Ported 102 FAST "Stealth" version
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Former Vendor
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,518
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From: Valencia CA
Ported 102 FAST "Stealth" version
Guys,
Thought this interesting project came out pretty good and wanted to share....
Over the years I have had a handful of people ask me to remove the logos on their ported FAST intakes I have reworked for them and I always took a pass on the job knowing it would leave crappy looking results if you didn't find a way to refinish it and leave the entire manifold textured like it is stock (otherwise you see an obvious sanded or smooth finish where you removed the lettering which looks doctored/hack in my opinion.....I'm pretty particular about the aesthetics of the stuff I work on....the porting work being the most obvious but the entire finished product as well!).
Anyway, I recently had a customer that insisted I remove the lettering and I thought this would be a good opportunity to try a few different techniques in an attempt to get a very clean OEM stock look with a low gloss textured finish that you see on most GM manifolds (this is the perfect look for the enthusiast that likes an "understated" clean look or the Friday night grudge racer who wants everything to look stock!)
Anyway, after a few attempts with various projects on junk intakes and various sacrificial parts I ended up with this very stealthy look on certain LS7 intake I just recently finished porting. Note with the 102 modular design its the same top on a cathedral (LS1/LS2/LS6) or LS3 intake and it would look exactly the same on all three.
It looks so good I'm considering it for my personal Vader project although part of me likes the lettering painted also because it add some interest and subtle color/highlights to the engine.
Its a time consuming PITA however to do it right and may require a smear of some bodyfiller in some areas where the lettering was carefully removed to shape the runners properly before the texturing and painting if you want it to look perfect.
I'm going to offer this new service in the future so if you want to send me an already existing top or have me do a complete intake for you and include this let me know. At this point I have invested the time in the process and materials so it only makes sense to do so
Let me know what you guys think!
-Tony
Thought this interesting project came out pretty good and wanted to share....
Over the years I have had a handful of people ask me to remove the logos on their ported FAST intakes I have reworked for them and I always took a pass on the job knowing it would leave crappy looking results if you didn't find a way to refinish it and leave the entire manifold textured like it is stock (otherwise you see an obvious sanded or smooth finish where you removed the lettering which looks doctored/hack in my opinion.....I'm pretty particular about the aesthetics of the stuff I work on....the porting work being the most obvious but the entire finished product as well!).
Anyway, I recently had a customer that insisted I remove the lettering and I thought this would be a good opportunity to try a few different techniques in an attempt to get a very clean OEM stock look with a low gloss textured finish that you see on most GM manifolds (this is the perfect look for the enthusiast that likes an "understated" clean look or the Friday night grudge racer who wants everything to look stock!)
Anyway, after a few attempts with various projects on junk intakes and various sacrificial parts I ended up with this very stealthy look on certain LS7 intake I just recently finished porting. Note with the 102 modular design its the same top on a cathedral (LS1/LS2/LS6) or LS3 intake and it would look exactly the same on all three.
It looks so good I'm considering it for my personal Vader project although part of me likes the lettering painted also because it add some interest and subtle color/highlights to the engine.
Its a time consuming PITA however to do it right and may require a smear of some bodyfiller in some areas where the lettering was carefully removed to shape the runners properly before the texturing and painting if you want it to look perfect.
I'm going to offer this new service in the future so if you want to send me an already existing top or have me do a complete intake for you and include this let me know. At this point I have invested the time in the process and materials so it only makes sense to do so
Let me know what you guys think!
-Tony
