fiddleplayer247

sorry if this might be in the wrong section, but i figured it might fit here pretty well since this mod is for a '94 3vz pickup.

so i got to thinking the other day of how to modify the intake(without extrude honing and all that complicated and $$$$$ stuff) and i got to thinking about an intake manifold spacer. now hear me out guys.

5.0 engine, you had the f150 intake and the mustang intake.... the f150s had longer runners going from the upper intake into the lower intake than the mustang did. i assume this is to get more low end out of the truck and let the stangs wind up faster correct?

well with that being said, someone mentioned on here a whil back(although i do not remember which member stated it) that the reason the upper and lower intakes were so short on the 3vz was so that the engine could have more top end and not so much performance in the low end(or something to that effect).

so in my young engineering mind(currently a mechanical engineering major) i thought "why not lengthen the runners on the intake, say, 1 to 3 inches(depending on hood clearance) and see if that helps anything at all?" bear in mind that i will not be welding much of anything since i A)do not have a welder and B) want it to be removable to work on the truck in the future. i will wind up having someone weld the spacer to two flat pieces so that the whole piece bolts in, and basically works like a large intake manifold gasket

so with that being said, would it be pheasable(sp.) to lengthen the runners(much like a high rise intake) with a spacer-type setup and rob a little more low end out of the motor?

i will be needing to take the intake apart soon anyway since my knock sensor is bad, so i was thinking about modifying this before i took it off, then bolting it all back together to see how well it worked.

any input is good, but please no flaming. its just a thought that ran through my mind. i know the 3.0 is a "dog", but i like them since i now own two.

desertcox05

dude
you stole my avartar. now I see that's only body milage. Mine is on the engine too. congrats on making it to 300k.
What you say makes sense. I have no experience with the 3.slow so I can't comment on the feasability of an intake spacer.
If you think your is slow take a ride in a 22re-ally slow.

Elton

theres really not much you can to a 3.0L to make it better you think yours is bad try driving one with 330k that started to miss fire goin up a hill that's scary

fiddleplayer247

haha. i know how the misfiring goes.... with the knock sensor bad and the timing set ahead, my cpu is trying to calculate all kinds of crazy stuff to fix whats going on right now. i have since turned the timing back and dealing with the weakness and the poor mileage until i get the knock sensor fixed. since you have to pull the intake manifold off, i thought about trying this while it was off of there. the only thing i would have to buy is the material and two intake manifold gaskets... which is not too bad for a mod like this. heck if it does anything to help it cant hurt. i might even try the whole dyno thing to see if it really makes a difference, depending on the price of the dyno time of course. i bet with a set of cams and the lengthened runners things migh be real torquey

yotaman85

this sounds like a great project with the possibility of being very effective.. DO IT!!!

yotaman85

we should really keep this up until somebody has a chance to try it..

camo31_10.50

this is interesting..you should hurry up and do it REALLY quick (like..a couple weeks quick) and see how it works..if it helps..make me one!!! lol

just call me smithy

sounds like a cool project! but i rember some one on yotatech cuting a section out of the 3vz intake and welding that back togther....i cant remember who or if it improved any thing........... to add a "spacer" in the intake you could always find one in the junk yard and cut the midle section out and weld it to your intake....but it dose sound promising, as i beleve the 5vzfe's intake is longer? idk.....on a side note if it is idk if any one has tried to see if the 5vzfe's intake will bolt on tho the 3vz.....might be somthing to look in to ...good luck!!

just call me smithy

ok i found the thread i was looking for...i lied about him shortning it, he cut his in half and bored it out hen welded it back together hears the thread http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu... /> %3Disch:1



sorry about the spelling im tired and its late. ....work sux!!!

dfarr67

If you're going through the effort, make it BREATHE- put some decent cams into the mix. I knew a fella who put some effort into the cam thing- better power, better mileage, better emissions- that tells me the oem cams are pretty weak ass. He was sourcing them out of Colt Cams, Lamgley, BC. I'm sure there are many grinds out there from others.

camo31_10.50

edit your post dfarr67...mods will get you for cussing.

and you should find out alllll you can about your buddies cams....like the durations and lift..and how'd he play around with the cam timing?

abecedarian

You know... all the intake manifold is... is an exhaust manifold in reverse.

Do some googling and see how long intake runners and short runners affected the muscle cars. You can ignore the dual-plane stuff.
While you're at it, check into velocity stacks too.
And once you're up on that, check out what "tuned port" is.

Overall, it's the same stuff that headers do, but applied to the intake manifold, no?

camo31_10.50

well i know long tube headers are designed for more torque right?

fiddleplayer247

ha. wow, im amazed at all the interest ive stirred up. since yall are so interested ill start drawing up the plans for the spacer either on autocad or proE(autocad is 2-D, proE is 3D). as far as the cam thing goes, that will go into effect when i do either a motor rebuild or a top end rebuild, as almost every gasket(except for head gasket......YET) is leaking oil onto the outside of the motor. that will come probably after this summer so that i have enough money, unless i go with a 1uz swap(doubtful, but MAYBE). haha. i think the spacer would be simple enough- two pieces of flat steel and 6 tubes in the middle.

im not sure if i should make it out of high density plastic(to reduce heat sink) of out of aluminum. aluminum will be cheaper, but the plastic might insulate from heat better, but the plastic would be hard to put together unless it was machined out on a 5 axis machine..... etc etc etc. haha

anyone else have any more thoughts on the whole spacer thing?

fiddleplayer247

as for the cams.... if someone wants to DONATE a set for the cause, i'd be much obliged to take them and use them for a better cause.. haha

yotaman85

hows this going? dont worry about the cams, just get the spacer done. it might make you some cash if you play your cards right... but, you might have to give some out for unbiased testing in different situations and environments.

fiddleplayer247

free test runs would be totally understandable... ill have to wait till at least the end of this week tho. spring break has arrived and im planning to work the whole week, so if i can scrounge up enough money(i have 2 bluegrass shows to play in this week also) then i *should* **hopefully** have enough money to fix the knock sensor and buy the material for the spacer. the only investment after the material would be my time. if anyone watching this thread would like to have one sent to them after i get one on my truck for a trial run, let me know.

vandert

I'm game, have to take the top half of the engine apart soon and I don't have any mods to the engine and have readily access to a dyno for before and after runs...

Dirt Driver

Technically yes, but it is ultimately application-specific as to where in the engine's operating range the torque is increased. If torque is increased above 5252rpm, then horsepower gains will be larger than torque. If torque is increased below 5252, then that increase will be larger than power.

camo31_10.50

sending PM