Porting PI intake? :)

geaux · Jan 17, 2009

I am bored so I just thought I would throw out a wild hare idea and see who shoots it first.

Couldn't you use a dremel to grind away that soft soft plastic and then use epoxy or jb weld or something to gasket match?

Would the fuel eat it up?

Would heat do it in?

Would it destroy the integrity of the intake, cause time/space warps or something.

98COBRA281 · Jan 17, 2009

just get a pi intake, they can be bought for pretty cheap.......

geaux · Jan 17, 2009

98COBRA281 said:
just get a pi intake, they can be bought for pretty cheap.......

That is what I have.

The question is can the plastic intake be modified to gasket match better.

The rabbit is still running next shooter.

98COBRA281 · Jan 17, 2009

oops, i read it wrong.

yes, i did quite a bit of clean up work in my intake around the injectors, there was alot of rough plastic blobs in there.........

CobraRed_96_GT · Jan 17, 2009

You cant port PI intakes in the traditional sence of making the flow better - you need some metal.

jprovence · Jan 17, 2009

There is really nothing to port. The heads need far more work then the intake anyways.

geaux · Jan 17, 2009

CobraRed_96_GT said:
You cant port PI intakes in the traditional sence of making the flow better - you need some metal.

You can grind away plastic just as well as you can grind any metal. If you grind through plastic you got the equivalency of welding to repair it. Stuff like epoxy and jb weld is also fluid and sets so it is easy to shape.

I am kind of playing devil's advocate because I have never heard of anyone doing this and pioneers usually get turned into arrow pin cushions.

Just curious WHY NOT?

geaux · Jan 17, 2009

jprovence said:
There is really nothing to port. The heads need far more work then the intake anyways.

The ports on the intake don't gasket match any more than do the ports on the heads. Granted the heads are aluminum with meat around the ports.

CobraRed_96_GT · Jan 18, 2009

geaux said:
You can grind away plastic just as well as you can grind any metal. If you grind through plastic you got the equivalency of welding to repair it. Stuff like epoxy and jb weld is also fluid and sets so it is easy to shape.

I am kind of playing devil's advocate because I have never heard of anyone doing this and pioneers usually get turned into arrow pin cushions.

Just curious WHY NOT?

Ask any mustang shop, they wont port a PI intake

geaux · Jan 18, 2009

CobraRed_96_GT said:
Ask any mustang shop, they wont port a PI intake

Not surprised at that since working in plastics is not a mechanic or machine shop forte. Regardless of the material the intake is made of, gasket matching is beneficial. TRUE? The whole game is to present as smooth and unobtrusive path for the air to travel into the combustion chamber.

The wild hare is still zigging and zagging. Saying a shop will not do it is not saying why they will not. Next shooter please.

Gearbanger 101 · Jan 18, 2009

In a word....no!

For starters, have ever tried to grind away plastic? It doesn't wear and cut like metal, it melts and clumps. It makes more of a mess than anything and is almost impossible to put a finish on.....and will constantly bung up your grinding bits. You'll probably have the most luck having the intake extrude honed, but even then, you'll never duplicate the smooth finish of the stock surface mould casting. I've heard of some shops sawing the lower running length of the bottom of the intake off, to tale a section of length out of the intake runners, then epoxying them back together in order to raise the power band a little, but from what I know they leave the surface of the runner walls themselves alone.

Besides.....as already stated, the stock PI intake isn't the flow issue when you start putting out big power numbers, its the heads.

geaux · Jan 18, 2009

Now that is what I am talking about Gearbanger. That logic and info wounds the wild hare idea severely.

Thank you.

Still kicking though.

I kind of agree it is a wasted effort and that gasket matching on the heads makes much more sense so the air isn't disrupted by the edge of the head ports.

I did a google search on the idea and on other vehicle plastic intakes they do it but more of a clean up than a gasket match and some use jb weld. Nothing about reaction to fuel or mechanical failure (cracking) mentioned.

Biggest problem is there doesn't seem to be much thickness to the walls of the intake. After the head swap I will have a NPI intake laying around so I might play with it just because.

Gearbanger 101 · Jan 18, 2009

geaux said:
After the head swap I will have a NPI intake laying around so I might play with it just because.

Understand though, the reason for the limited performance of the NPI intake is the small diameter runner size and their short length. It’s kind of a catch 22. There’s not enough "meat" around the walls of the runner to increase their volume to the point where they would be beneficial to top end performance and their short over all runner length hurts velocity and therefore low end torque which the 4.6L would otherwise desperately need.

I personally think you'll be wasting your time, but it is your time to waste. Just don't be too disappointed with the end result if it’s less than spectacular.

geaux · Jan 18, 2009

I personally think you'll be wasting your time

I agree but this is a gentlemanly theoretical discussion about the merits and the mechanics of porting plastic intakes.

I declare Gangbanger the ace shooter. This idea is dead.

mustangman9812 · Jan 18, 2009

Waste of time and a perfectly good PI Intake if ya asked me........ O BTW lol Gangbanger LOL LOL, its Gearbanger lol.

CobraRed_96_GT · Jan 18, 2009

geaux said:
Saying a shop will not do it is not saying why they will not. Next shooter please.

Shops wont do it for a reason, lol. It's not like they don't want to get paid. I like how many responses it took to convince someone trying to port 1/4" width of plastic it's not a good idea.

fasthippo · Jan 18, 2009

port it as much as you can and spray it. then tell us what happens.

248a · Jan 18, 2009

fasthippo said:
port it as much as you can and spray it. then tell us what happens.

I'm sure after all that porting it could take a 200 shot no problem.

geaux · Jan 18, 2009

248a said:
I'm sure after all that porting it could take a 200 shot no problem.

Hummm. Reminds of the time we got the visiting city kid to pee on the electric fence. No I am convinced I should pass on this rodeo. Just idle ideas.

Porting PI intake? :)

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