Hi everyone, I've been trying to compare Advanced Induction ported heads (all LT1 packages, budget jobs-full porting jobs) with LLoyd Elliot's porting packages. For the money and performance, as well as service, which one takes the cake? In terms of performance AI's packages seem to follow right along w/lloyd's LE1-LE3 packages. Eportworks.com does seem to be a little cheaper, but offers less upgrade options. Another thing i'm confused about is are the prices for the packages for NEW heads or for porting & polishing your existing heads? Any help on the subject would be appreciated, especially anyone actually running the heads from either company and any dyno #'s if possible. Thanks.

 

Try doing some searchs on them both. They both do great work. It comes down to how much $$ you want to spend. I believe they bouth do a core charge on the heads.

 

It seems like there has been quite a lot of good stuff going around about LE. When i was on his website i'm confused about a couple things, 1st i don't see where it says that the heads package is a NEW set of heads or just a stock set ported and polished. The price would seem to indicate that it is a new set. Also, the core charge which is applied by both companies seems just to be a deposit? They both already require a downpayment in advance for the work so IDK whats up with this core money its a big freakin' chunk. LE says its refundable but why have it in the 1st place if there is already a downpayment before any work begins.
Finally, if i were to just send in bone stock LT1 HEADS, INTAKE MANIFOLD, and THROTTLE BODY all to be ported and say macth the specs/requirements of the LE2 package would that be smart? I would buy his cam though to go with the heads.

 

Lloyd's packages require you to send your heads to be ported. AI charges you a core until you return your heads. Either way your heads goto the porter either before or after. I talked to Lloyd about intake porting and he said it isn't necessary with the LE2 package although you may see some gain over 5500 rpms. I don't beleive they do throttle body porting but could be wrong.

 

Thanks for the info flame. That clears up a lot of my confusion! If the LT1 intake manifold doesn't need porting, then why do people get the LT4 manifold which allows a higher flow? They seem to be making some noticeable gains with the switch. I justfigured that porting the throttle body to 58mm would be cheaper than buying a new one

 

The LT1 intake can be ported but gains will be minimal intil over 5k+ RPM's. I would get the intake ported, but thats just my opinion. There is no gain with an LT4 intake over a LT1 intake, and it wouldn't work with LT1 heads without modification. You cannot port your stock TB to 58mm, you can have it ported to 52 tho, it would probably be cheaper than buying a new one.

 

If the gain are minimal then why have the intake manifold ported? What are the approximate gains over 5k rpm? Also, this a 400+ rwhp car would 52mm TB cut it? I've read that it should be 58mm for high powered cars. When i was looking on the AI website at their head, it said that they fit both LT1 and LT4 manifold, but how is that possible unless there is some extra work done on them individually to fit the customer's IM. One last thing, for the max power to be made from the LE2 package, Lloyd says that u need LT headers and no cat(s). I can assure everyone that i will fail my inspection with no cat(s). With each LT header do u need a Y pipe and or scrap the catalytic converter? What about having 2 cats would that be able to handle the exhaust w/out sacrificing power?
Thanks for all the followups guys, I do a lot of research but since i am a novice when it come to mechanics I get lost easily.-Adam

 

As for intake porting, i think of it more as a "why not", over 5k you probably gain about 10RWHP, possible more. LE charges about $200 for his intake porting, and even if ya picked up 5 RWHP its not a bad deal...just trying to get the most out of your setup. As for the LT's with Y pipe. only 1 Y pipe is needed, and most places don't have catted Y pipes for LT's. However you can have mini cats installed in an ORY relatively easily. Any cats will sacrifice some power, but if done right I am sure the loss can be minimized.

 

I have the LE1 package and am very pleased. Dyno and build sheet in my sig below.

 

Heres a link http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409624 to picks of my longtube dual cat setup. If you have to have cats for emissions as I do then putem in. I'm sure I'm not losing much power through these as they are only 6" long.

 

WOW, those looks like a nice setup underneath. Did u do all the work yourself, i.e cutting and welding? Also, doesn't the 96 TA come with dueal cats anyways? Also, what brand LT headers are u using for future reference, and how is your ground clearance with em?

 

The LT4 intake is not as differnt from an LT1 intake as you seem to believe, a LITTLE machining on LT1 heads is all it takes to make an LT4 intake fit, not that I recommend using an LT4 intake. As far as intake porting, the biggest thing any heads guys should be looking to do is make sure the ports line up well. These are mass produced parts if the head has coreshift one way and the intake the other there will be a bad mismatch.

The throttlebody porting intake porters may mention refers to opening up the bores on the intake this is only of actual help if you put a larger than 54mm TB on and is not the TB itself they are talking about porting.

The prices of the two shops are getting to be very close, both have a lot of happy customers, I don't think you can go particularly wrong with either. Flip through their sites do some reading maybe make a call and see who you feel more comfortable with.

 

Yes 96 have dual cats but with longtube headers you remove the factory y-pipe cat setup. Those are pacesetters and I used their y-pipe and cut into it to weld in the cats. Ground clearance is fine the driveshaft loop is actually lower than the y-pipe.