Blew the Manifold... Need Advice on new one

[98SteedaGT]

Alright, I knew it was coming, but I figured I would have broken it racing, not driving normally. So, here it is, I broke my intake manifold on my car (the cheap factory plastic one). I came to a stop at a red light and saw my coolant light come on and saw steam pour from under the hood. Sure enough when I got home and looked under the hood, I heard a nice whistle coming from the underside of the intake.... it's DOA.. I am getting a new one on Monday as I need the car back ASAP!!.. I do not want to order it from Ford directly because of the price, but I will have it installed at a local dealer because I know all the mechanics. I am not going back with the normal plastic intake, I am wanting to go with the Bullitt style manifold that FRPP and Steeda show on their site... Anyone done this lately?. What all parts come in the kit, how are is it to put in, what did you notice in perf gains? normal stuff. Any advice would be appreciated... Thanks

[98SteedaGT]

Nevermind on the advice. I have already purchased my new intake, and I have the old POS plastic one off the car. I was right, it cracked all the way across the front seam right behind the Alternator. What a piece of OEM junk... It will be nice to have an aluminum intake......

[StoplightWarrior]

Ahh...I remember when my intake blew up. I didn't care to get a new intake, though, I just traded the car in on this one!

BTW, I love the way your car looks! White with steeda graphics is a good combo, IMO.

[98SteedaGT]

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate the compliment.

[98SteedaGT]

After calling 15 different Ford Dealers in Tx, 2 in Ga, and a couple Racing Stores elsewhere, I am starting to think that the SVO intake for the 96-98GT is a myth. I have seen pictures, but no one has it... I went ahead an got the Ford Replacement intake (the new one with Aluminum Water Jacket) and have already got the top end put back together. With the extra money I ordered Steeda Timing Adjuster, MAF, UnderDrives and plug wires. I also got new plugs since I was down that far.

[Hammer]

Well,
Its certainly not a myth... (unless there's a ghost sitting on top of my engine)

If you're still interested in the SVO intake, contact Dallas Mustang.

1-800-Mustang

[98SteedaGT]

I already tried them. They said it won't be back in stock until April 30. It's on b/o till then... Thanks though

[Hammer]

Well, It was worth a shot...

[COUSIN ROB]

I blew the intake manifold on my 96 GT. Same thing, Stopped at light and a big burst of steam from all around the car and coolant all over the road. Kind of embarrassing.
I took it to FORD and the they fixed it under a recall. No charge. They even paid for the tow truck. Made me happy. I hope the new one does not do the same thing.

[SLOW 97]

The SVO intake does exist and it can be found at http://www.fordracing.com/performanceparts/ in the parts search for intakes. I would get PI heads though and use the Bullitt intake. The SVO intake is quite expensive and still shares the same oval ports that the non-PI heads have. I really think I blew my manifold too. It makes a whistling sound sometimes and sounds like there is a vacuum leak somewhere in the manifold. I have looked for cracks but couldn't find any. A dealership said it was fine though but I think that's just because they don't want to fix it for free since it's under warranty.

[Rally]

Originally posted by COUSIN ROB
I blew the intake manifold on my 96 GT. Same thing, Stopped at light and a big burst of steam from all around the car and coolant all over the road. Kind of embarrassing.
I took it to FORD and the they fixed it under a recall. No charge. They even paid for the tow truck. Made me happy. I hope the new one does not do the same thing.

Ditto.

My first question, 98SteedaGT when reading this post is why you are not getting this fixed for free? Or was the recall on these only for the 96-97GTs?

I am planning on doing the headswap, so the intake will be changing at some point in the near future, but I had Ford replace my cracked one under recall anyway. I did that for two reasons. First, I felt that Ford SHOULD take the cost/labor bite for replacing the POS design of the stock intake. Second, I could take my time and find deals on parts I will need for the headswap, and not have to make rash decisions that will end up costing me more than I should have to pay. (Or have to have my car out for weeks, as the parts I really want are on backorder...)

Just my input. I wish you best of luck

[SLOW 97]

Yes while For is cutting costs by using a plastic manifold it does have some advantages too. It doesn't transfer heat like metal and it is lighter. But these things still don't make it better than the aluminum manifold.

[COUSIN ROB]

Question for RALLY,

Have you done the pipes on your car yet? I have a 96 gt ragtop, 5 spd, all options except leather. I want to do the mufflers....cat back. Don't know what type to get. I know how Flowmasters sound and i like it. I think maybe too loud though. I live in a condo complex and don't want to anoy the neighbors at 6 in the morning. I guess most people use 2 chamber Flows. Have you heard of any using three chamber Flowmsters? Any quieter than the 2 ?
The other option i have looked at but not heard is Bassini.

[Rally]

I'm probably not the one to ask about exhaust work, as I haven't changed my stock out yet. However, I DO know some answers to your questions.

As far as loudness goes, 2 chamber Flows will be louder than 3 chamber Flows, since the 3 chambers are more restrictive than the 2. That is also why you can make marginally more power with the 2. However, swapping the catback doesn't improve power anywhere near changing the catpipe would, since the catalytic converters are the real bottleneck in the exhaust setup... A catback swap may be good for 5 rwhp or so, while a catpipe will add approximately 15-20 rwhp. Both of these scenarios are in a mildly modded car.

Most people have the 2 chamber Flows, and love the sound. Personally, I am looking at the Magnaflow catback. This is a flow-through muffler design that will go well with the catted x-pipe that I am planning on getting. Generally, with a catted x-pipe, a flow-through muffler design seems to work well. With a catted h-pipe, the chambered mufflers work well. This has to do with the flow characteristics of the different catpipes. I also like the Magnaflow because it has a milder sound at idle, and low rpms (great since a loud exhaust would be a bit much with a convertible) and gets pretty wicked at higher rpms.

Bassani exhaust products are generally considered top-notch, although there continues to be some debate about the quality of the cats used in their catpipes. Many people have reported failures there.

Hope this was of some help for you. If you do a little poking around here in the archives, yo should find a plethora of information about all of these topics. Like I said, I am no expert, and am learning myself.

[98SteedaGT]

Ok, to answer that question.... I blew the manifold and brought the car home. We started to look at the way it was designed and wanted to go with the new SVO intake. I know where all it can be found, I looked all over the internet, and I as I said earlier I spent all morning calling everywhere looking for it. By this time I had already dismantled my car's top end (not wanting to wait for my new parts). I had planned on having everything ready for the new intake when I ordered it on Monday. When I couldn't find anyone that had it in stock, I just went down to the dealer and got the OEM Replacement with the Aluminum water jacket instead. It only took me 45 min to get it put back on and cranked back up. I don't like waiting on dealerships in this area, they are too damn slow. Since I didn't sink 2G into the SVO intake and install kit. I bought Steeda Under Drive Pullies, Steeda Timing Advance, Pro-M 80mm MAF, Bosch Plat +4 Plugs, Steeda 9mm Pro Plug wires instead. I am not going to go forced induct or spray any time soon, so this intake saved me a little cash, and since I still have stock 98 heads, I feel I got a little better kick for the buck on what I did instead of the intake. If I ever go to the new PI heads/Ported Inake/Cams, I will have DTA in Baytown do all the work for me, since they are about 50minutes from here. Having built engines before in my chevy truck and helping my friends build about 9 engines for their 5.0 and one 351, I am no stranger to the underside of a hood. I am not the original owner of the car and didn't feel like going through all the red tape either, it was just quicker for me to do it. Besides 250.00 isn't a lot of money to spend on a new intake.