Home made adapter plates

[No Control]

Well, as the title implies, I made my own adapter plates for installing a PI intake on my 98. Reason: Infamous craked intake.

In case you missed the previous post (kinda hi-jacked at the end), here it is:
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?p=4216438#post4216438

I've had some sealing issues with mounting the PI intake, not once but 3 times. Some research landed a link to the livernois kit. After a quick phone call, learned just how much they wanted . I guess you can do that when you're the only one who makes them.

So, I called Ford to inquire about the correct intake, and they wanted almost as much as the entire livernois kit . I decided the only way to get out of this mess, was to make my own.

Now, granted I'm not a skilled craftsman, or even a machinist, I'm an electronics technician by trade. However, one thing that I do have the ability to do is to "Afro-engineer" things. Before you all get upset by the term, a really good friend of mine and I almost started a company called "Afroengineering" because he was one of the last white guys out there with a 'fro dating back to the 70's. We also made alot of cool stuff in his back yard!

Ok, back on track: Went down to the local metal shop and purchased a couple of slabs of T6061 aluminum. Bought two sets of gaskets, PI and NPI, and used those as templates. Turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Granted, the lines aren't too straight, as I stated in the previous post, but then again I don't have a CNC machine in my garage, either.

On to the install. So far, I've got the intake torn off the car again, and the surfaces cleaned up. NPI gasket is down, adapter plate is down, followed by the PI gasket. I'll update this post as the install goes, to tell of any major issues or problems....

Thanks for listening!

Pic:

 

[COramprat]

Did you try to smooth the lines out or would that have jeapordized the overall fit? Looks good but man 10 hours of work requires a ton of patience. How did you center the ports without throwing off the position of the intake. Did you just match the bolt holes on the PI and NPI gaskets or did you just center the gaskets onto the aluminum sheet on both sides? To make sure I understand, you drilled the NPI side first then trimmed the PI side?

 

[No Control]

Started by drilling the bolt holes first, then cut the NPI side, and trimmed to the PI.

 

[WOT]

Looks cool. NOw just take them into a local mahine shop and get a few set made to sell. I bet you could make a few bucks.

 

[No Control]

Unfortunately, I'm deploying in 3 weeks to the Arabian Gulf (and other various places which I'm not allowed to talk about), so I'm going to have to let that idea go by the way-side.

I did install them, with both sets of gaskets, and it leaked fluid. Tore it apart again, and saw the marks left by both sets of gaskets. Right where I needed them Don't know what happened.

So, I got some BLACK RTV (for use with fuel) and just used that stuff and the plates. Poured water in, and no leaks so far. I'm letting it sit for a little while to see if it still doesn't leak while it's halfway apart.

Will keep informed.

 

[COramprat]

So no gaskets at all?

 

[No Control]

No, no gaskets. Just an 1/8th inch bead of RTV. The black stuff that looks like it came from easy cheeze.