CentralCoaster

Well, that actually worked! I've heard all these guys talk about using ball bearings to remove the dents, but never heard of or seen it done.

So I ordered a 1-7/16" and 1-1/2" steel ball bearings to try and fix my dinged up runner set. One side had about 10 dings in it and looked like crap.

First, it's important to say that the runner tubes are not 1.5", they're slightly smaller. You won't be able to get the 1.5" ball into the runner tubes unless you grind the runner out a bit where it meets the flange.

So I had already hogged out the lower flange to match my ported Edelbrock base

I hammered the 1-7/16" ball in to start flattening out the lower bolt hole dents and some of the larger dings. I used an allen head socket, stuck it in backwards so the bottom of the socket would center on the ball, and tapped the end of it with the hammer. I just held the runners down on the carpet to protect them. This ball wasn't big enough to touch most of the dings though.

So I crammed my 1.5" ball in there and started hammering on it. Takes some effort, but you can pound it about 1/3 of the way through with a long allen-socket driver as a punch. Be careful not to let the tool slip off the ball or you'll be pounding reverse dings in the tubes.

Ok great, now what, I got a giant steel ball stuck in the tube and can't get it out. I can't hammer on it because of the curve of the tubes.

So I took my 1-7/16" ball and rolled it in behind the 1.5" one. I then shook the tubes back and forth over and over, slamming the smaller ball into the bigger one, which drives it further up the tube. It's foolproof, since the small ball will roll through there and slam the bigger one in the perfect direction, and is the only way I could see to do it without smashing the tubes. It actually expanded the tube out noticeably in the process, and sure enough, each time it got to a dent, it smoothed it out perfectly.

This took awhile, over an hour to do one side, and probably pissed off the neighbors too. It's pretty tiring, but they look perfect. I even measured the tubes, they're 7% bigger now than stock. And smooth as a babys ***, no divots or dings whatsoever. It seems like the ***** expanding the tubes out tried to straigten them a bit, and they didnt quite seat flush against the intake. I bolted it down anyways, they flex into place and the gap closes up fine, so hopefully they won't leak.

I suppose now you guys are gonna want to see pics of my ***** of steel.

PICS...

One 1-7/16" ball, tapped that through first, then used the 1.5" ball, which required using momentum to slam the smaller bearing into it over and over again. You'll break a sweat for sure.



You can't port the runners much, so I at least radiused them out to match up with the edelbrock high flow base and got rid of the factory dents.



The factory dents didn't come out perfect like the others... The torx bolts rub a little when putting them in without divots. I'm switching to allen head bolts though, that can actually be removed with the valve covers on.



It stretched the tube out a bit, you could see the bearing bulge it out as I forced it through. It expanded them by about .05" or 7%



Sorry, no before pics of the runners. But I was considering tossing them in the trash they were so bad. They look smooth as new now.

bogus

That's interesting.

I would be curious if it helps performance.

zoro

Have heard of that - nice to know it works.

CentralCoaster

Now, if these ***** came in .050" increments, you could really stretch these tubes out.

Archives say the slp runners are 1.64" Stock is 1.47". I think the upper stock pieces will outflow those after I'm done grinding on it.

MikeC4

"So I crammed my 1.5" ball in there and started hammering on it."

Man, I had to stop reading this thread when I read this line....

kopbet89c4

You must keep those dents in your runners! They help increase air velocity, which in turn produces more torque at lower rpms! J/K

I had some runner straightening ***** once but after hearing about how long it takes for them to straighten the runners, I sold them 3 days after buying them off Ebay.

87vette

Thats the first I've heard of this. Sounds cool though since it worked!

comp

wish there were pic's of this

AGENT 86

My ***** are the same size, they just hang like one is bigger.

Sam Lam

I have to agree with the Agent! Central Coaster: where did you get/buy the steel *****? How about some pictures of the finished product?

Grease Monkey

glad it worked

j3studio

Another thread for me...

ALLT4

There's just too many cliche's and I'm sure it's been done before.

I can't resist, did you have to grease your ***** first?

Corvette Kid

I can only speak for myself but no........ no I don't.

kopbet89c4

Yeah, show us those *****! Also show us those "like new" perfect runners.

Corvette Kid

CentralCoaster

I sprayed some WD40 on my ***** before inserting, just to be safe, but they don't seem to stick to the aluminum anyways.

(DISCLAIMER - WD40 IS NOT A SUBSITUTE FOR SAFE SEX. ASK YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE USING.)

I'll post some pics of my ***** and how I used them when I get home. I bought them from Mcmaster.com

Blownfuel1

I think the kits on e-bay come with somewhere between three and five of the smaller ***** so you can just keep adding ***** and hammering on them!

Blownfuel1

Heh-heh, Heh! He said *****!

adi4