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Polishing and gasket matching part 4: Airboxes

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Old 02-20-2008 | 02:03 PM
woody woodworth's Avatar
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From: Va
Smile Polishing and gasket matching part 4: Airboxes

I took about 4 hours (total), polished and gasket matched the intake pipes, head and Y pipe of my srt and wanted to pass on the steps. This was easy work with a die grinder and air compressor without getting under the car. Basically I wanted to reduce the restrictions and improve the flow of air in the intake system. I will break the process it into different threads to provide more detail. Y pipe, Air Boxes, and Heads.

My term Airbox, that thinggy that has SRT cast into it that passes the compressor air out to the heads......

I took the parts off in this order.
Pull the air filter boxes and then Pull the BLACK plastic compressor throttle body inlet housing: 2 clips, a bit of a twist after clipping/releasing the 2 housing plastic clips.
Pull the airboxes (6) screws and 1 hose clamp each.

The Y is accessable now, three hose clamps and a sensor (caution sensor is fragile)

Take you time and LOOK before jumping in, recommend having a shop manual to assist your understanding of the parts/ steps.

Photos attached:

I wanted to gasket match the outlet ports of the airboxes to be the SAME size as the intake gaskets and ports in the heads. With the airboxes removed I covered the port surface of the airbox with a rattle can to paint and mask the metal.

Gasket surface

Now it was easy to use the bolts to position the intake gasket and then scribe or scratch a line showing the position of the gasket on the port surface. For clarity I scratched all the paint off inside the scribed line to show the region of the port that UNDER HUNG the gasket [this is the misalignment area]. This is the part of the port that I opened up with a grinder. Again this is due to casting slop caused by the core shift and is needed to ensure that the ports surfaces are wide enough to be able to match-up and not run-off one another.
Inlet 25

Using a grinder I cut the port to this scribe line and smoothed the surface. The port of the airbox is now the same size of the gasket and lignes up well to ensure a smooth and NON-Turbulent air flow into the head. This port opening is now aligned with the head port I described in part 3. Again I cleaned the surface with sandpaper placed on a flat table and drew the airbox across it to retain flatness and smooth any edges left by the carbide cutter. This metal is simple aluminum and is easy to work.
Inlet 22

For a comparison photo,the intake gasket is held down by slipping the airbox bolts thru the airbox, thus providing alignment. I was able to achieve my desired goal in about 10 minutes and this photo lets you see the fit of these ports and the gasket. You will gain as much as 1/8 of an inch [bigger ] ports in both directions when you do this clean up. This falls under the 'blueprinting' of an engine though this is only ports, you improve breathing without adding stress to the engine...........were reducing turbulence which is terribly more restrictive than small but smooth intake passages.
Inlet 21 and Inlet 23

The inlet passage to the airbox from the supercharger looks like this photo and is the sand casting finish. It is sort of rough and this part is fun; using a sanding drum roll that I unrapped two turns of the roll and using a die grinder OR FAST DRILL you buzz the interior pipe passage. On the bench is a scribe [aka dentist tool] and one of the sanding rolls on a mandrel.
Air Inlet 2

It takes a minute or so and the metal becomes warm as it gets really smooth. I used 80 grit because I was too lazy to switch rolls and the finish is SOOOO much better. Try to control your glee and dont go crazy as it is addictive. We do not care if it is a polished surface as it is a fuel injected engine and the air+fuel mixture does not start until way down the head port just above the valves, so there is no air / fuel separation to be concerned with. You can make a mirror finish but that is not worth your time. The interior of the air box is SO LARGE that there is no reason to address the inside of the airbox

Here the airbox shows the inlet pipe and the output ports for your review. This effort is to improve airflow and if you see my 4 part thread, you will see my steps and the results. This has to be the easiest engine to work on so far as the porting goes, my 2.2 liters and 440's were another matter altogether.
Inlet 26

BE SURE TO WASH ALL PARTS FULLY TO KEEP GRIT AND TRASH OUT OF YOUR ENGINE< THE SANDER GENERATES LOTS OF FUZZ AND TRASH> I like to wash parts with paint thinner and then rinse.

I hope you find this informative and useful. If there is interest / feedback I will shoot and document the eibach spring installation of my srt6 and the LET181 pully, heat exchanger, johnson pump, phenolic intake gaskets, and needswing intake that are in the mail.

Woody Other shots are just funning, the Phantom grip I installed and the Challenger doing a go on the parking lot.
 
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
gasket surface.JPG (974.1 KB, 45 views)
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inlet 25.JPG (1,018.3 KB, 40 views)
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inlet 22.JPG (1.05 MB, 31 views)
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inlet 21.JPG (1.07 MB, 28 views)
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inlet 23.JPG (1,016.1 KB, 47 views)
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airbox inlet2.JPG (1,014.5 KB, 48 views)
File Type: jpg
inlet 26.JPG (1,000.2 KB, 45 views)
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Crossfire LSD installed 4.jpg (499.1 KB, 38 views)
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dodgex4.jpg (76.8 KB, 27 views)

Last edited by woody woodworth; 02-21-2008 at 03:29 AM.
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