6spd-GERCO

Hey Acurazine!

Wanted to share my experience with a recent modification I made to my TL. One of the members on here does port and polishing work on the intake runners and manifolds. So I had him work on a set for my TL . It's been a great experience all around, communication, quality of work, and overall satisfaction with the end product.

I have often contemplated replacing my intake manifold with the 3.7 intake and throttle body, however the overall cost kept me away, it's not the cheapest upgrade and I feel if I am going to spend that money I would be better off buying HFPC. The port and polish not including the core charges and gaskets ran me $325 for the PnP'd intake manifold and runners. Keeping the stock manifold is stealth IMO.

The install was straight forward, disconnect all the sensors and tubes to the intake, remove the intake manifold cover to access the mounting bolts and nuts to remove the manifold from the runners. Follow the crisscross pattern outlined in the service manual when removing them. If you are replacing the runners, you have to relive the fuel pressure to avoid potential accidents involving uncontrolled release of pressure when removing the injectors, please consult the manual for this procedure and if you don't feel comfortable in performing this operation get help.

Here's a picture with the injectors in place, before you pull them out clean out the area where the injector goes into the runners, you don't want to have dirt drop into the intake when you pull the injectors out of the runners. You have been warned.



Here is a pictures with the injectors removed, you can disconnect the mount for the fuel line that is located on the rear cylinder head and rotate the injectors, still on the fuel rails, out of the way.



Now that the injectors out of the way I found the best way to get access to two of the bolts on the intake runners located on the timing belt side of the engine was to remove the serpentine belt, unbolt the power steering pump and remove on 10mm nut to move the wiring harness just enough to get to the two bolts. With a few well placed plastic mallet taps on the runners I was able to slide the rear cylinder bank runner out first and then the front.



Now is the time to take a vacuum cleaner and cleanout any of the road dirt that found it's way into the valley of the engine, my TL has 150k, so it had some build up . Overall I was very impressed with how clean the car was especially the intake side of the engine, they looked fantastic, the intake runners and manifold however where filled with carbon build up from the EGR system.

Here's a comparison shot of what come out and what went in. I don't have a picture of the intake manifold but it looked great, all the gaskets matched up perfectly giving the whole intake smooth transitions along the entire length of the intake path.



I did find something interesting, my intake manifold butterfly valve was actually opened slightly in the "closed position" The actuator must have been replaced and this resulted in the tooth on the valve being off. I replaced all the gaskets with new OEM gaskets along with the injector o-rings even though they all looked great coming out.

I got everything reassembled and plugged in my FlashPro, pulled up my phone app to keep an eye out for knocks and took it for a quick test spin. It was awesome, the car feels like it's breathing easier, it pulls better all through the rpm range, especially in the upper RPM range. I suppose the super cold temps in my area last night helped out, the intake temps only hit about 15 deg. F, it was a wee bit cold lol. I haven't had much seat time with this mod but so far I think it's money well spent . I didn't go with a larger intake and throttle body because I don't feel I have the need for a larger manifold at this point with only bolt ons, if I went to 3.7 internals, or a cam upgrade then I would upgrade to a larger intake but I rather throw the money at my other car, a set of cams would be cheaper than a 3.7 manifold upgrades

Next HFPC's, summer tires and a rear stab bar

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

PnP runners are the best. I did a bunch for people a while back on v6p.

now the real question is... Are your heads also gasket matched?

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

the runners and IM pnp is a great power boost! removing the injectors gave me the biggest pain i was getting fuel everywhere because i couldn't get one of them back in. but i didn't have to take off any belts.

you should look into sending your TB to maxbore and get the tb bored out and the gasket matched to it.

i'm sure your car is feeling better now! great mod. you're going to love it even more once you get HFPCs!!

FamilyGuy

+1 PnP your TB next.

6spd-GERCO

Thanks! Yes they are! After seeing what came out (as cast) and what went in, I knew I was going to see some nice gains.


I heard that you did some PnP work in another thread. I had Gerzand make me this set after seeing his work on Instagram, part of the reason I ventured down that rabbit hole He does great work and has excellent communication, very professional.


Are you talking about the head port to the runner? If so then no, however matching everything up, it's worlds better than stock. If I took the cylinder head off you know the compression, springs and cams and over all ports would be worked on. I need that money for my Integra


Did you lube up the injector o-rings with engine oil? Mine slipped right into the runners with the oil. I didn't take the injectors off the fuel rails.


I will have too look into the throttle body, sounds like a summer thing when I can use my Integra to get around while the throttle body is out. Yes very excited for the HFPC, Question though how did going from HFPC change your exhaust noise levels while cruising? I currently have an RV6 J-pipe and exhaust.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Nice work! Looks familiar; can't believe it's been a little over three years since I installed the 3.7 manifold, ported runners and bigger throttle body.

The HFPCs won't change volume considerably. It'll sound a little deeper at idle and under acceleration, but not obnoxiously loud. I have the Excelerate V2 j pipe and resonated (tiny resonator) base cat back and I wouldn't want to change the sound at all.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

PNP runners are the best. I remember when I did an over kill bore back when I had a garage to work in, but then again my head was also gasket matched. Just had to bore out the gasket also.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

yea i lubed them but it was the fuel rail interface i had issues with

my HFPCs added quite a bit of drone to my exhaust setup so i removed the super small xlr8 resonator and put in the magnaflow one in my signature. now i have no drone when i drive but it still has a nice rumble and is definitely heard when accelerating. it's a perfect combo for my DD. i would add the HFPCs and then see how you like it and then add a resonator if needed. everyone's sensitivity is different

screaminz28

iTrader: (1)

What is your full mod list for the 250whp dyno? I would have thought you had HFPCs already for that. Or do you have PCDs and are wanting to switch?

FamilyGuy

Same here, HFPCs added too much drone on my previous setup (XLR8).

6spd-GERCO

Thank you sir! I am the same way with my RV6 exhaust, I've had it since 2012

That's good to hear regarding the volume level, I really like the sound level now. I am just worried the HFPC will be a little much for long trips. Thank you for your input anx1000c!

Sounds like a plan, appreciate the input!

No I don't have PCDs or HFPC's, it's definitely something I would like to get now

For the numbers in my sig (on an incomplete tune, that's the reason for the bump)

RV6 Exhaust
Injen CAI
RV6 V3 J-pipe
Flashpro



RV6 exhaust only:



How are they with the RV6 exhaust?

teh CL

iTrader: (1)

Definitely stealth mods


question of the day... is it possible to run 1st gen J series runners on a 2nd gen motor?

I have my old J32A2 sitting around for parts and could put it to good use..

6spd-GERCO

Doesn't look like it, they are different part numbers.

FamilyGuy

Anyone know why the OEM gaskets are larger than the runners? Do they expand at operating temp?

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

How is the drone on the rv6 exhaust with HFPCs compared to the xlr8 exhaust? For a while I considered switching over but the cost drove me away. They're out of stock now anyway but just curious

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

So that it doesn't create turbulence.

EvilVirus

iTrader: (8)

You could just add this


http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/361298788780?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

I just bought mine, but I haven't had time to go install it yet.

FamilyGuy

The drone and overall loudness level went down considerably.

So doesn't that mean we all have turbulence then? Since all we do is bore the runners and either don't touch the gaskets or match them to the bore? We would need to over bore the gasket, no?

In my case, I didn't have to touch the gaskets, the PnP bore ended up matching the OEM gasket size pretty good. I thought having a crevice/valley due to the over sized gasket created turbulence. How does having a smooth wall by gasket matching create turbulence? Doesn't make sense to me.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

Okay there gasket is usually larger than the runners so that it doesn't create turbulence because it is usually tucked behind the material. But when you start porting the runners and not port the head along with it you introduce a 1-2mm gap where the material should be on the head side.

Here are what my runners look like vs my PnP head all gasket matched



Here are a set of heads Paul did way way back before I got the tl-s heads. These I actually measured and he removed about 2-3mm worth of material is what I was told. So that the open in the heads were larger than the runners. So no lip here

\

these are his "ported runners" you can still see area where the gasket met the runners

6spd-GERCO

I agree this is part of it and I also think it's for tolerance stack up because the runners are not finished and just left "as cast". Plus with how the seal works, the raised ring when squeezed needs somewhere to go when compressed.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

o and here is measurement of p2r gasket if you guys are just wondering

6spd-GERCO

Lol at the P2R packaging and nice caliper upgrade!

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

lol yeah its my dad. I took this image when I lived at home with them back in 2010? He is an engineer so all his tools are highly calibrated vs my HF 5 dollar caliper. lol