Thoughts on Larger plenums.

[RED LS1]

I have searched this topic all night and found some good answers and info. But the fact is that none of the information has been conclusive.

I'll try to be specific with this question. I'm putting together a stock bottom end(long block) with a TE-44, 24 row Mease stock location intercooler, and 3000 stall converter. It's going into a 3200 lbs camaro with boost at mid 20's and alcohole.

I have a Mease fab'd upper plenum and would like to run it but would like to know if it's gonna HURT the performance of this mild motor. I realize people will say, just run the stock one, which is cool, but the question is.....will the Mease one hurt performance? Has anyone lost performance with an aftermarket plenum?.

 

[WINDMILL]

I think the rjc power plate with precision hat will give you the most hp, and i've had all of them and the best hat is the precision hat, it has the most open space of the powerplates.. so thats less restriction. thats my opinion....

 

[RED LS1]

I don't have an option to run one of those. Just the Mease one. I'm thinking it can't hurt?

 

[BLACK MAGIC RACING]

Actually, it can. If the airflow distribution coming out of that plenum is out of whack enough, you can severely lean out a cylinder or two, most likely 5 and 6. The more well known plenum manufacturers like hemco (said by many to be the best), accufab and precision, put lots of R + D into their designs, and have the track records to prove it. The Mease, although a nice looking piece, isn't as widely used, therefore a consensus opinion on it is impossible. If you have the means, time, and patience to do some testing, I'd say go for it. Individual cyl. Egt's, or at least a temp gun, some plug pulling and checking, etc...

 

[EVIL]

You didn't seem to mention the Kenny Bell plenum. What are you're thoughts on the Kenny Bell 70mm?

thank you
D

Actually, it can. If the airflow distribution coming out of that plenum is out of whack enough, you can severely lean out a cylinder or two, most likely 5 and 6. The more well known plenum manufacturers like hemco (said by many to be the best), accufab and precision, put lots of R + D into their designs, and have the track records to prove it. The Mease, although a nice looking piece, isn't as widely used, therefore a consensus opinion on it is impossible. If you have the means, time, and patience to do some testing, I'd say go for it. Individual cyl. Egt's, or at least a temp gun, some plug pulling and checking, etc...

 

[Just a Six??]

Whatever one you use see if Jason at RJC has a plate that will work with it. That amount of power is fine with a ported stocker & RJC plate. I would ask Jason myself.

 

[Nick Micale]

........ the question is.....will the Mease one hurt performance? Has anyone lost performance with an aftermarket plenum?.

I have installed a few of these on various GN's and never seen a loss of performance. Actually prefer them over any other aftermarket, stock replacement plenum.

Airflow would seem to be better, and certainly the greater volume of air would only be a plus. Since there is no empirical or test data readily available at this level, the best we can do is apply the actual field experiences and results.

I have used many different plenums and not seen any problems, or any great increases with any of them at the level you plan to run.

 

[justin84]

Actually, it can. If the airflow distribution coming out of that plenum is out of whack enough, you can severely lean out a cylinder or two, most likely 5 and 6. The more well known plenum manufacturers like hemco (said by many to be the best), accufab and precision, put lots of R + D into their designs, and have the track records to prove it. The Mease, although a nice looking piece, isn't as widely used, therefore a consensus opinion on it is impossible. If you have the means, time, and patience to do some testing, I'd say go for it. Individual cyl. Egt's, or at least a temp gun, some plug pulling and checking, etc...

I don't want to dig up an old thread but I am selling my Mease Plenum. That statement is funny. It is not widely used because they were hand fabricated and not alot were made

 

[slimtastic]

I have searched this topic all night and found some good answers and info. But the fact is that none of the information has been conclusive.

I'll try to be specific with this question. I'm putting together a stock bottom end(long block) with a TE-44, 24 row Mease stock location intercooler, and 3000 stall converter. It's going into a 3200 lbs camaro with boost at mid 20's and alcohole.

I have a Mease fab'd upper plenum and would like to run it but would like to know if it's gonna HURT the performance of this mild motor. I realize people will say, just run the stock one, which is cool, but the question is.....will the Mease one hurt performance? Has anyone lost performance with an aftermarket plenum?.

gennerally speaking the bigger the plenum volume behind the throttle body, the better cylinder filling you will get at higher rpm. but in a buick the real problem is distribution... if you dont wanna spend the cash to know that the upper you have wont lean or richen out certain cylinders, then your better off runnig a powerplate and whatever plenum its setup for

 

[BLACK MAGIC RACING]

I don't want to dig up an old thread but I am selling my Mease Plenum. That statement is funny. It is not widely used because they were hand fabricated and not alot were made

So what makes the statement funny? You just echoed what i said. It's not widely used. everyone knows its not a mass produced piece, and hand fabbed. therefore a consensus opinion cant really be reached. That and the fact that Mease had the business sense of a flea, and scammed numerous people out of their hard earned cash, myself included. That probably hurt sales of the plenum a bit too. Don't get me wrong, his products were absolutely top notch though.

 

[turbofabricator]

The latest design engineering show that plenum a volume should be 1.75 times displacement is the "ideal" with regards to a turbocharged application. So in theory our little 3.8 liter engines should have a plenum volume of 1.75 gallons. There is a ton of info on the web about plenum designs, and with CFD programs out there, there are lots of pictures that show ideals. Look into European diesel tractor pullers. They have done millions of dollars in design R&D. Alot of it is controverial. The latest intake designs on the GM LS engines are at the leading edge in technology. BUT.......you can go real fast with the extremely poor design of the stock Buick Turbo intake system. A turbocharger will cover LOTS of design flaws and still make decent power. Clear as mud?

I fully agree with Nick on this.

Any of the plenums out there will make good power. Is there a BIG gain going with one or the other? Probably not.

I've built 5,000+h.p engines with no where near 1.75 times CID. The plenum volume would have had to hold 17 GALLONS to be at theoretical best size. It was more like 4-5 gallons, though I never checked it. (2,240 cid V-12)