Shaved intake manifold

[98hemi-ram]

Well I've been wanting to try this for awhile and I finally got my hands on a spare intake the other night. My goal here is to remove and smooth out all the extra and useless plastic on the stock manifold since they look like crap and are a ***** to keep clean with all these holes and pockets in it.

Here's what I started with

 

[98hemi-ram]

And after spending 5 hours with a Dremel last night here's what It's looking like so far.






And here's just some of the pile of plastic that has been removed from the intake so far.



Still got a ton of sanding and finishing work to do but I'm happy with how it's going so far.

 

[derekp]

Nice it looks good. Also I noticed that you like green so much that even your tape is green. Lol

 

[charonblk07]

This is a popular mod for the appearance guys on the LX side, should look really good all cleaned up and painted.

 

[ST-8]

Well that's interesting

 

[SilverStreak88]

Just noticed it's a 2nd gen with a HEMI, I wanna see the final result.

 

[ST-8]

He's had the HEMI swap done for a while. I believe he's got the thread in the 2g side

 

[SilverStreak88]

He's had the HEMI swap done for a while. I believe he's got the thread in the 2g side

Yeah, I figured he did, but never saw the thread and I haven't noticed him on here before so that's probably why.

 

[98hemi-ram]

This is a popular mod for the appearance guys on the LX side, should look really good all cleaned up and painted.

I've seen tons of LX intakes done but couldn't find any pics of the truck style intake shaved. It's definitely a ton of work but will both look better and be easier to clean once in done.

Yeah, I figured he did, but never saw the thread and I haven't noticed him on here before so that's probably why.

Yup I did the hemi swap 3 years ago now. I usually stick to the 2nd gen sections but anything engine related I'll post over here since it's a 3rd gen engine.
Here's a link to my build thread I did during the swap if you wanted to read it.

http://www.ramforum.com/f61/98_ram_hemi_swap-33498/

 

[98hemi-ram]

Spent about another 5 hours on the manifold tonight. It's starting to really take shape now. But still has a long way to go before paint.

 

[ST-8]

Do you have 06+ coils on yours?

 

[98hemi-ram]

Yup sure do. My engine is out of an 07 ram (supposedly) it's even still got the mds lifters in it but they never been used since before I bought the engine.

 

[charonblk07]

That already looks tons better.

 

[ST-8]

It does look sweet, but as I'm thinking about it an looking at your work it looks like I'd have to get some 06+ style coils to really make it look good. I want to find an intake now haha

 

[98hemi-ram]

Thanks guys!
st-8 yea I would think you'd either want the 06+ coils or at the very least some of the shorty wires.

 

[98hemi-ram]

What do you guys think about shaving these little ridges off by the bolt holes? Think I'd be safe doing that?
Still seems like there'd be enough plastic leftover to keep everything solid to me but not sure here.





Most of the holes on the ends don't have any of these ribs from the factory and there would be just as much or more plastic left around the inner holes still when I'm done if I take these ribs out.

 

[Casper]

I've seen tons of LX intakes done but couldn't find any pics of the truck style intake shaved. It's definitely a ton of work but will both look better and be easier to clean once in done.




Yup I did the hemi swap 3 years ago now. I usually stick to the 2nd gen sections but anything engine related I'll post over here since it's a 3rd gen engine.
Here's a link to my build thread I did during the swap if you wanted to read it.

http://www.ramforum.com/f61/98_ram_hemi_swap-33498/

I wonder how much of the extra plastic is for strength? It'd suck to get it all pretty and then have it crack under load. Just say'n.

Looks good though.

 

[JPT]

I wonder how much of the extra plastic is for strength? It'd suck to get it all pretty and then have it crack under load. Just say'n.

Looks good though.

I have no doubt ALL of it is there for strength... Why would they waste material over the 100's of thousands of vehicles they produce? I know there are sections required for proper casting, but I'm sure some bean counter engineer did a cost to strength ratio to reduce cost as much as possible.

Now, the question is all that strength actually needed for daily use? Who knows, I'll bet the only way to tell is trial and error either on the individual or spread across many DIY'ers.

I'm sure it makes a difference down to the level of location (elevation, temperature), driving style (bumper to bumper traffic, highway, off-road), and time (miles driven, warm-up cycles, parked in the sun).

 

[Bullitt5339]

I'm not that intelligent about these particular intakes, but I know that the early plastic intakes on Ford 4.6 engines had a habit of cracking in certain places around bolt holes and their fix on the replacements was to add the parts that you're inquiring about taking off. I would leave it personally.

 

[98hemi-ram]

Well After more thought I think I'll leave those little ridges there. I still need reds do everything with finer sand paper then it should be ready for paint.


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