it was the three tab wire harness that was connected to the manifold with a three tab connector, that's what I was having trouble with. Got it all done and put back together, only to lose the fuel line grounding nut. Picked a replacement up at advance auto, luckily I work at a Chevy dealership and will get an exact replacement Monday at work. Can tell a slight difference and when I get my first paycheck Thursday I look forward to buying more things to upgrade this little turbo beast. I have a month til my first race against a stock supercharged 2003 F-150 Harley Davidson Edition. Hoping to get enough done to win that and some cash. Anything else that can be done for free?
Porting the Intake Manifold
- Thread starter Preloader
- Start date
firstorbit84
New member
Um. You're not going to win that race.
not tuned as of yet, I am leaning towards the budget tune but am wanting to do other upgrades first so the upgrades actually work with the tune instead of having to pay for it to be re-tuned. I have quite a few people who want to race, for money, including this guy. I've talked rather highly of this car, because I have a lot of confidence in it. So I plan to spend some money on it, but I can't afford much right now. I was looking for some small priced >$100 upgrades to help me with this race. The stock 1/4 mile time on this truck is 14.2 and the stock 1/4 mile time on my sonic is 15.9. We're only running an 1/8 mile track, his truck is over 100k miles, my sonic is <7k miles, and he weighs about 70 lbs more than me. Although his is an automatic, and mine is manual. I've never been down a drag strip in my life. This is my first time, and I feel the need to prove myself and prove the worth of the Chevy Sonic. So please help me, let me know what, if anything I can do to help even the odds, or swing them into my favor.
The tune is your best bet. $200 for the budget and just rent the cable. Other mods will do pretty much nothing without it.
Even with it, he will most likely beat you. It is tough to mess up a launch in a heavy RWD truck with an automatic. A manual car driven by someone who has never been down the track can be the making for some terrible times.
Not trying to bring you down, just being honest. Good luck, though! Hope you have a good time.
Even with it, he will most likely beat you. It is tough to mess up a launch in a heavy RWD truck with an automatic. A manual car driven by someone who has never been down the track can be the making for some terrible times.
Not trying to bring you down, just being honest. Good luck, though! Hope you have a good time.
sx sonic
New member
This.
Check out the " official quarter mile thread, get in here " or something along those lines and I think It's in the motorsport sub-forum. There's one car on a stock tune and ported intake that ran a decent time but I don't recall it being 14.2 fast.
And that was with some "trade secret" drag setup tricks and a few runs already under the belt.
You will Not achieve this time the 1st few tries down the track, you're still in learner mode and the 1st few attempts will never be ideal, just an unfortunate fact of life.
Get the tune (budget or full), do a few runs at the drag strip and then you'll probably kick some butt.
Thanks to both of you, I am selling my entire record collection this weekend for about two and a half grand. Then will be able to buy a new laptop, an intake for the car, and the budget tune. I smoked an srx for $100 tonight on the local street area, but am thinking all he had was paint, body kit, and exhaust. Personally I'd rather be faster than stylish. I'll do visual mods later, first comes power. Thanks for all the advice, I'll constantly be checking back for more, so please don't hesitate to keep it coming.
sonichead94
New member
Just finished porting the intake manifold.
May i say it was way easier than i expected and for it being my first time touching any part of an engine like that. Took me only 2 hours (first time doing any mechanical work on a car or any type of motor) i had my cousin help me just to move the hoses and wires out the way so there more space to take out the bolts. But everything went smooth as buttur. From 1-10 i give it a 4.5ish.
Thank you to all the people who posted on here cause i read all pages last night to do this mod today and it was straight foward.
May i say it was way easier than i expected and for it being my first time touching any part of an engine like that. Took me only 2 hours (first time doing any mechanical work on a car or any type of motor) i had my cousin help me just to move the hoses and wires out the way so there more space to take out the bolts. But everything went smooth as buttur. From 1-10 i give it a 4.5ish.
Thank you to all the people who posted on here cause i read all pages last night to do this mod today and it was straight foward.
sonichead94
New member
I love it! U can feel more top end now.
But the first time i turned it on and backed out my drive way it threw some codes and check engine light came on and it would only go up to 5mph. But i cleared the codes with the ultra gauge, turned the car back on and it ran like a charm.
But the first time i turned it on and backed out my drive way it threw some codes and check engine light came on and it would only go up to 5mph. But i cleared the codes with the ultra gauge, turned the car back on and it ran like a charm.
sonic24740
Zippy
Just did this took about 2 hrs not too bad.. hardest part was trying to finagle it out. 
Italianjoe1
Member
Need to do this, really wish I could find a stock manifold to do in advance, since I really don't have much time with her car normally and I don't want it all apart and she needs to go somewhere. Maybe one of these holiday days coming up I'll steal her car while she's at work and bring it back ported lol.
Italianjoe1
Member
I'm a mechanic by trade so i'm not too worried, it's just taking apart her car when she can't/won't drive any of my other vehicles has to be done on certain days. As of late our schedules have been very opposite.
I port all kinds of stuff, I still do exhaust manifolds for Cobalt guys rarely. I do my own head porting and intake manifolds, whatever needs to be done. I honestly am mad at myself that I've waited this long for a freebie mod lol.
I port all kinds of stuff, I still do exhaust manifolds for Cobalt guys rarely. I do my own head porting and intake manifolds, whatever needs to be done. I honestly am mad at myself that I've waited this long for a freebie mod lol.