Ajax’s intake manifold

[Ajax]

So I decided to try out the Xcessive manifold for the KA engine to go with my built engine.There’s a lot of back-story with this engine, but the current state is a 2.6L stroked KA built by AMS with an AMS race-prepped head, 10.5:1 compression, BC V3 cams, header, exhaust, tuned with JWT ECU and piggyback AFC NEO (soon to be retuned), flywheel, driveshaft- pretty much way more money than I really needed to spend.Anyway some of you know my car, some don’t, but I wanted to share some pics and progress.Here’s the manifold runners and plenum straight from the box.There are some casting imperfections in the plenum.So I’m thinking- I can cover that up by painting it. That’ll be fun, but let’s make it pretty by the details. Mmm, embossed lettering…So I pull out the masking tape.FAIL!!!Don’t know why I thought masking tape was going to mask this adequately with the rough cast surface of the runners. But since the paint stripper I had used to prep the surfaces seemed to do well, I thought, why not give it a try. A few hours with stripper and q-tips…Win!So I didn’t want another masking tape fiasco for the (X) design on the plenum, plus that’s time consuming. What could I use to temporarily mask that design with minimal effort?Well, the glue kinda worked. Since it was a curved surface, it was tough to make dry within the stamped design. Also, while it did keep paint off when I sprayed, it tended to peel up some of the paint with it. If you’re careful with an X-acto knife, this method can work. I ended up masking with tape again, respraying, using a fine blade and peeling tape and wha-la!I should have this manifold installed on Sunday. It won't be out of storage officially until a little later this month (MN spring is too unpredictable, and I gave away my snow tires) It won’t be really tested thoroughly until I have it retuned by AMS- I’m hoping this will really open up the top-end, but I don’t want to gun it for fear of running lean with all the extra air (maybe I’m being overly conscious, but you would too, with this much money spent).

Modified by Ajax at 8:16 AM 4/19/2009
Modified by Ajax at 8:17 AM 4/19/2009

[koukicody]

looks good man 10.5 cr? you going n/a?

[Ajax]

You are correct sir. NA and pump gas. Dyno results should be posted by the end of the month.

[Pirate_Freder]

ah, so great to hear from you again. you are going in a similar direction as me so I've been following your build. can't wait to see dyno results after this goes on. I want justification to spend all that money on the stroker kit lol. Iunno about those V3's though...aren't they pretty rough in terms of cold starts and idle etc.? I also wonder if they are a little to big for n/a on this engine. I just put some V2's in.

[liquid_cool]

does this manifold have the water outlet for the heater core?..couldent tell on the pic's....i bypassed my whole system..and was thinking of this manifold..

[Ajax]

I'm not sure about the heater core. The guys that were going to help me install both bailed due to circumstances beyond their control (I'm hesitant to do it myself because I'm uncomfortable with fuel rail stuff, not exactly a mechanic...). I know it should only take a few hours to install this piece, I just don't feel comfortable doing it myself.I can tell you that there are options for 2 vaccuum hoses both top and bottom of plenum, plus the IACV vaccuum option which I included. Then there is one more 3/4" hose barb for the bottom side of the runners. Would that be it?Worst case scenario- I'll drive it down to AMS as is, and have them install- my tuning appointment is April 23rd.

[yellowcar]

Looking forward to hearing how the intake works out, thanks for being the pioneer

I am actually making some progress on my car and before too long I will need to make a choice on the intake. I'll update my thread with more pics soon.

[Ajax]

I still want you to go with ITBs. I'm positive that would sound just badass on your dime.

[liquid_cool]

do me a favor..post a pic of the water inlet from a side view please..allso..installing that is cake man..just follow the directions given from excessive and use the service manual for gasket recomendations.

[Ajax]

I'll take a pic tomorrow night.I'm sure I probably could handle installing myself, I'm just uneasy about the fuel stuff. 2 NICO buddies are coming over Saturday to help me out, make sure everything goes together right.

[Ajax]

do me a favor..post a pic of the water inlet from a side view please.

Hope this helps, not very good quality- only have a camera phone

[Ajax]

I took some pics yesterday as our own lumberjack and djSpec were helping me out to install this bad boy. My roommates camera, so I'll have to wait until she can upload the pics and send to me.Now, this is not a quick bolt on piece. There has been some problem solving going on, some grinding to fit here and there and some things that don't make much sense. I'll try to go through these with pics later, but let it be known- you should have access to hose, grinder, and plenty of time to figure things out. As I type its 8am and we worked on the car last night for 6-7 hrs. We are almost there- need some fuel lines to reroute, need to come up with a new intake tube so I can eventually put a hood on.I wonder if its just the new casting design which forgot a few things or if Xcessive actually neglected some things.1st- the lower runner bolts included with the kit were too long2nd- the runners no longer have a coolant bleed valve3rd- the head has a little outcropping that needs to be ground down a bit for coolant temp sensor to fit (they mounted it too high)4th- the q45 throttle cable bracket should be stronger5th- they should either include or strongly recommend their tight radius adaptors, as coming up with new piping on the spot sucks zebra scrotum.Still, the intake looks pretty badass mounted up, and we're almost there.More to come.

[IanS]

Theft of thunder to comence in 3... 2.... 1......

The manifold is in, and the car runs, but as Dave mentioned, there are quite a few little things that miffed me about the design.

It seemed to me like the Q45 throttle cable bracket was an afterthought, it interferes with the fuse/relay box cover, and it is very flimsy. Snapping the throttle causes it to flex a great deal. A more permanent solution will need to be fabricated.

The coolant temp sensor. I almost have to wonder if they had a KA on hand while building the runners. A pretty good amount of metal needs to be removed from the back of the front cover just to clear the coolant temp sensor. There is no rhyme or reason to its location either, they could have easily moved it a 1/4" further out, and it would have fit perfectly.

The fuel rail mounting. I am greatly displeased with the lack of thought that went into the fuel rail mounting. It took me 5 trys to get all the injectors to seal without vacuum leaks, and I'm still not 100% satisfied. It almost seems to me like they threw it together at the last minute. I'm not impressed.

Any one of these issues would be no biggie, but put them together with the grip of other things I had to Finn rig, and you end up with a not so happy Ian. I think Xcessive could be on to something, but they need to sit down and do a little R&D. I guess I will reserve further judgements till I see the dyno results.

Enough of my whining... Pictures.

I only got pictures of the manifold installed.











Beauty and my beast.

[Ajax]

So happy birthday to me, I just bought @$800 of parts to be overnighted.300z MAF, 370cc injectors, IACvalve, hoseses, elbow for creating some more piping.Tomorrow will be a fun-filled hell day.

[Ajax]

Or maybe not. Due to time constraints, I've decided to postpone the tuning session for a month. Chris at AMS only has a couple hours on Thursday before leaving town, and there simply was not going to be time to install injectors, MAF, and tune. Plus, this week was going to be pretty hellish for me anyway.Therefore May 22nd is the new dyno date- plenty of time to get the hood to close...

[a_ahmed]

Man I really wana see some youtubed videos and dyno runs and dyno sheet ooooh yea

[liquid_cool]

Hope this helps, not very good quality- only have a camera phone

thats wat i was looking for...NOTE..the heater core hose outlet pipe or "hole" in this case ,Is plugable to bypass the heatercore cleanly...i allready bypassed mine using expantion type freeze plugs and a cut off wheel...thanks for the pic man..intake looks great..might be more benificial for a KA_T set up thou..as for the fitment issues..thanks again for clarifying what others have complained about..i think ill pass on the intake myself.

[Ajax]

I've been emailing back and forth with Rich. He is now aware of the fitment issues we had and is addressing them. They have supposedly moved the coolant sensor bungs, and apparently the throttle cable bracket was a bad batch of thin ones. He should be resupplying me with a more solid one, once I confirm measurements.Just so you know- He's a good guy and hopefully, my pains will be future customers gains.

[IanS]

I've been emailing back and forth with Rich. He is now aware of the fitment issues we had and is addressing them. They have supposedly moved the coolant sensor bungs, and apparently the throttle cable bracket was a bad batch of thin ones. He should be resupplying me with a more solid one, once I confirm measurements.Just so you know- He's a good guy and hopefully, my pains will be future customers gains.

Somebody has got to be the guinea pig right?

Have you gotten the intake tubing all put together yet? I want to hear that baby roar.

[Ajax]

I just got back yesterday from Nebraska- Stage Combat workshop- damn I'm sore.I'll be working tonight to put it all together. Hopefully I'll have it out this weekend.

[yellowcar]

Isn't being an early implimentor fun? Nice to be able to say you are the first though Good to hear that they are addressing the issues, I hope they are doing something extra to make up for the pain.The injector issue is the most concerning issue to me. Sealing issues could haunt you for a long time.All things considered though, seems like a nice setup once you get the bugs worked out.

[Ajax]

So its 8:30 and I'm finally about to leave my office. Apparently 2 people can't cover for me for 2 days without there being a ton of work leftover... I may not get to everything tonight.Thought- the z32 MAF is overkill for the hp levels I'll be looking at. But, will it be detrimental? Should I step down to an N60 Maxima MAF?

[IanS]

So its 8:30 and I'm finally about to leave my office. Apparently 2 people can't cover for me for 2 days without there being a ton of work leftover... I may not get to everything tonight.Thought- the z32 MAF is overkill for the hp levels I'll be looking at. But, will it be detrimental? Should I step down to an N60 Maxima MAF?

Yes the Z MAF is a little overkill as far as flow reading is concerned, the real benefit for you is the internal diameter. If the N62 has the same internal diameter as your intake piping, then you could easily drop down to that. Hell, I have a S14 KA MAFS that has a decent diameter, if they are the same internally, you can have it. I just dont remember the specs.

[Ajax]

As promised, here are some pics of the install.First, removing the old mani. We went upper plenum first, then lower plenum (and by we- I mean pretty much Ian because he's the man- Thanks!!!)







Here's where we ran into clearance problems with coolant sensors.



And the grinding- make sure that aluminum doesn't migrate...







Install is straightforward except for the minor clearance issues.







Yup, the q45 intake is big.

Here it is installed and running. As you can see, I need to fab up a new intake pipe. I'd like to fabricate an intake that is fed through the piggy nostrils- ram-air effect anyone?



Obviously, with the q45 TB and plenum, there are some hood clearance issues.



Here's the hood to attempt it- Origin Type II. I also just ordered Xcessive motor mount tabs which should lower it just a bit more to help out.





As a bonus, changing the filter will be cake. I'll even be able to replace the knock sensor without much trouble.



So my engine bay used to be shiny red. Then the bodyshop decided flatblack would look good- "I got a way to spray it that doesn't take much time," "okay." End result- would have been better just steam cleaning it- the paint was already decent. If it ever gets painted again, the bay will be resprayed red, and there will be a major wiretuck job.

[Ajax]

Along with the Xcessive motor mount lowering brackets, I decided to help protect the oilpan and ordered one of their skidplates as well. My car isn't super-low, much to the chagrin of most of the 240 crowd- so it shouldn't be a major problem. Xcessive is also shipping me their thicker TB bracket- .075" vs .060". Hopefully, this will clear up the flex issue there.

[yellowcar]

Looks great!

How's it run?

[dtb]

I agree, looks great. Hope that increase in thickness is enough to fix the problem.

[Ajax]

Finally got all the reducers I needed for running some intake tubing (I cut up my old injen pipe- its a temporary solution) and started her up. She didn't want to start right away; I think I probably need a new distributor cap and wires, but she sputtered to life after a few tries. She's got a lopey idle and sounded almost like a Harley. I took it around the block a few times- had a really raspy quality that it hadn't had before, so I brought it back to my garage. Got out, poked my head around the hoodless engine bay... Oh yeah, I still don't have my EGR plug so there's a 3/4" hole out the #4 cylinder exhaust tube. Duh. No wonder it sounds like a Harley.It desperately needs an alignment (replaced the tie rods with Circuit Sports units over the winter) and a way to actually close the hood, then she'll be looking forward to a new AMS tune with larger injectors and Z32 or Maxima MAF.

[a_ahmed]

Man what we need is pictures and videos I'm excited hehe

[Ajax]

So I took the car to work today (day after first 90+ degree day for this year) so that I could take it to get an alignment. It started overheating really fast- so much so that it took about an hour to go 11 miles (stop and shut engine down to cool, start up and go again).Hopefully the problem is simple- Ian supposed that it is probably an air bubble in the coolant.Unfortunately, its just too much work for me to get the car working and down to AMS to retune.Therefore, after haveing spent @$150 in overnighting fees on new parts to try to get things ready, I will have to delay until I can get this car sorted out properly.