Bamory, I have the 52mm Fastman TB. When you say done right, which way is right? I've seen threads where they are cut all the way flush and some with just an inch or so. I was thinking of taking about 1/2 off the exposed runners and then cleaning it all up really nice. Will also clean out a little around the injector ports. I didn't think to look when I put the Fastman on, but was thinking if the openings in the manifold were smaller than the TB that I would try to port match them. Anyone checked to see if the openings in the manifold were larger or smaller than the TB? Just a thought.

My ultimate plan is to get a CTD and make it my tow vehicle. Then I can mod my current truck into a real street machine. Just need to get the boys out of college (and off the payroll) to set this in action. Thanks again for the help. Jeff.

 

IMO, unless you have the right tools and lots of time and cutting disks, the intake mod is almost not worth it. The cast aluminum is VERY hard and tears through disks fast, it also gunks them up kinda fast because it melts and sticks to the disks. I used some carbide cutting bits on a drill and they to just got gunked up very fast. It it also nearly imposible to get a tool into the intake, especially if you have the devider in the middle like I do. So unless you plan on cutting alot off to get a very noticable high end gain the small gain from cutting off .5-.75" isn't work the headache. This is just my opinion, but if you have the right tools and patience I guess it could be kinda easy.

 

you would be better off just cleaning up the runners of casting marks with an Air die grider + carbide bits, but use some cutting oil(or wd-40), do the same to the throttle body opening, remove the lip on the TB itself, along with half-shafting the butterfly, countersink the butterfly screws and knife edge the throttle plate.

 

From John Mercedes at Southeast R/T.

 

roto zip & dremel cut off wheels... cut them like butter, you just need a steady hand when working on it. when I did my 1st one I said to myself, "what a PITA getting this done, better be worth it" IMO it was. when I went to cut the 2nd intake it was 10x easier as I new what to buy and how much of each bit.

when all was said & done, the 1st manifold was better, cut 1.5" off the runners, opened up the injector bores and cleaned up the TB opening. motor pulled really hard up past 5k. on the 2nd manifold, I cut .25~.3" off just to see the difference and it was significant. cutting them that little did help, but when comparing it to the 1.5" cut it's not worth the effort. Your best bet is to cut them 1.5" (for a 360).

Check with VWandDodge (Gary) to get his feedback on the mods he did to his intake. one thing to remember howeve is he has a fresh motor which is going to give him a ton of lost power back. The thing to ask is how well does it breath above 3k rpms.

 

Thanks guys for the info. I'm really worried about loosing my towing ability so I think I will just smooth everything out, open up the injector openings a bit and clean up around the TB openings. May not give me more power empty, but should help some and still provide towing torque at off idle rpm. I will make sure and take before and after pictures and post them when I do this. Jeff.