The 3D print on the bottom (with the brass inserts in to hold the polycarbonate top on) is on my engine and running. Video coming asap. The top one is the cheap PLA model I brought up to Tri-State two weeks ago for everyone to look at. These are still in prototype phase so there are several small changes coming to get us to the production phase. Needless to say these will out perform any factory casting. This is only one of about 6 different types of intake designs we will offer including a tunnel ram, cross ram, tri-power, low profile dual/single plane, Hilborn injection style and a "BOLT ON LS" style with injectors and throttle body. You name it, its all coming soon now that we have most of the design details figured out and it runs.
I have created the first fully functional/running 3D printed intake for a 348-409 engine and will be selling these to anyone that wants one. I have been working with a close car buddy of mine that has extensive experience in the aerospace industry using 3D printed technology. The whole idea started back in 2020 when I called around and spoke to everyone that currently makes aluminum intakes for any of the different heads you can buy today. Everyone told me there was no interest by any of them to produce intakes for the small port heads (which make up the majority of engines made and still running today). With the help of a few of you I began working with aluminum to create sheet metal small port intakes going as far as buying/using a 3 axis CNC to cut the parts needed to weld together. Then my buddy comes along and tells me that we might as well 3D print the entire intake and skip the aluminum process.
Some of you were able to see the models we had been using for measuring and such but I was unable to bring the entire car up for the race at Earlville Iowa. Tri-State Drag way, two weekends ago, would have been the perfect chance to show everyone what I have been working on behind the scenes for so long now.
Our plan is to create several types of intakes for these 348-409 engines specifically, then move on to other less popular engines so everyone with any kind of car and run any fuel system they like. That includes the straight 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines. Really we just want to be sure that anyone with an odd ball original engine can get a performance intake style of their choice to bolt on. The only intake for the 348-409 engine family I haven't been able to get my hands on yet for modeling is a Z11. I'll get one soon enough but for now we have everything from Tunnel ram, Cross-Ram, Hilborn style, single plane and currently modeling a dual plane. We will start adding 3D scanning of original intakes later so we can produce a factory looking intake. Imagine a tri-power designed to run three Holley two barrel carbs that looks like a factory piece.
Whether anyone likes it or not, there must be new modern technology incorporated into the 348-409 engine family to keep these engines/culture going. I am young enough to see the writing on the wall. 20 years from now when many of my friends on this forum are gone, we all want to see these engines and the joy they bring us to continue. I have a 6 year old, 5 year old and now a new born and in 20 years they will all likely have a 348-409 car to drive. If I don't apply state of the art technology to these engines now, then they are not likely to be as popular as they are today. All of you know who the Beach Boys are and know why the 409 song came about. Do you think kids 20 years from now will know the Beach Boys ever existed? My kids don't know who they are but they do love dad's oldies on the stereo. Many of you were around to watch the hey day of drag racing in the 60's and 70's but kids growing up now days have no idea what it was like. I'm a child of the 70's and barely remember going to the drag strip in the early 80's with my family. My kids will spend more and more time at the drag strip and continue to go to every car show we can make time for. There is nothing like the original castings from any company but we all know those castings can be improved upon. Even when we start the process of 3D printing the 3D scanned original looking tribute intakes, we will modify them to ensure they are not exact. In this day and age of LS engines, the hard part is keeping the price of parts down where the aftermarket is willing to supply us with parts to keep building these 65 plus year old engines going.
Anyone can look up online that there are lots of people/companies making 3D printed intakes for cars already. No one has attempted to do so for our old school iron until now. We will be using Carbon Fiber Nylon (to start with) and it will be good for about 380 degrees. We have another option that would take the intakes up past 500 degrees but at 380 degrees your engine is already blown up, melted or on fire. Your intake will be the least of your worries if your engine gets that hot. We will also be offering a swap program (an additional cost) to get you back on the road if something does happen to your intake.
Yes we are addressing the cooling passages for a remote or traditional thermostat/cooling. We are also working on a pop-off plate for back fires (because that never happens to anyone) and the exhaust cross-over ports on the heads. I'm knowledgeable enough on these engines so far to anticipate the biggest issues we will need to address. I get some people will not want these high tech intakes but we see a growing need for more options and are working to fill that need for more options and performance to keep these engines relevant for the future.
Weight specs so far is our current model weighs less then 5 lbs. We are sure this design will be under 6 lbs when these are ready to ship. Go pick up any cast iron or performance aluminum intake in one hand and grab a 5 lb weight in the other to get how big of difference it makes. There will be roughly 23lb difference between the factory 881 dual quad an our current Series One model in the photos. Our single 4 barrel intake (that fits under the hood) will be less than 4 lbs.
We will be able to customize any shape, size or design needed for a custom application too. All it takes is more money.
I have created the first fully functional/running 3D printed intake for a 348-409 engine and will be selling these to anyone that wants one. I have been working with a close car buddy of mine that has extensive experience in the aerospace industry using 3D printed technology. The whole idea started back in 2020 when I called around and spoke to everyone that currently makes aluminum intakes for any of the different heads you can buy today. Everyone told me there was no interest by any of them to produce intakes for the small port heads (which make up the majority of engines made and still running today). With the help of a few of you I began working with aluminum to create sheet metal small port intakes going as far as buying/using a 3 axis CNC to cut the parts needed to weld together. Then my buddy comes along and tells me that we might as well 3D print the entire intake and skip the aluminum process.
Some of you were able to see the models we had been using for measuring and such but I was unable to bring the entire car up for the race at Earlville Iowa. Tri-State Drag way, two weekends ago, would have been the perfect chance to show everyone what I have been working on behind the scenes for so long now.
Our plan is to create several types of intakes for these 348-409 engines specifically, then move on to other less popular engines so everyone with any kind of car and run any fuel system they like. That includes the straight 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines. Really we just want to be sure that anyone with an odd ball original engine can get a performance intake style of their choice to bolt on. The only intake for the 348-409 engine family I haven't been able to get my hands on yet for modeling is a Z11. I'll get one soon enough but for now we have everything from Tunnel ram, Cross-Ram, Hilborn style, single plane and currently modeling a dual plane. We will start adding 3D scanning of original intakes later so we can produce a factory looking intake. Imagine a tri-power designed to run three Holley two barrel carbs that looks like a factory piece.
Whether anyone likes it or not, there must be new modern technology incorporated into the 348-409 engine family to keep these engines/culture going. I am young enough to see the writing on the wall. 20 years from now when many of my friends on this forum are gone, we all want to see these engines and the joy they bring us to continue. I have a 6 year old, 5 year old and now a new born and in 20 years they will all likely have a 348-409 car to drive. If I don't apply state of the art technology to these engines now, then they are not likely to be as popular as they are today. All of you know who the Beach Boys are and know why the 409 song came about. Do you think kids 20 years from now will know the Beach Boys ever existed? My kids don't know who they are but they do love dad's oldies on the stereo. Many of you were around to watch the hey day of drag racing in the 60's and 70's but kids growing up now days have no idea what it was like. I'm a child of the 70's and barely remember going to the drag strip in the early 80's with my family. My kids will spend more and more time at the drag strip and continue to go to every car show we can make time for. There is nothing like the original castings from any company but we all know those castings can be improved upon. Even when we start the process of 3D printing the 3D scanned original looking tribute intakes, we will modify them to ensure they are not exact. In this day and age of LS engines, the hard part is keeping the price of parts down where the aftermarket is willing to supply us with parts to keep building these 65 plus year old engines going.
Anyone can look up online that there are lots of people/companies making 3D printed intakes for cars already. No one has attempted to do so for our old school iron until now. We will be using Carbon Fiber Nylon (to start with) and it will be good for about 380 degrees. We have another option that would take the intakes up past 500 degrees but at 380 degrees your engine is already blown up, melted or on fire. Your intake will be the least of your worries if your engine gets that hot. We will also be offering a swap program (an additional cost) to get you back on the road if something does happen to your intake.
Yes we are addressing the cooling passages for a remote or traditional thermostat/cooling. We are also working on a pop-off plate for back fires (because that never happens to anyone) and the exhaust cross-over ports on the heads. I'm knowledgeable enough on these engines so far to anticipate the biggest issues we will need to address. I get some people will not want these high tech intakes but we see a growing need for more options and are working to fill that need for more options and performance to keep these engines relevant for the future.
Weight specs so far is our current model weighs less then 5 lbs. We are sure this design will be under 6 lbs when these are ready to ship. Go pick up any cast iron or performance aluminum intake in one hand and grab a 5 lb weight in the other to get how big of difference it makes. There will be roughly 23lb difference between the factory 881 dual quad an our current Series One model in the photos. Our single 4 barrel intake (that fits under the hood) will be less than 4 lbs.
We will be able to customize any shape, size or design needed for a custom application too. All it takes is more money.
