HO intake on Renix head

[DirtyComanche]

In the long run, will this actually stay sealed?

 

I'm looking at it right now, and I'm really struggling with it...  It looks like the lower part of the intake flange is mostly covering the port in the head, with very very little overlap onto the actual mating surface on the head.

 

I've screwed up and I'm honestly at the point that I might be going to get a HO head since I just don't believe this will work well.

[Rockfrog]

The Renix ports are only 1/8" lower than the HO's. It's been done before plenty.

That said, I opted for an HO head and intake when I put my 88 Renix together.

 

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[mikekaz1]

I run a HO intake and exhaust on my renix head

[DirtyComanche]

The Renix ports are only 1/8" lower than the HO's. It's been done before plenty.

That said, I opted for an HO head and intake when I put my 88 Renix together.

 

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How did you measure that?

 

HO gasket, Renix intake:

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Renix gasket, HO intake:

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Note, the HO intake has already been ground/port matched about 3/16" at the bottom.  There is still 3/16" or so left before it would align.  Yes, the gasket was put on the head to check that it matched.  I will trim the HO gasket in that area before install (I'm going to buy a better gasket anyways).

 

Unless I have some funky unobtanium parts, I do not see how it is only 1/8".  3/8", I'd buy that.  If somebody said 1/2", I'd not say they were out of line.

 

I'm going to do it, if it leaks I will pull a HO head, but I have zero interest in doing that right now.  This already turned into a massive waste of time.

 

I am tempted to port the head a little bit at the top, but also I'm not terribly interested, I think with the amount I took out of the bottom I have a reasonable compromise.

[DirtyComanche]

I run a HO intake and exhaust on my renix head

 

And it has lasted without issues?

[cruiser54]

Yes it has. Use the gasket for the intake manifold you are using, not the head. Happy motoring. 

[mikekaz1]

 

I run a HO intake and exhaust on my renix head

 

And it has lasted without issues?

 

2 years no leaks so far

[Tanner]

is there really that much benefit to swapping to an HO intake? 

(not to highjack sorry)

[DirtyComanche]

No, there isn't.  You would want to use it if you had the HO head, since the ports would align properly.  Just bolting it onto a Renix, I do not see how you wouldn't lose power.  The ports are so badly misaligned that you're going to see a 20%~ reduction in area, with a massive turbulence inducing 'ski jump' on the bottom and a large blocked section at the top.  Unless I port the head I doubt I am seeing any improvement with this, even though I now have gone to the large HO throttle body, and did some port matching to try to minimize the ski jump on the bottom of the port.

 

The reason I swapped to it is because the header I bought didn't actually clear the Renix intake.  It looked okay dry fitting things against the old gasket on the floor, but in actual practice the rear tube was hitting badly on the rear intake runner.  I missed it because I was more concerned with the flanges fitting, which was what is normally the problem when using a HO header on a Renix.  Even the HO intake didn't actually fit and had to be ground a bit.  I did some more poking around and it seems this header is actually a clone of one meant to be used on 99+ applications, where the intake then changed again.  Unfortunately I modded the header (added an O2 sensor, changed the flange to a V-band) and then built the entire exhaust system around it, otherwise I would have sent it back to the seller with a nastygram.

 

The real pain with this is that I can't locate a TV cable for a reasonable price, so I'm going to make the Renix one work.  Also I just bought a brand new Renix throttle cable, which is now going to be taken off and put on the shelf...  Then I get to mess around adapting the fuel lines, TPS, add the intake temp sensor, etc, etc.

[mikekaz1]

I too had the issue with the TV cable.  (renix cable on HO intake)    I got mine to work, it just doesn't look pretty.  instead of right across and down, it goes diagonal right across the oil fill cap.  its a little tight, but the cable operates perfectly still.

 

I can snap some pictures later if you want.

[Rockfrog]

Fuel lines are pretty straight forward, use the portion from a donor from the firewall forward. Or there are GM fitting available at Canadian Tire that snap on/off like stock as well, I did that first with some rubber hose until I found the correct HO fuel lines at a later date.

IAT will thread in fine and has plenty of length to hook up, if you want more just unspool it from the harness.

HO throttle cable, and bend the Renix pedal to give full throw (which essentially makes it an HO pedal).

TPS adapting is a bit more involved but I made my adapter with a hand drill, hacksaw and handfiles ... So not a major project, just time consuming.

Since the intake is pre 96 everything else will bolt on fine. Hell, I even swapped my 88 PS pulley onto the HO pump (in my case a 98) since the other was damaged. Just doesn't have the hole the later ones need to access the bolts.

What are the issues with the header? Was it aftermarket I'm guessing? Both my 2000 XJ (93 head) and my MJ (92 head) use the 99+ intake and a stock HO manifold without issues. Sealed up fine. But I'm not trying to make it work on a 2686 casting either.

Honestly, since you've gone that far already, swapping the head will save you a lot of headache. And improve fitment issues. Block to head mating didn't change on the XJ/MJ platform with the only exception being the addition of locating dowels added to the head in the later years. But that's a non issue as you don't want a 0331 head anyway.

 

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[JENSSEN]

 

I run a HO intake and exhaust on my renix head

 

And it has lasted without issues?

 

Mine has been good 10 years now,....

[DirtyComanche]

Fuel lines are pretty straight forward, use the portion from a donor from the firewall forward. Or there are GM fitting available at Canadian Tire that snap on/off like stock as well, I did that first with some rubber hose until I found the correct HO fuel lines at a later date.

IAT will thread in fine and has plenty of length to hook up, if you want more just unspool it from the harness.

HO throttle cable, and bend the Renix pedal to give full throw (which essentially makes it an HO pedal).

TPS adapting is a bit more involved but I made my adapter with a hand drill, hacksaw and handfiles ... So not a major project, just time consuming.

Since the intake is pre 96 everything else will bolt on fine. Hell, I even swapped my 88 PS pulley onto the HO pump (in my case a 98) since the other was damaged. Just doesn't have the hole the later ones need to access the bolts.

What are the issues with the header? Was it aftermarket I'm guessing? Both my 2000 XJ (93 head) and my MJ (92 head) use the 99+ intake and a stock HO manifold without issues. Sealed up fine. But I'm not trying to make it work on a 2686 casting either.

Honestly, since you've gone that far already, swapping the head will save you a lot of headache. And improve fitment issues. Block to head mating didn't change on the XJ/MJ platform with the only exception being the addition of locating dowels added to the head in the later years. But that's a non issue as you don't want a 0331 head anyway.

 

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It's aftermarket.  I mentioned earlier that I think it only would fit the 99+ intake correctly, as it appears to be a clone of a Banks header listed for that.  It was listed as fitting 91+, so I gambled that it would fit a Renix.  It didn't, at all.

I'm still undecided.  The port misalignment offends me.  I may start looking for a good 7120 head.  But where do you stop?  If I pull the head I bet I'll wind up honing the cylinders and then it will spiral into rebuilding the whole thing.  Maybe I had better just bolt it back together and move on.