KB Wildcat runners

[rh455]

I bought a Wildcat from the guy that I bought my car from. After I left I noticed that he cut the runner dividers(all but one) back. He started, but didn't finish what he was doing. He said that Jim Bell told him to cut the dividers(especially the bottom half that meets the plenum floor) back flush where the runner leaves the plenum area. One is cut up to that point the others were started but not finished. Has anyone heard of/done this to their intake?:Do No: Sounds good in theory, but I'm hoping that he didn't ruin this intake. Was this good advice?

[rh455]

Here's his "handy" work.

[Nitro71455]

Holy COW :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

What the heck did he us to hack that up? Almost looks like a cutoff saw.

When I bought my KB intake, there were instuctions that discribed doing what you said for "high horse power" applications. I don't think he runined the intake, but I would BE SURE to get that to JIM W, or GREG G, to clean up what the guy started and make sure all the runners flow the same. If you don't do this, chances are you will never get good results from the intake.

[rh455]

I may "clean" the whack marks in it and have that divider heliarc'd most of the way back.(that's the worst one) I emailed Jim Bell also. The idiot that I bought it from said that Jim showed him how to modify the intake at the GS Nats several years back. I wanted to kick him in the pants(very clean up for this post) once I saw what I had and he was gone already of course. I just need advice as to what needs to be done.:af: :blast: :spank: :stmad:

[Jim Weise]

:Dou:

[rh455]

Jim

Would I be on the right track to clean the sharp edges and have the dividers heliarc'd back in place then finish from there?

[Jim Weise]

I'm of the opinion that cutting the dividers back won't hurt you. In effect, what they are doing is increasing the size of the plenum, and shortening the runners.

Putting a carb spacer on has a very similar effect, in that it also increases the volume of the plenum, but also moves the carb farther away from the entries into the runners. Both of these things seem to help every Single plane Buick manifold I have played with.

I would say you will be just fine by cleaning up and equalizing the work done on the entries. I see your manifold does not have the ugly "steps" in it that mine did, in the plenum. I had heard that some of the later ones had this fixed.

If Jim Bell said to cut the runners back, he must know something about what that particular manifold likes, since he was part of getting it done the first time around.

But I don't think he had that type of work in mind.. :eek2:

JW

[rh455]

Jim

My plan is to clean up what he did with a non ferrous carbide bit then have it "built" back up. Once that's done, I'll have to sharpen the other three until they're all equal in length. Carbidebur.com here I come! Is there a point that is too far to cut the runners? I'm going to try to bring that nasty arch back forward and give it a gentle slant back to where it was on the plenum floor.

[grant455gs]

Just my opinion, but I would send manifold to one of the "porting gurus", and just pay them to fix it.

IMO, it is VERY SAVEABLE, IN THE RIGHT HANDS!:Do No:

Like I said, JUST MY .02!!:bglasses:

[Nitro71455]

I couldn't agree more :beer

[Jim Weise]

A very challenging welding job, but we got her done!

Now for some blending work, a shield and polish job, and it will be better than new.

[Jim Weise]

Pic 2

[Nitro71455]

Very nice work Jim :TU:

I knew you could save that intake.

[rh455]

Holy feline correction, Batman!:jd: Looks great so far Jim. I just saw another Wildcat with Dominator flange in the parts for sale section. Man I was tempted. My wife says that I look at this forum like its a porno site or something. I know, I know. Someday, she'll come to appreciate Buicks too. She's still miffed that I was on my way to buy her a '68 Camaro when I found this car. Anywho, don't let me find this thing on ebay when you're done.:laugh: :laugh: Keep the pics coming.

[Jim Weise]

Ebay...??


Well, they got one thing right..


It's a 4 letter word!

She's coming along nice, and hopefully we will have it ready to go for you late next week.

JW

[rh455]

For anyone that remembers this thread, here's what JW's "handy" work looks like. Looks better than new!:shock:

[rh455]

One more of the plenum....

[rh455]

Here's the polish job, sweet huh? Damn fine work I might add. Thanks for saving this 'cat Jim.

[Nitro71455]

Is that polished, or coated??? The "orange peel" gives me the impression it was coated with power, jethot, or HPC..........

Whatever the case, it does look VERY Good now :TU:

[rh455]

Rich

I doesn't appear to be coated, it looks more like it sat in a sand vibrator like for polishing stones or something. Whatever it is, it works. The bolt holes had some dry grit in them and when I ran a tap in 'em to clean 'em up, I got penetrating oil all over it. I had to take it out in the sun to see on the intake then when I wiped it off it's good as new. I've never seen anything like it.

[grant455gs]

Glass beads.

[rh455]

I don't think it's glass because every intake I've glass beaded left it a little dark and definately not polished. More satin, porous finish if anything. The pores are sealed and it's clean like new.

[Smartin]

JW's Website info::::::

http://www.trishieldperf.com/Cast%20alum%20polishing.htm

At TSP, we are always looking for ways to make a good thing better, or to preserve the pretty parts that leave here, so their owner can continue to enjoy them, long after the purchase is complete.

Cast Aluminum has always been a problem. It is a porous material, so it literally "sucks in" any kind of contamination, which results in an almost impossible to clean stain, which typically can only be removed by glass bead blasting the part in question. And if that part is your intake manifold, that is not such an easy task.

For the last several years, we have been working closely with local vendors, attempting to come up with a solution to this problem, and we are very excited about how this process has evolved. We have developed a proprietary vibratory polishing process that creates the shiny parts that you see throughout this website, and we are offering this service to the rest of our Buick friends now.

And since there isn't any kind of material painted, or bonded to the aluminum, there is nothing to come off, or discolor.... ever!

Beyond just the obvious appearance enhancement, polishing your cast aluminum parts with out unique service will protect you investment. Gone are the days of putting rubber gloves on before you touch your intake manifold, or getting distraught when you spill gas on it during a jet change. This process closes the pores of the material up, and grease, oil, fuel and dirt simply wipe right off. Anyone who has seen this in person.. wants it done for their parts!

We offer quick turn around time, typically, it takes no longer than a week to get you parts on their way back to you, after we receive them.

[Nitro71455]

Humm..........

I wonder what exactly the process is, and how it's done. Kind of makes me go HUMMMMMMMM.

[Nitro71455]

Humm..........

I wonder what exactly the process is, and how it's done. Kind of makes me go HUMMMMMMMM.

[Jim Weise]

Rich,

We have done it a couple of ways..

I first got turned onto this process by walking by an olds manifold that was done in a similar manner, at one of my machinist's shops..

It stopped me dead in my tracks.. WOW, what did you do to this manifold! I asked..

Back then, I had them done by that machinist, and it was a 'friend of a friend" type deal. They were done with a ceramic media, in a virbratory polisher. They were not quite as shiny as our new process is now, there are a few of them done this way out there, and I have as of yet had anyone tell me that they don't look as good, three years later, as the day they were put on the motor.

But turn around time was a little too long, and the manifolds would vary a bit in color, so I was on the hunt for someone else to do a similar process. After about a year, I finally located a local shop that would work with me on developing a similar process. One of the main problems with the ceramic was that they had to vibrate for about 5 hours, and often times that machine was tied up. So it could be weeks to get a manifold done.

But this new process we developed actually takes much less time in the machine. It's done in a stainless steel shot now, with the same type of vibratory equiptment. The parts have to be real clean before the process, so used stuff does require glass beading. And the new vendor doing this for me can typically turn stuff around in as little as 48 hours. The only catch is that there is quite a bit of setup involved in the process, so I generally can't do just one part.. as that nearly doubles the price I have to charge. So I am going to do these in "runs" in which I can offer the prices on my website to do them in.. I have done a single parts, and it has ended up costing me money.. not good..

I think we are going to do a polishing run every 45 days.. in the middle of the odd number months. The next one will be in the middle of Sept.

Except for the "stealth" motors that have gone out of here lately, every motor we have built has had some polishing done to the parts. Results from customers all over the country have been totally positive, after they first see the parts.

Stage 1 Aluminum heads turn out awesome with this process, we have done a couple of sets now. Die cast parts like the water neck, and the aluminum brakets are really stunning..

And the beauty of it is, your new aluminum heads will stay looking like this.. basically forever. I strongly feel that we should be painting or polishing alumium heads, because sooner or later, they will not be so pretty anymore.

This process not only does the outside of the manifolds, but also the inside, and the underside. Heads and timing covers have to be masked off with special plates that I build for this, as the steel media will hurt the guides, and I typically polish the heads after they are completely finished. We also do this to timing covers, and the oil filter housings, water necks, valve covers, water pumps and misc alumium brackets.

I did this actually to keep my motors looking good, long after they are delivered to the customer and put in use. The polish is actually just a side effect of closing the pores of the material up, but it's a neat side effect.

I am always looking for neat, functional things to set our products apart from what you can get elsewhere, and I have a lot of time invested in developing it.. I will be quite a while before I see any return on that investment, but in the meantime, a lot of guys have some neat looking parts on their cars.

Here is the link to that page on the TSP site.

http://www.trishieldperf.com/Cast%20alum%20polishing.htm

I am glad to be able to offer this service, at a fraction of the price of hand polishing, which only does the outside, and does nothing to protect the coolant passages from corrosion.



JW

[Jim Weise]

rh455 said:Here's the polish job, sweet huh? Damn fine work I might add. Thanks for saving this 'cat Jim.

Your welcome Reynold.. my pleasure.

JW