DIY: Z1 Intake Plenum and Spark Plug Swap [Picture Heavy]
 

Ok all i know most of this is rather basic but i thought id create a DIY anyways.

First off you will need to remove the brace bar (Yellow boxes) and then the Cover (blue circles)

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...ps12421e82.jpg.

Next you will need to remove the connectors off the back side of the plenum, there should be 4 small bolts back there. Then remove the sensor on the upper right corner. After that is done pull and remove all the hoses on the back and the two in the front. (Light blue circles)

After that you will need to remove the main bolts that hold the plenum down. (yellow box)

Then you will need to disconnect your upper intake from the throttle bodies. (green circle)

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psecbfb217.jpg

Once all that is done you need to clamp the two coolant lines on each throttle body and then remove the 4 bolts and 4 washers that hold the throttle bodies on to the plenum.

Once both throttle bodies are disconnected, remove the clamped lines and take the throttle bodies out to clean them. You will have some buildup and since they are off now you might as well clean them up.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7add4759.jpg

Now that everything is disconnected remove your plenum and set it next to the new one. You will need to transfer over both throttle body gaskets and the primary gasket on the bottom. You will also need an E6 socket to move over both upper studs. Once this is all complete you can move onto the spark plugs.


With the throttle bodies and plenum out of the way, changing your spark plugs is a breeze. You can see one of the coil packs on the engine and my wrench pulling another out. Each coil pack is held down by a small bolt. Remove the bolt, disconnect the electrical connector and pull the coil pack out of the way. Then take a spark plug socket on an extension and remove the spark plugs. Reverse the order to put the new ones in and Tq your new spark plugs to 25nm to call it a day. . NOTE. ONLY DO ONE AT A TIME TO AVOID MIXING THINGS UP!!

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psf86c0a10.jpg


Once spark plugs are all done, reconnect the coolant lines to your now clean throttle bodies and set them on the sides out of the way.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5d1ecdf1.jpg

Put the new Plenum on the engine and re-install the 4 bolts on each throttle body to secure them back to it. Then install the 6 primary bolts and 2 nuts to hold the plenum down to the engine.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psa26857f6.jpg

Once the throttle bodies and plenum are secure you need to reattach the lines on the back and front and re-secure the intakes to the throttle bodies.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psb780f330.jpg

Once that is done put the strut bar and engine cover back on and you are done!

If you liked this DIY toss me some rep or a comment on my profile page! If you have questions hit me up in a PM and ill do my best to answer promptly!

how are the power gain with the new manifold?..do you have a tune ?

Nice write up man! :tup:
I'd be VERY interested to see the internal design of the Z1 plenum to see what's going on and what was really changed in comparison to stock. I know that it IS an improvement over stock but, how so is my question.

Did you take any pics of the z1 manifold prior to install? Im curious to see what was modded.

Also, did you need to do a recalibration when the throttle bodies were removed?

Nice work!

Did I see they picked up 10 whp from a just a pnp of the plenum???

That's pretty good -- under $300 aint bad either I will have to think about getting this...

Plus the core charge... Another $250.

Core charge is only if you are having them mail out the Z1 Plenum first..
they will refund you the 250 once they receive yours..

This ......How's car running

Great write up. I've been wanting to do this.

Just porting...

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ps055ad1b5.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ps452c645e.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ps589bce53.jpg

Maybe. This dyno says its 8-9hp over the m370 mani which we all know loses power over the stock mani top end. Whats it vs just a normal mani though??? The graph looks like it keeps up with the m370 mid range power but the top end should be no different than the stock mani. We need a back to back. Far as I can tell its cheaper than the m370, you gain "almost" as much mid range as the m370, yet you keep your top end as if you kept the stock mani. All in all seems worth it. I think though $300 is a little to much. A local shop or you could knock this out with a drill and the right bits/sand paper bits.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ps3a396aea.jpg

Mozen, looks like you could use a catch can? That first runner looks dirty from the PCV hoses coming in right there with oil and blow by.

Does it look hard to pull off the 6 runners the mani bolts too? That cast piece looks rough and could use a PnP too! Might pick up some more power. I want to do the TB, mani and runners all PnP.

Is it possible they are flow balancing the runners as well? Just looking at the variable ammount of grinding that looks like is being done to each runner (Hard to tell for sure from the pics).

For $300 I doubt it. Would make sence though for optimum performance.

I wonder which plenum ( motordyne & Z1) produces more gains of torque ? Has there been comparison's yet ?