03-01-2015, 01:58 AM | #1 |
Endlessly Wrenching
Drives: VE SV6 S2 manual Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Australia
Posts: 57
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LFX manifold on an LLT
Thought i'd share this for any N/A LLT camaro owners looking to install an LFX manifold.
I mainly wanted to undertake the swap because the composite manifold from the LFX is substantially lighter, does not heat soak compared to the cast iron LLT manifold and may improve performance - more on this later. As far as i know, i'm the first N/A LLT to give this a shot while MagnumForceGB was the first LLT owner to give it a shot with his killer IPF set up. Installation was relatively straight forward but the 6 bolts that hold down the manifold had be about 10mm longer, my catch can hose had to be replaced with a longer line and the evap solenoid needed to be plumbed in with a fitting for the LFX side. Here's what the engine bay looked like beforehand Made a few little modifications to the LFX manifold to give it a bit more flow. I cut off the grid up top, filled in the dip with plastic weld and sanded it all smooth. Gridless Dried up plastic weld, not shot of the smoothed product though New piece over the stock LLT gasket and MACE 12mm insulator A nice match between the LLT gasket and my new piece Looks like the spark plugs and coils can be swapped with ease now Bonus shot of my MAF and Vmax CNC ported throttle body Almost there... And finally, the finished product While the engine bay has lost some sex appeal, the pick up in down low-mid range torque was huge. Shifting through gears feels much better, there's no slight hesitation or dead spot once you hit next gear. I've found power to be stronger right through to redline and the car pulls effortlessly through corners with the extra bump in torque. The loss of weight up top was also a huge bonus and on day one it was 95 degrees out and the car pulled as if it was a modest 75. I did run into a couple of oddities. First, the car would surge while cruising but after a few hundred kms, that has since stopped mostly- from what i've been told, it's likely due to the air leaking out of manifold into the OTR (negative vacuum) but the computer has mostly relearned to compensate. I might put a tube style intake if it bothers me but i'll probably wait until i'm ready for FI. Also my strut bar can no longer clear the manifold, but i hardly think it was doing anything in the first place. Oh and the week before that i gave the car a detail with a machine polisher (first time), here's a before and after shot. Random orbiters are awesome ignore the filthy wheels please |
03-01-2015, 02:03 AM | #2 |
redleader
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Thank you for the writeup !! :-)
Where can we buy one? I'm the the UK so expect I will have to rob the bank yet again :-( |
03-01-2015, 02:48 AM | #3 |
Endlessly Wrenching
Drives: VE SV6 S2 manual Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Australia
Posts: 57
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The absolute cheapest place i could find was amazon ($160) but would only post to the U.S. I had to use a mail forwarding company to get it home, fortunately Australia Post offers that service at about $40usd.
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03-01-2015, 07:03 AM | #4 |
Drives: '13 2LT/RS Twin Turbo Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma
Posts: 3,073
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I think your engine bay looks much better with the plastic lfx setup.. I never cared for the cast llt intake. Unless there's a carburetor in the middle of it I don't want a metal intake.
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03-01-2015, 09:34 AM | #5 |
Drives: 2017 1SS 6spd Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Utah
Posts: 2,840
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If you remove the Mace 12mm insulator would you have clearance for the strut brace?
I agree they don't do much, but they look great! And the adaptor for the LFX manifold is giving you about the same space as the Mace, correct? Nice write up and your car looks great! |
03-01-2015, 11:00 AM | #6 |
redleader
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I have my LLT with a 12mm ICEolator & Engine Cover and still have room between it and the Strut Brace.
Is there a further height change by adding the LFX Intake? Thx. |
03-01-2015, 04:36 PM | #7 | |
Drives: 2017 1SS 6spd Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Utah
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Quote:
To use it (the LFX manifold) on a LLT motor, you need an adaptor to match up the intake ports. It can be seen (bright silver) in the OP's pictures #5,6, and 7. In picture 7 you can see well how tall it is. GM was nice enuff to make the adaptor for us to use the LLT engine with LFX manny in the 2012 Chevy Traverse. It will bolt right up to your Camaro too! I'm not sure of the part#, but cost from a friendly dealer should be $265-$280. List price is $367.98- never pay full retail for GM parts. Tell your local parts guy what you can get it for online, but that you'd rather spend your money locally. He'll meet you as much as possible. |
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03-01-2015, 11:40 PM | #9 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2LT VR/RS CGM Rally's Join Date: May 2009
Location: Palmyra, PA
Posts: 5,675
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where do we buy the adapter for this?
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03-01-2015, 11:40 PM | #10 | ||||
Endlessly Wrenching
Drives: VE SV6 S2 manual Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Australia
Posts: 57
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Quote:
Quote:
Well that's the thing, the lower adapter is the same size as the stock lower adapter on the LFX, just the lower ports to accommodate the LLT heads is different. My insulators with the LLT manifold seemingly had a lower profile than the LFX manifold with the same sized insulators. Thank you! Quote:
Quote:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Awesome man! i'm sure you'll be impressed, keep us all updated, especially if you experience any surging like i have. |
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03-02-2015, 04:00 AM | #11 |
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12633365 by ACDelco - Got this in my amazon wishlist for the future, but from everything I can find online this part number is just good for the adapter right? This is just the lower cast portion and I would still have to source the upper plastic intake plenum?
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03-02-2015, 12:19 PM | #12 |
redleader
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Oh Well
Double whammy :-( #sob |
03-02-2015, 12:47 PM | #13 |
Drives: 16 Camaro SS, 15 Colorado Join Date: May 2009
Location: Jefferson City, Missouri
Posts: 13,941
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Very cool! Thanks for sharing. For some reason here at work, I can't view the images. :(
I think if I were to do this mod, I'm not sure that I'd use a spacer, in addition to the adapter that goes on the bottom of the LFX manifold. I'm not saying there is any problem with doing so, but I think we've found that after a certain point of making the runners longer, you start to lose top end power. I'm betting that if I went with a modded LFX intake like the one that Jac_Fab offers, and used just the GM adapter, that would likely be enough of a difference for me. Not to mention since I'm using a Vararam air intake, I couldn't raise my intake too much...otherwise the my air intake wouldn't work correctly. Looking forward to seeing what kjkjr27 thinks. I've been running a ported LLT intake for a long while now, but I can't say it ever really impressed me all that much.
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2010 Camaro 1LT V6 (Sold. I will miss her!) |
03-02-2015, 01:22 PM | #14 |
Drives: Fastest 2010 Camaro V6 Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Newcastle, OK
Posts: 3,571
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Glad to see others doing this mod. I was skeptical at first about it going from a stage 4 ported LLT manifold but the gains are there.
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