Breaking Ground: EFI Intake for Two-Valve Modulars

As we said, we received the oval-bore version of the intake because itwas the first available, and because this more aggressive applicationshould be better suited to our upcoming Livernois 5.0 stroker engine.For pure bolt-on combinations, Reichard offers another upper intakedesigned to accept a round GT-style throttle body.

For the installation of the Reichard manifold, we headed over to CoastalChassis Dyno in Tampa, Florida, where owner Sam Lippencott and JohnnyMoretti did the dirty work in their ultraclean shop. Using an electricimpact, Johnny zipped off all the bolts while Sam disconnected theelectrical connections.

With the wiring harness unplugged and the fuel rails disconnected, itwas a relatively straightforward job to remove the remainder of thebolts and lift off the stock plastic lower intake. That's right--we saidplastic. This intake is a great torque producer, but its constructionhas proven a liability on nitrous and big-boost applications. Heck, it'seven failed in stock cars. That shouldn't be a problem for the robustReichard piece.

We mentioned the Reichard manifolds are designed for highly evolvedTwo-Valves, and here's why. You can see the stock lower manifold'srunners curve around to fill the engine's valley and could be measuredin feet. By comparison, the Reichard manifold's runners are downrightstubby--about 3 inches long. This is the difference between a torqueystreet car and a high-rpm race car.

Once the stock intake is removed , it's a simple matter of hoisting theReichard intake onto the bench and swapping over all the stock sensors,valves, injectors, fuel rails, and the like. We found the powdercoat wasslightly thick in the injector bungs, and we had to improvise a mountingspot for the EGR pressure valve, but these were minor concerns.

Since we stepped up to the oval-bore intake, we didn't want to scrimp onour throttle body. As such, we opted to use Accufab's Cobra ovalthrottle body. Of course, the factory Cobra throttle body gasket ismeant for a dual-blade throttle body, so Sam held the gasket in placewith a couple screwdrivers, then trimmed the gasket to fit oursingle-blade unit.

Sam is a stickler for keeping his shop squeaky clean. His epoxy-coatedfloor likely gets vacuumed more often than our home carpet. It seemsevery time we turned around Sam was whipping out a vacuum. When it cametime to remove the dust from Associate Editor Johnson's "yard," Samwhipped out this cordless Craftsman unit to do the deed.

We made sure to order all new gaskets from our local Ford dealer, as weweren't sure the stock stuff could be reused. Fortunately, Ford usesthese trick intake gaskets with O-ring seals, so no scraping of the headsurface is required. Just pull off the old gaskets, wipe off the head,and drop the new gaskets in place.

Don't forget to install the coolant bypass hose before you drop on theReichard manifold. This piece isn't included, so grab a 1.5-foot sectionof 5/8-inch heater hose and trim it to fit.