Modified Beer Barrel Intake

Since I installed my modified intake a week or two ago I have had my stock intake laying around so I decided to start modifying it!

These are just some pics of the ROUGH stages on one port. I will post pics of my progression so you will see the ugly get cleaned up and look better and it will perform better for the lucky new owner once it is done and sold!

Just to explain for those of you who are interest. This is the UNDERSIDE of my stock intake manifold for my 5.9L engine with the belly pan removed. These intakes are commonly refered to as the "Beer Barrel Intake" because when it is right side up it looks alot like a beer barrel.

Once you remove the belly pan(as I did before the pics) you have access to the intake runners(two sets of two on eack side). I am currently in the process of shortening the intake runners and smoothing them out a bit as well as smoothing out the TB mount on the top of the intake.

By doing this you should gain some horsepower in the higher rpm range without loosing too much low end torque which is common with the installation of an M-1 intake. Another couple of plus' to this setup rather then an M-1 is cost as well as keeping the stock appearence.

I will post more pics as I have time to work on the intake somemore!

-Scott

sweet. i wish you were doing that to a 3.9 manifold. ive talked to some 3.9 gurus who modify theirs where the manifold meets the heads, and they open up those bores to match the size of the gasket. says it really helps the low end power, which i need all the help i can get. i also plan to buy the aluminum belly pan and plenum gasket kit from hughes engines when i have the manifold off, so that i dont have any blown plenum gasket problems down the road.

thats probably gonna be my last performance mod. my harland sharp 1.7 rrs should be coming in any day now, im gonna replace my muffler and put in a hi-flow cat as well. after that i need to quit modding, ive got college coming up this fall

The3.(L intake is the sam thing just shorter isnt it??? I could do this stuff PLUS match the ports to the gasket for the 3.9L intake. If you got your hands on a spare intake and shipped it to me I dont see why you couldnt have it back in about 2.5weeks....maybe less all depends I never did a 3.9L. Let me know.

-Scott

awesome. yea the 3.9 manifold is pretty much the same beer barrel setup as the 5.2/5.9.

the info i got about cuttin the runners down on the 3.9 manifold is that you can't take down very much before the bottom end starts to suffer, and that gasket matching the ports is where the bottom end power comes in. course i'd love to have it setup to add power everywhere, its just that i dont race my truck or really spend very much time up in the top end rpms, so the low and midrange is my target area.

here's the thread from dodgedakotas.com that i got my info from, and pics as well. larry and intensedak39 seem to have plenty of experience and knowledge on the topic http://www.dodgedakotas.com/boards/v6/9314-1.html

is that how they modified yours for your 5.9? cut down the runners and gasket matched the ports as well? who did you get to do yours?

i'm gonna take a quick spin through some junkyards and keep an eye on ebay, if i can get my hands on a stock 3.9 manifold i'd be thrilled if you'd be willing to do the runners and gasket matching for me scott. i'd do it myself but i dont have the tools (grinders), plus im sure youve got more knowledge of how it should be done right. keep us posted on how your project on that 5.9 manifold comes along!

by the way, that link will take you to page 2 of that thread, scroll to the bottom of it and go back to page one, the majority of the info and all the pictures are on the first page

Here is a pic of a torque tuned intake done by mpiMike at DTO.
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That looks just like the one on my truck now and the one I am making now. The only difference is that I bored out the TB mount and cut the divider down between the bores of the TB mount. Other then that it looks just like mine. Thanks for the picks!

-Scott

so what are you doing with your factory intake when you are done with it scott?

I will end up selling it......why you looking for a modified intake?

-Scott

nah, i probally should be looking into buying an M-1 instead, its not like i need anymore low end torque

Let us know Scott how much....I'm interested cant wait to see it when your done. Make sure you update us....

I will keep you updated...I havent done anything to it but once I get my compressor up and running again I will be working on it again soon.

-Scott

Say it with me now. MMMMMMMMMONE, MMMMMMMMMMONE. :-)

always the funny guy Don! I am very happy with the way my modified BB intake is working. I am gunna try to get down to Atco either thursday night or sunday morning to see if the new intake, rockers, and new hoosier slicks can get me into the 13's! You want to come race?

Congrats on the new truck, how do you like the QC?

-Scott

So here is a dumb question.. What exactly does the "modified" beer barrel intake manifold do as apposed to it in stock form? What gains can you expect?

it increases the power in the higher rpm range without killing your lowend power like the M-1 is known to do to some people.

-Scott

So how is that stock manifold modified? What is the difference between the before and after.

If you look up at the top of this thread you will see some pics of how I am "modifying" this stock intake. You can see how the runners on the one port that I started to cut are gunna end up alot shorter then the stock height. I will also be smoothing out the ports so the air will flow through more freely. I will bore out the top of the intake where the TB mounts as well as clean up the ports where the air flows into the heads.

This all combined will make for more air and easier flowing air into the heads and combustion chambers which equals more power.

I hope that helps you understand a little more.

-Scott

Jusr remember not to take too much out of the runners. You don't want to decrease the speed of the air coming in.

I saw it before....but does anyone have a link to instructions??

and pyssed, was'nt it you that filled your plenium? What did you use