Hi Ken,
Thanks for your input and openness on the subject of weight compromise.

The

decision was definitely a compromise and one that I struggled with.  The
extra weight is a concern but one I am willing to accept due to the ease

of

construction. My welding skills are rusty and I've never even attempted

to

weld aluminum, so I not really enthusiastic about testing my skills on

such a

critical part.  As far as being tuned for my desired RPM,  I don't

really

know at this point.  I figure I will invest the two afternoons that it

took

to modify the stock manifold and then just run it on the test stand and

see

how it does.  If it does not perform well, then I'll start on PLAN - B

at a

later date, having only lost 6 hours of time trying to make this one

work.  I

can still try to do come tuning on the upper 1/2 of the intake manifold

by

extending the length of the runners.  This part should be relatively

easy

compared to trying to fabricate the lower portion of the intake

manifold.  I

am contemplating cutting off a couple inches of the lower manifold ( the

part

that sticks up above the injector ports ) to decrease the height, but it
looks like it will fit into the cowl without this.  I'll keep you up to

date

and post new picks as the project progresses.  I've attached a pick of

the

engine with some of the components loosely hanging in place so I could

better

see the spatial relationships.

Sincerely,
Don Mitchell
Standard Velocity - N6VV (reserved)
Mazda 20B - NA

Lance Warren wrote:

Don,

Good to see you have the engine together...!

Best Regards

Lance Warren
www.3rotor.com

Paul Lamar
 
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