Has anybody used the spencer ashley zetec plenum. Am planning on using this with a weber alpha ECU. Any pro's/ cons?

my mate bought on for his zetec but had to send it back as they had powercoated it in the wronge colour and missed off the brackets that hold the injecter rail on,
pissed him off a bit but they did sort it out in the end and sent him anther one
seems to work well but not toally tested yet as hes not on the road yet

what ecu is he using. How difficult was it to get it running.

megasquirt v3 it was fine olny thing he had a problem with was the air flow meter as your meant to use the ford one and it dont fit to well i think hes is going to use a differant one

i think it should work with any ecu
he bought it to work with the ford ecu from a mondeo but could not get the loom and code bit to work so bought the ms in the end

I looked at them but wasnt taken with the quality of his early efforts.

Ive since made and modified one.

It works well with the standard eec-v ecu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKqeCjdBM0w

Is there any one else that makes an inlet manifold? Cause Griffin don't make them any more and if the quality of the spencer ashley isn't very good. What other choices are there?

ive got a westfield one, it takes standard throttle body and has proper inlet trumpets in the plenum for air flow and it uses the 1800 ho zetec injection rail and manifold plate, makes good power too. its the best made zetec plenum ive seen

Pepper performance (ebay) are the only others ive seen, but have seen reviews that dont rate the quality, but have reserved judgement as ive not seen one myself.

Make some more please.

quote]Originally posted by JeffJeffers
Is there any one else that makes an inlet manifold? Cause Griffin don't make them any more and if the quality of the spencer ashley isn't very good. What other choices are there?

quote:

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Originally posted by arrow-engineering
ive got a westfield one, it takes standard throttle body and has proper inlet trumpets in the plenum for air flow and it uses the 1800 ho zetec injection rail and manifold plate, makes good power too. its the best made zetec plenum ive seen

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What would people want from an inlet manifold like this

for a cheap version

for an expensive version?

Just thinking whilst i'm not working i could look at making some. I've got a griffin inlet and it wouldn't be too difficult (i think) to make an improved version.

Would crossflow / xe / cvh boys be interested in a version that used? For the xe / cvh re-using as much from the original engine as possible?

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeR
What would people want from an inlet manifold like this

for a cheap version

for an expensive version?

Just thinking whilst i'm not working i could look at making some. I've got a griffin inlet and it wouldn't be too difficult (i think) to make an improved version.

Would crossflow / xe / cvh boys be interested in a version that used? For the xe / cvh re-using as much from the original engine as possible?

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I was thinking (ok, random musing) something like ....

cheap version, just like the griffin - large tube with four tubes to each inlet on the engine. Injector bosses on the tubes to the inlet and bolt holes to allow it to take the standard injectors. Flange either end to allow it to have the throttle body at either end (means easy to make one plenum and configure for different cars). Onto this you blank one end and mount the throttle body & mass air flow sensor on the other. Mounting would be either straight or at an angle to avoid engine bits. unpainted.



expensive version, as cheap but has the four inlets set up so a ram pipe can be glued in giving better performance. At the opposite end to the throttle body a mounting for a idle control valve. painted.


(if anyone can suggest other differences .... i'd like to hear them.)

No idea of prices before someone asks that question, this is all musing at the moment. Will look into costs of steel / time etc next week.

How cheap?, as I was thinking of making one up myself.

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeR

expensive version, as cheap but has the four inlets set up so a ram pipe can be glued in giving better performance. At the opposite end to the throttle body a mounting for a idle control valve. painted.

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sorry, mind was on other things, yeah, velocity stacks / bellmouth / trumpet.

Griffin doesn't have them, was thinking if i used tube that was the right dia to fit them they'd be an optional extra.

As to price - not thought it through. think i've figured out how to do the injector mountings, need to try now & then price up the laser cutting and steel, figure out a price for my time and see where i come too.

What do you need laser cut? If it is just zetec flanges I can supply them

zetec inlet flange,
three squares with a large hole in them (3 1/2inch hole with, prob about 4 1/2 square)

both out of 6mm steel

Also then need to figure out a price for the main 3 1/2" tube, tubes (can't remember the size) for the inlet tracks and extra steel for the injector bosses.

This is what I would like for an ultimate plenum.

This



X4



One of these Dan




And some other bits and bobs

think we all would - just not that easy to make and therefore really really not cheap to reproduce.

I'm certainly on the lookout for a simple plenum at the right price. I don't want to go down the TB route, so it's either a plenum, or the inlet manifold off an RS1800i from a scrappie. Trouble is they're getting a bit thin in the ground. I'm not sure it'll go under the bonnet of a 7 anyway.

I think there could be quite a market out there for a plenum, for anyone capable of making one.

I would be interested in developing something similar to above, however:

1) I understand that the plenum profile below is desirable (over and above a rectangular or tubular) but is there a calc to determine this profile/volume? I've seen basic vol calculators based on engine capacity but not regarding the actual profiled shape?



2) why is nobody (or very few) else making them?

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Originally posted by FASTdan
2) why is nobody (or very few) else making them?

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I'd agree with that. And it's a pity.

Personally, I'm not looking for anything as fancy as the design in Fastdan's pic. A straightforward tubular job would do me.

I'm only looking for something that would allow me to bin the standard plastic Zetec manifold to overcome clearance issues. Any increase in power would be a bonus, but it's not the main priority.

I believe there is a market out there for people like me, especially if the manufacturer also provided a sump shortening service at a reasonable price.

I made my own but used TT600 throttle bodies mounted to 10mm aluminium plate allowing the standard silvertop sandwich plate with injectors to be retained. This means there is no vacuum on the plenum (well very little) so it doesnt need to be so strong. Its made from 100mm diameter 1.5 wall alumininium. I formed bellmouths on the end of the inlet tubes by annealing and forming round a jig. unfortunately i seem to have lost the pictures I took of the inside before i glued it together with JB weld. Remarkably its not fallen to pieces yet

Zetec plenum

Seems to go ok, but if its any better/worse than a standard inlet I have no idea until i get it dyno'd.

If nobody's interested in manufacturing a Locost plenum, is anyone maybe interested in a group buy from Spencer Ashley?

Carbon mods do this one

http://www.carbonmods.co.uk/Products/carbon-fibre-airbox-ram-air.aspx

Im not so sure on the price of it but its what im after, fits onto a filter back plate, how much would someone want to make these in fibre glass slighty more locost ??

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Originally posted by Andybarbet
Carbon mods do this one

http://www.carbonmods.co.uk/Products/carbon-fibre-airbox-ram-air.aspx

Im not so sure on the price of it but its what im after, fits onto a filter back plate, how much would someone want to make these in fibre glass slighty more locost ??

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Yes - I'd agree with that

I see, im only after an airbox for my gsxr throttle body set up, still, i have learnt something tonight now :-)

quote:

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Originally posted by turnipfarmer
If nobody's interested in manufacturing a Locost plenum, is anyone maybe interested in a group buy from Spencer Ashley?

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Anybody seen this?

http://topspeedperformance.net/

Any good, do you think?

Site is an interesting read, i found the software to be poor & applied for a refund within an hour of buying it (which i got within a couple of hours).

What did you think of the plenum itself. Any good do you think?

im selling something like this soon
see my archive