New 20b intake plenum and runners

[gmonsen]

Here are the latest photos. (He sends a lot of progress photos every day.) The runners are tacked in place and welded to the LIM flange base. The welds are ground, but not polished.

Diabolical1... I plan to paint these gloss Jaguar Battleship grey. The housings will stay off white and the irons and end covers are all polished. The alternator is off white and the headers will be either white or grey. The throttle body is polished.

I really feel like this is art. Its the first custom functional performance piece I've designed and it looks beautiful. Now, we just nee to see how it performs on the dyno.

Gordon

[hades]

can't wait to see it done. good work.

[gmonsen]

Hades... Thanks. It should be done tomorrow. Here are the last photos I got today. The welds to the LIM flange are done and some grinding. Its really coming together.

Gordon

Here's the runners welded and the welds ground down. Pretty much how it will look until painting. The minor touch up will hardly show.


He attaches the runners to the LIM flange base

[My5ABaby]

Pretty crazy setup. I'm anxious to see how well it dynos/flows.

[gmonsen]

My5ABaby... Yep. All the pretty stuff doesn't mean much, if it doesn't do the job. I think it will. The runners are bigger at the plenum and stock at the flange, so a lot more taper and thus velocity. The effect of the greater taper is especially notable on the primaries, since they go from 2.1 inches at the plenum to 1.25 inches at the flange. The plenum is 4 times the volume of the stock 20b plenum, so it will have the volume it needs at high rpm. Does that mean it will work the way I hope? Absolutely not, of course. But, a lot of the intake and exhaust work is as much art as science and a lot comes from experimenting. One way or the other, I'll learn a lot from this.

Gordon

[diabolical1]

Originally Posted by gmonsen

... a lot of the intake and exhaust work is as much art as science and a lot comes from experimenting. One way or the other, I'll learn a lot from this.

so true, so true; and believe me, you won't be the only one to learn a lot from this. that's probably the thing i like about your threads the most - a lot of substance to go with the fluff. yes, they contain A LOT of cool stuff to look at and pine for, but they are ALWAYS informative and thought-provoking. i'm still trying to wrap my head around the "exhaust-free-air"-thing and while i'm not quite there with the understanding, i know i'll be better off when i get there.

[gmonsen]

Diabolical1... Thanks very much. I like to develop things, design things, try things... Even ones that really fail miserably. Its a lifelong avocation. I've spent a lost of time over the past 16 years playing with these and I have had a lot of help from and gotten to know so many great guys who have helped me think ideas through.

My guy welded 5 of the 6 runners to the plenum and is calling it a day. Tomorrow he will finish the last runner and put on the 2 end pieces. I am going to try to get him to emboss the "7" from the emblems he's making for me. He did a "G" on the first ones he showed me (below as well). The ends will be close to a semi circle on each end.

Gordon




Here are some pictures of the first end piece for the plenum. They were too shallow, but it gives you an idea of what they might look like.

[gmonsen]

Haven't gotten the final pictures of the plenum yet, but have a few that show the plenum being finished. He is still working on the end cap on the plenum, because I got silly and decided to have him emboss a big "7" on the front (end) of the plenum. I probably have a picture of the wooden "7" he's using to emboss the end cap.

Gordon

Here's the buck he's using to emboss the "7".


And, ere are a few shots of it almost completed, but some grinding and polishing to do.

[gmonsen]

I had Vic emboss the "7" design I made for my new emblems onto the front end cap of the plenum. He's welded it on and will do the final grinding today. Should have some finished pictures today.

Gordon

Here's the end cap with the "7" embossed on it. Its fairly subtle and sitting behind the alternator, it won'y be seen easily, I suppose, but I'll know its there.


And here it is welded to the end and ready for grinding...

[gmonsen]

Here are some pictures of the completed (minus polishing and ceramic coating) plenum and runners. The grinding marks are like camouflage and make it hard to see the finished surfaces well. Victor's photography makes it almost impossible. I may be able to have him buff it out a bit and take some photos when his hands have stopped shaking from the hammering or whatever.

I'd love any comments on the "7" that I had Victor emboss into the front end cap. Its the same design as the "7" emblems I designed. Any feedback would be appreciated...

Gordon

[gmonsen]

Here are some pictures of the completed (minus polishing and ceramic coating) plenum and runners. The grinding marks are like camouflage and make it hard to see the finished surfaces well. Victor's photography makes it almost impossible. I may be able to have him buff it out a bit and take some photos when his hands have stopped shaking from the hammering or whatever.

I'd love any comments on the "7" that I had Victor emboss into the front end cap. Its the same design as the "7" emblems I designed. Any feedback would be appreciated...

Gordon