I've been looking at the pics I've got of a stock Aluminum UIM and I wonder if anyone has tried working it?
It looks like there should be some HP there for the taking.
Anyone tried?
Here's a pic:

Well there is the HV3 that replaces that black plastic piece. I felt a good gain out of it.

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Why have more money than brains? Cuz RACE CAR

yeah i thoght about that 2 as i have one being polished by racing fool

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I have read where that works well and I'm wondering if it's not due to heat blocking from the coolant passages in the LIM?
What I'm looking at in the UIM is the flared openings .
They seem to be squared on the ends.
I'm wondering if the openings could be flared to allow air to enter the passageways more easily?
I also wonder what purpose the black tabs on the gasket are there for?
Are they there for manufacturing only or are they helping to even out airflow somehow?
My buddy the GM engineer said I should try playing with one of these:

I don't know what the E-testers would have to say about that one.

Never seen anything like that for our car. Would it even fit under the hood?

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Why have more money than brains? Cuz RACE CAR

^doubtful. iirc that is a Holden intake for the Aussie-made 3800 engines.(edit: haha, just saw it says "Aussie intake" in the lower corner of the pic.duh!) I dunno if there are any differences in an American GM 3800 and an Australian Holden 3800, other than the obvious UIM, but im 90% sure that's a Holden 3800 UIM. I like your thinking though, Radius.....although, I always thought that the HV3 was only for the plastic-style L36 UIM. Guess I had a re-re moment and never even considered that they would work inside an aluminum L26 UIM, since they get so hot and the HV3 looks to be plastic or carbonate or something. I know the UIM is hot to the touch, so i guess I figured it gets so hot in there it would eventually cause problems with an HV3 in there as well. guess not......

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2005 Pontiac Grand Prix:|SE front|SPO grilles|HPTuned|HUD added|5-button DIC swap|Wizaired CAI|180*|EGR delete|GMPP rear sway|F&R STBs w/DRs brackets|3.29s|HD Diff|7/8" chain|WBS TA's|SD Headers|GenV SSM90 Hybrid(INSTALL PENDING)

No problems here so far

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Why have more money than brains? Cuz RACE CAR

^ edit: nevermind, thought you were saying you had the Holden intake and aren't having any problems so far. I see now youre saying you have the HV3 and not having any problems. reading comprehension > me lol

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2005 Pontiac Grand Prix:|SE front|SPO grilles|HPTuned|HUD added|5-button DIC swap|Wizaired CAI|180*|EGR delete|GMPP rear sway|F&R STBs w/DRs brackets|3.29s|HD Diff|7/8" chain|WBS TA's|SD Headers|GenV SSM90 Hybrid(INSTALL PENDING)

Correct,that is the Aussie Holden intake.
I wonder how it compares height wise to the stocker?
It was related to me that when GM went to the Aluminum upper to replace the plastic one,they had to pull a couple of degrees timing out of the ignition curves.
The extra heat created detonation problems apparently.
I'm still wondering what effect flaring the inlets in the upper would have?
I would expect better breathing...maybe not earth shattering though.

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

Let's see here:

I'm looking at this picture and wondering if it could be modified:

I wonder if the runners could be cut off at 45 degree angles - sloping downwards to the middle.
I'm thinking start the slope right where the vertical part ends on the outside.
Bevel the inside of the openings and you should be good to go.
If that proves fruitful,then you could carve out the risers in the UIM to smooth out airflow.
My *guess* is that the power peak may be a *tad* lower than an HV3,but the midrange power should pick up from 3,500 rpm to the stock redline- where I figure it could really be used.
What do you guys think?

I like your thinking! How's the finish on the inside of the the UIM itself? You may be able to smooth/round parts of that to help even more with airflow. I honestly think the plastic UIM would be better for performance since it doesn't conduct heat like the aluminum. In general, I don't like the design of the NA UIM's. How feasible would it be to use the F-body UIM or something similar?

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'97 GTP: 9.5:1 Diamonds, XP'd, 3.4, Shiny Headers, Ported S/C and Heads, N*, HPTuners
Coming Up: Intercooling of some sort...

I'm not sure what the F-body UIM looks like?
You're right about the plastic UIM though...according to my sources from GM.
The NA UIM's as GM designed them aren't bad,but what I'm proposing would turn it into something similar to what Ford did on a limited edition Mustang [mod motored IIRC] a few years back.
It had a boxed tunnel ram,modular engine that made 375 H/P NA.
What I see is that the runners will become shorter and the plenum volume will become larger.
Both of those factors should raise the runner's power band efficiency point slightly over stock,but not as far as the HV3.

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

Now that I've given myself a big "atta' boy",I *should* give myself a big kick in the butt.
If we cut the tops of the runner towers off around where I said,it looks like we'll have a runner length similar to the Aussie intake.
The problem I see is when you remove the entire top of the "arch",you lose the stiffening for the bases to keep them sealed to the LIM.
Anyone else see that?
Think that might cause problems in any way?

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

look at the hv3 why cant you just chuck the runners all togather>?

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You could,but each runner is a Helmholtz resonator.
The length and volume determine what RPM they become efficient at.
That's why you don't port the shiznit out of a set of heads unless you want to run at really high RPM's.
Any "boombox" tuner knows about port sizes.
They're playing with the same things that engine designers have played with for years,only in a different arena.
Basically,the cross-sectional area and the length are the determiners.
Since we're only talking about changing the length,the other stays the same.
It looks like the outer third or so [outside of the runner] is "pinned down" by the UIM.
That's it and is it enough?
I do appreciate the question though.
If this works out,it could be a really sweet way to go on a turbo conversion..


I wonder if the outside of the runners themselves could be glued to the UIM with a high temp RTV [Ultra Copper,etc.],then install the whole thing as a unit?
What do you guys think?

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

since heat soak is a issue with the aluminum UIM, couldnt a spacer be made like zzp offers for the S/C's?
Granted phenolic isnt cheap, but it could cut down on heat soak on N/A cars and turbo cars running a L26 UIM like i plan to

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04 Comp-G, 3.2" MPS, MSD, TOG's, XP'd, SLP cat-back, ZZP/Self tune, SLC CAI, Lowered (alot)

Couldnt you make your own HV3? All it looks like it is, is just the stock runners cut down flat.

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That's essentially what it is, but we have no way to stiffen up the insert unless you fiberglass a piece in place that will mimic the design of the HV3. The next best design I can think of off hand is to hand-make six individual trumpets of a certain length and fit them to the frame of a cut-down insert.

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'97 GTP: 9.5:1 Diamonds, XP'd, 3.4, Shiny Headers, Ported S/C and Heads, N*, HPTuners
Coming Up: Intercooling of some sort...

Um its not like the hv3 is expensive and it works dam good!!!!

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^ Very true.

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'97 GTP: 9.5:1 Diamonds, XP'd, 3.4, Shiny Headers, Ported S/C and Heads, N*, HPTuners
Coming Up: Intercooling of some sort...

I guess I didn't explain my idea clearly enough.
First off,I don't doubt the HV3 does everything it's advertised to do.
I just don't want to rev the butt off the engine to see the gains.
I want to fatten the mid and upper mid range more than what the factory does with their design.
What I'm proposing is to cut the runners horizontally,halfway up the side - where the full tube ends and the half tube that curves over the top starts.
Cutting the tubes at the base would be effectively just creating my own HV3 with all the extra work involved......a big waste of time.



I don't think heat soak from the LIM is the cause of the extra heat on the Aluminum UIM.
The gasket is Plastic with Silicone embossing and should be a pretty good insulator in it's own right.
I would believe that a lot of the heat in UIM is absorbed from the engine compartment.
Aluminum is real good at that.

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

The Aussie Holden intake was used on a Turbo Buick that was just sold a couple months ago.

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Matt's new TT cam | PT-67 | 18-22psi and a couple stock trannys.

^^^pics? more info?

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my cars a whiner, but i love her anyway

I think Ben on regal GS owned that car. not positive but i think thats who owned it

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2006 Honda 1000RR (Sale Pending)
GMC Sierra 1500HD (After Basic Training )

the holden could fit if you put it on "backwards" and had the TB face the fire wall. i was real close to putting one on my car before i top swapped. i was think of using it with a turbo.

the nifty thing abought the holden is it is a 3 piece design the lid plenim and LIM are sepperate. the also make runner spacers so you can dial in runner langth. i know of one guy with one on his L36 camaro and gaind 5hp with doing nothing elts but the intake

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92 LeBaron Convert: Turbo 3L 97 Grand Prix GT 4dr "Frankenstein": L67 4t65 swap
97 Grand Marquis: Summer DD 99 Grand Prix GTP: Top Swap Beater