| Porting the Plenum- |
| Estimated Cost: $20 |
| Tools Needed: Rotary Tool with flex shaft (Dremel, Craftsman), sanding drums with sleeves, metal cutting bits, grinding stones, vice, rags, safety glasses. |
| Procedure: First things first, put on some crap clothing and always were safety glasses, metal will be flying through the air and I have gotten metal in my eye before, not fun at all. I used a 6" bench vise to hold the plenum in place. I wrapped rags around the plenum so i didnt mark or tear up the plenum surface. When you look into the end of the plenum, you see this: |
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| You can see the restrictive blocks just inside the ports. Those need to be removed. Cut away using your metal cutting bit and whichever other bits work best for you. Grind away until the surface is flush with the bottom of the port. Also grind away the sides. Be extra careful here as these walls are very thin, so don't grind/cut through the wall. It takes a while so take your time and don't rush yourself. Take a break if you are starting to get sloppy. Take your time so you won't have to do it again. |
| After the ports are done they look like this: |
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| CAUTION: I cant stress enough how thin the sidewalls are. Dont make the restrictive block completely flush with the rest of the wall or you will go through the wall. You have to 'radius' the wall or smooth it out so its tapered. If you look at the left port you can see the taper on the left wall. |
| After you are done with the intake ports, you can start with the runner ports on the sides of the plenum. These are a little harder to get at. Do the same thing that you did with the intake ports, slowly cut/grind away the metal until you get a smooth finish as shown in the picture here: |
| BEFORE |
| AFTER |
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| You have now made it through your first or maybe last 'almost free' mod. I also suggest that you clean up the inside by spraying some carb/choke cleaner inside and let sit for a while. Be sure that you give the plenum a nice rinse and dry. Use a high pressure hose nozzle and an air compressor. Do this a couple times to get all of the metal dust out from inside the plenum as you don't want metal in your combustion chamber. Another mod that you may want to do while you have the plenum off is Polish the Plenum. |
| Pictures courtesy of www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/home.htm |
| Estimated Time: 1-3 Hours (depending on how fast you are) |
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| PERFORMANCE MODS |
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