It's not that simple, not even close.

I had Bret convert a SuperVic and I will break down the associated costs.

Intake casting: $225
LT1/EFI conversion: $500
Injector bungs: $80
Fuel rails: $72 (from online supply house)
Wilson Elbow: $212 with atleast another $100 of machine work (I did most of the additional machine work)
Wilson 90mm t/b: $300
MAP adaptor: $70
IAC adaptor: $72 (from online supply house)
Old style IAC: $65 (from Dal)
Old style IAC harness: $54 (from autozone)
TPS adaptor: $62 (from online supply house)
K&N filter RE-0860: $44 (from online supply house)
Custom 4" intake: $50 in materials (from McMaster)
Various -AN fuel fittings and line: ~$300 (from local speed shop)
Aeromotive 13109 regulator: $150 (from local speed shop)
Intake gaskets: $22 (from local speed shop)
Vaccum fittings/line: $30 (from hardware store)

Non-necessary items that I also got:
Carbon thermal shield: $135
Port work: $200
Powder coating: $65
Cam/valvetrain to match intake: ~$650

Add that all up and you get ~$2400 for the absolutely necessary items, or ~$3450 if you decide to go as far with it as I have.

I fell into the "It's only $850 for the intake" train of thought, I don't know if I would have gone this far if I had realized all of the costs associated.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that I did some machine work on my heads for the center two bolts on the intake, so that will be an additional cost if you can't do that yourself. I put where I got the items if I didn't get them through Bret.

 

Uh, was that for me? The car to which I was referring is owned by Mike Harris in Dayton,Oh. His name is 1FAST94 on ImpalaSS forums.com. His email is MIKIEMILCON@aol.com if you want to ask him how he did it, and if he can build one for you. He ports heads, does custom suspension work/fabrication, trans building etc... I'm gonna guess that a 490 RWHP car with the stock LT1 intake is going to be hard to beat.

 

Mine is a low budget single plane conversion. . .

- Victor EFI: $80 (new is $320, mine was a used R&D piece from a local speed shop.)
- Used LT1 inake: $30 (cut off the TB flange/MAP mount/cable mount)
- Fuel rails: $80
- Carb flange: $0 (milled down an old Q-jet/Holley adapter)
- Various fuel fittings: $100
- Machine work and welding: $0 (though I've spent 20 hours already and will spend another 40 at least before I'm done)

Machine work and welding include:
- Drill LTX bolt holes in intake
- Spot face LTX bolt holes
- Cut off water neck
- Mill carb flange
- Cut TB flange off LT1 intake
- Make stock FPR adapter to Edelbrock fuel rails
- Make distributor hole plug
- Fabricate elbow out of sheet aluminum, carb flange, and TB flange

I ran across some great deals and expect to get mine done for $300, but it will take ALOT of custom fabrication and machine work. I built my own turbo kit, so I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. . .

Mike

 

Also note that my setup is a super victor which needs to be converted to EFI, as opposed to the EFI ready manifolds.

Mike,

What fuel rails are you going to use, the EDE-3630?

 

Yep, they should be in today!

 

Well, I was thinking about using the efi intake with the injector bungs already in it. And various fitting and lines are all free to me so that kills cost. And if I fab up an elbow to use a stock TB then why cant I use my stock ecu and wiring? And Im sure I could get the stock LT1 fuel rails to work with some mods to them. I can get the water neck cut off and sealed along with having the dist. hole sealed. Another thing to think about is how about hood clearance?

 

BLKSUNSHINE : You dont see them because they are expensive.

Its much easier to just get it close on the stock manifold and spay a small shot on it. The money saved can be better spent to go faster. So the only people you see doing it are the ones that are dead set on building a true N/A motor, not a Nitrous Assisted one.

 

When I was looking into this, Bret said the Super Victor was a much better manifold than the vic junior or vic e that you can acquire with the injector bungs in them when considering a naturally aspirated setup. I doubt that you would be able to get the stock rails to line up since the injector angle is likely different, and the spacing won't be right. Not to mention it will be an eye sore. Have fun making an elbow, your best bet would be some water jet cut pieces of alum along with 2 rolled pieces, then you need to weld it together. The cast elbow from wilson is ideal since it transitions from the 90mm round to the carb opening on the intake very smoothly has a good 'short side radius' that mates up beautifully with a single plane intake. It also allows for about the lowest profile that you are going to get and still have a good enough radius there to justify the whole project. Hood clearance will be something to look at, but I think that I will be able to get mine to clear my stock LT1 WS.6 hood if I cut some of the support bracing out from the underside of the hood....weight reduction if you will.

More power to you if you can get it to work, but I am a firm believer of if you are going to do it, do it right. That is why I am going to the lenghts that I am as to not leave any stone unturned.

 

Well this is just more or less an idea in my head. The motor would definatly be setup to run n/a but it will still have n20 on it.

I know the stock fuel rail will be an eyesore but if someone was looking to do it on a budget then it might work for them, I think I would just opt for some new rails anyways. I just want to be different I guess. I dont see many cars around like mine and I like it that way.

And I with you on the fact that if I will do it I will do it right, I have learned my lesson the hard way with that one.

So I might do this......or I can take my intake off and paint it black with red fins and do a fogger setup on it...even though its only getting a small shot.

 

Just curious, did he explain why?

 

IIRC it has to do with pleanum volume and runner shape. The Super Victor is taller than the others, which can lead to more fitment problems, but he said the gain is worth the effort.

 

Ouch.... $3K for just an intake. =(

 

Ouch is right you can get a custom sheet metal intake for that price, with higher gains & less customising.
-b

 

The intake itself isn't what runs the cost up, its all of the items that go along with it. A converted super vic can be done under 1k for just the manifold if you go pretty bare bones.