Well, I tried to cut my intake runners this weekend and it was hell. I busted 5 Dremel collets, ruined two sawzall blades, and then nicked the lip of the valley pan area with a 4" grinder. I am wary of using the intake as-is until I talk to my engine guy. If I had access to a 2" grinder I would have used one. It's a bitch not having an air compressor nor all of the proper tools. You can see two of the nicks in the lower left of the picture. The deepest one is about 2mm from the outer edge.
Anyway, I am leaning towards buying a Fastman 50mm throttle body for my 5.2L. I am looking for gains in the low-end for towing/hauling, which is one of the reasons I was trying to cut down the intake runners. Do those of you who have the Fastman TB agree that this is one place to spend some $$$ for good results?

 

Ouch! I don't have a Fastman yet but I'm curious about that also. I'm looking for low-end and towing power. So do you have a plan for fixing that intake?

 

Previously I had a 318 in my Ram and purchased a Fastman TB. I discussed with hime my plans and requirements and he recommended the 50 mm TB to keep the torque correct. My truck seemed to have an increase in performance but it was not enough for me. I tow a 7800 lb fifth wheel camper so I went all the way with a performance long block 360 with 325 HP/400 ft lb torque. If your vehicle will be towing less than me, adding the TB should work nice.

FYI, I have a modified barrel intake manifold that I purchased off e-bay a few monnths ago for $200. I would take $100 and you pay shipping from Minneapolis just to get it out of my garage. If you want me to I can take pictures tonight so you can see how it was modified. Based on your post I believe it has been modified pretty similar to what you were trying to do.

 

turkeyhunter,

You have an e-mail. I will see what my engine guy says about my intake. If it can't be repaired then I just may buy yours.

Thanks!

 

the intake mod is more for the top end breathing... I didnt see any low end loss when I did my mods. the 50mm should be a nice combo with the intake mods...

 

OK, I spoke with the machine shop last night. He said they use a welder who could fix my mistakes with no problem. I got back in there with the angle grinder tonight and did some more work. That aluminum sure gums up grinder bits. I am going to see if a friend will let me use his 2" cutoff wheel so I can clean up the side intake ports and then dress everything up. I will post a picture of what the completed product looks like, but so far I am quite pleased.

 

I understand that you didn't have the cut-off wheel available to you at the time, but that is definently what I would have started with. I'm glad to hear that the damage is fixable and we all make mistakes, thats how you learn. Did you ever get those pictures of your heads posted? I'm just curious because I am gonna take my motor apart soon to do a timing chain and the plenum and if I am gonna go that far I'd like to pull the heads and check them out and if your porting works out well I'd probably try it too.

 

I am almost done. Tomorrow I am going to get some more finishing wheels to polish what I cut off and then I'll take the intake to the machine shop. I will post pics of that bitch when I get it back. I will also post some pictures of the tools that I used in this endevour.

 

I just notice your pic... look into cutting that divider out. I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not on your 318 but my manifold did not have it. makes me wonder if that is a 318 only manifold...

 

Here are pics of the polishing I did on my intake and exhaust ports. Not the greatest, but the engine shop complemented my for for a first timer. I was a bit "intimidated" on the combustion chamber and didn't do much in them. I was worried about damaging the valve seats. I plan on rebuilding my sister's 460 in her 1976 Lincoln Continental this winter. I will use my lessons learned from this engine on hers.