Got my plenum and hi-flo cats from Kinetix today. Both are definitely pieces of art, I want to hang the cats on my wall instead of installing them. Anyway, me and a friend tackled putting the manifold in, it took us about 1.5 hours total time. Keep in mind we are fairly mechanically inclined, but used no instructions (I mean, we are men, c'mon). I think disconnecting and reconnecting all the vacuum lines is by far the most difficult part, it is very tricky. We ran into no fitment problems and no complaints. After installing and firing her up, a loud as f*ck whistle developed from between two of the front bolts. When we pushed down between the two bolts, it went away for a few seconds, then came back. My friend (who doesn't listen sometimes), tightened the bolts down while I was behind the car, and cracked BOTH pieces, even though I'd told him like 20 times to not tighten past "snug". It didn't effect the plenum. I decided to take a test drive with the whistle; to my enjoyment, it went away after about 20 seconds of driving. Here are my impressions:

Installation: Fairly easy, but burdensome. Take your time and get a friend to help and it'll go a lot faster. Don't attempt it without the right tools.

Sound: Sounds a bit like a LS1 with flowmasters now. The popcharger and plenum are my only installed mods. There is a nice growl to the engine, and much lower pitched than before. The exhaust has also woken up with a nice deep rumble.

Performance: Not the HUGE gains I was hearing about, nothing neck-snapping, but definitely noticeable. I now chirp second shifting @ about 6200rpm. Pulls best in 4th gear I found. There is a nice improvement up top; the RPM needle keeps sweeping at a constant rate instead of slowing down past 6200. I would buy this again in a heartbeat.

Quality: Outstanding. Simply put, I am a very satisfied customer.

Kinetix Service: Once again, outstanding. Every annoying PM I sent to LSD, he responded to timely and politely.

Would I buy again? Absolutely.

To make sure the whistle didn't come back, I went to auto zone and got some liquid gasket sealant and squirted some along where the leak was. All gone now. Oh yeah, and no CELs were tripped, it runs great, idle is smooth. Any questions, feel free to ask.


<- Me

 

Wren, which two holes did you notice the leak from? Please be specific.

We are going to do a mold update this weekend most likely as well as finalize our install instructions. If there is a common hole that seems to be problematic, I can address it.

Let me know.

Glad you are happy with the products.

 

Here is a picture...

 

very sweet, I gotta get mine soon.

 

Mine came today......install in the morning.....Kinetix customer service = excellent

should I maybe use a gasket sealer ?

 

Good news/bad news

Good: Went for some driving for, erm, scientific purposes. I got 30.4mpg in mixed interstate/city driving, with an average speed of 51mph. I shifted around 3.5krpm each time.

Bad: Idle has gotten a bit rough. It will hang around 900, then dip to 600 ocassionally. Any thoughts?

 

did you have a grounding kit before and had to remove it?

not that I think grounding kits do anything... but its possible I guess.

 

Did you use the threadlock on all of the flange bolts?

Did you let the threadlock set up for at least 30 minutes before driving the car?

The threadlock has to cure otherwise the bolts can loosen themselves out fairly easily due to the low torque settings.

 

Yes I have a grounding kit, and did not have to remove it. I merely had to relocate one or two (cant remember) of the wires, but it still looks good and is functional I suppose.

And yes, I did use the loctite provided on all of the bolts. I went and ate dinner (~1 hour) before starting the car. Any idea how to find where the leak is so I can put some more gasket sealer on it? I've heard wd40, soapy water, etc etc. What is the final verdict on the best thing to use, and what should I look for when I use it?

 

I read on one thread that the one guy had to put a ground on the throttle body frame ...remember with the composite plenum you no longer get the same ground as you did with the stock plenum I already planned on doing mine that way

 

Yeah, that was ChrisMCagle. he said he wasn't sure it matters (from what I remember)

 

ECU reset??

 

i hope someone can tell me how to install this thing before i try it.

 

go here

http://home.earthlink.net/~clonewolf/plenum.htm

 

Well, kinda. I disconnected the neg battery terminal during the install, and hooked it up after dinner (approx 3 hours time). The SES light I had before installing the plenum went away. I let the car idle for about two minutes before driving it, then went out and pushed her hard. I love the plenum more and more each time I get in the car. It adds a nice rumble to the engine, definitely sounds like something powerful is under the hood. That coupled with the turbo-sounding popcharger makes it sound like a total BEAST. Whenever I punch it, everyone in the area looks and some have even run from the street.

 

More cracking from over torqueing bolts while trying to get a seal? This plenum is not for me.

Thanks for your post Wren57.

 

Don't let this scare you. My friend is 6'5", 220lbs, so naturally tends to apply more force than most people. I told him so many times not to even consider tightening the bolts down, to let me do it, but he did it anyway and ****ed up. Just make sure you bolt it down yourself, use loctite, and don't force the issue once it is nice and snug. Like I said, don't worry about this too much, just do it yourself and don't be dumb and pull the ratchet with two hands...

 

kinda what i'm thinkin.

 

Thanks for the review. We have had several requests for the product and installation at our shop. We have been watching, waiting and seeing what you guys think before we drop the hammer and become a distributor/installer. The tightening issue is a small concern as we've seen this mentioned several times. I can hardly wait to get my hands on one of these and dyno my car!!!

 

Ever consider that it's the installation thats not for you?

I cracked one too, but it was before the torque specs came out. Had I read them, I probably wouldnt have overdone the force (which I tend to do).

wren, I had a whistle too on first drive. But on the second ride, it's long gone and i've got a solid idle at 740-750. It sounds like you may still have a leak somewhere. I strongly recommend some kind of carb/throttle body cleaner spray. It sprays on really misty and doesn't leave much of a residue. I sprayed it heavily around the whole plenum and all was good (no stumbling = sealed).