart to check for engine health (less than 5% leakdown across the board! ) and I noticed the MSD throttle body flange was rubbing on the water pump. I had originally ground down the flange a little bit, but it seems like the last time I had the heads off for a refresh, the distance had closed. It was rubbing bad!

I removed about .040" total material from the aluminum water pump housing. I did it slowly, and little by little, marking with paint pen each time I felt a catch on the feeler gauge. I fitted the intake back up almost 10 times before I got it to where there was a clear .020" gap (to allow for expansion) between the downward slope edge of the housing and the TB flange. The OEM ported throttle body does curve up after the flange, so there was no need to remove material forward past the flange. If you have a larger TB or spacer, you might want to check on that as well.

I haven't had the car running too long, but the idle quality seems much improved. I will monitor my LTFTs and see if they are better than previous logs I have collected, but I think this was the right move.

About the torques- I think the torque specs in the manual are very conservative. Although I could be wrong, hand tightening until resistance is felt should give a good seal without breaking any of the bolts. The worst part about these intakes are the gaskets. They are so flimsy and get cut really easily. I'm sure I have a leak here and there, but it's been factored into the tune. (I say that jokingly, I've smoke tested it ) I always get worried about removing an injector, those integrated shell gasket o-rings always rip.

Anyone else have experiences with these intakes and tips for gasket maintenance?

jayyyw

Sell it and buy something else.

freddyvette

I'm good, thanks for dropping in

jayyyw

If you still have the intake off, I would check the 2 nuts inside that hold the runners together. The last time I took my intake off, the front nut was already backing out.

Dan_the_C5_Man

I use RTV under the heads of the intake to head bolts. Never gets lose, never leaks (no, I dont trust the little o-rings on the bolts to seal properly).

freddyvette

Yes I hand tightened it until it wouldn't spin anymore. The Nylon lock nut is pretty tight now. It wasn't loose before though.

That's a neat idea. The bolts definitely are not concentric to the intake since it's plastic and it bends when installed. So I could see the merit to doing that.

RobGOV-DCZ

keeso6z

I have never had an issues with mine coming lose that I know of. The shop that did the work used locktight on the bolts to keep them from backing out.

RedZ4me

freddyvette

I'm not one of those whiny babies that give up as soon as something doesn't work for them. Aftermarket isn't always going to be plug and play. If you're the type of person that pays someone else to do your work for you, sure, go ahead and sell your car and buy one that came with a supercharger from the factory. As for myself, I've been pleased with the performance increase. And I hear the other aftermarket intakes have problems too.

RedZ4me

freddyvette

Really, cause that seems to be exactly what you did.

Why are you even in this thread? You're not bringing anything to the conversation. This is a thread on how to make an MSD intake work better. Do you know how?

Whis9

Love my Mamo ported MSD, so what, its a little bit of work, picked up a good amount of HP/TQ

Not another intake on the market produces these gains

Nice thread freddyvette, hatters going to hate

double06

The intake clearance in the front is a common problem I had to grind mine too. What might have been happening is you might have had a slight leak as the front seals might not have been fully engage as the manifold was held up by the water pump/TB interference. All it would of taken is for them to raise the TB intake hole about 1/8 of an inch and this would not have been a problem.

whitec5sc

TOM WELCH

custom is custom, it never works the same twice. We ALL know this. Expect to have issues to deal with and get after it. Hot rodders back in the day had to make a lot of their own stuff. We don't have that issue any longer, and some of us get lazy as a result. But, to each his own, im looking forward to getting my Mamo msd intake, imperfections and all.

RedZ4me

freddyvette

corvet786c

I read so many complaints on the Fast 102 LSXR intakes, and now the MSD sounds similar, I have had great results with my fast, Yes you have to check the tq bolts time to time, but to me that's the beauty of working on your own car, and the hobby itself. A lot of gratitude in finding and fixing parts yourself.

LT1GMC

There is a formula mechanics have to determine how much must be milled of the intake side of the heads to allow proper port alignment when the head surface is milled more than just a cleanup pass. You also have to machine the bottom of the intake as it drops more than you would imagine. The formula also varies depending on the intake/manifold angle. If you have fixed rockers you have to shim or compensate them as well.