All 7 LS Intake Manifolds Explained

Horsepower gains for all 7 intakes, truck vs car, throttle body sizes, swap-ability, heights, port shapes, shaving, adapters, and more, we cover it all!

LINKS:

Intake:

Throttle Body Adapters:
4-Bolt Intake Manifold
to
3-Bolt Throttle Body (Drive-by-Cable):
(you want to use: newer 4-bolt drive-by-wire intake manifold, and you have older 3-bolt drive-by-cable throttle body).

4-Bolt Intake Manifold
to
3-Bolt Throttle Body (Drive-by-Wire)
(you want to use: newer 4-bolt drive-by-wire intake manifold, and you have: older 3-bolt drive-by-wire throttle body).

3-Bolt Intake Manifold
to
4-Bolt Throttle Body (Drive-by-Wire)
(you want to use: older 3-bolt intake manifold, you have: newer 4-bolt drive-by-wire throttle body)

This video contains some affiliate links to eBay or Amazon, for which I may be compensated. The price is still the same to you so it does not cost you anything, it helps support great content and ongoing updates and improvements.
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0:00 - Overview
0:41 - Intake Port Types (Cathedral & Rectangular)
1:25 - Cathedral Port Intake Manifolds
4:27 - Rectangular Port Intake Manifolds
6:00 - Fuel Systems (Return vs Return-less)
7:20 - LS Swap Survival Guide eBook
9:24 - LS eBooks and Posters
9:59 - Drive-by-Wire vs Drive-By-Cable
11:34 - Throttle Body Adapters
12:14 - Intake Manifold Adapters
13:10 - Intake Manifold Heights
13:37 - Free LS Intake Manifold eBook

[AutoGuild]

Visit Auto-Guild.com to get your free pre-order of the LS Swap Survival Guide eBook. As well as other cool eBooks and cool car related posters too.

[Randomguy-]

As an avid LS enthusiast and an LS guru/tuner... THIS IS GREAT INFO! you did amazing laying the info out in a very easy to understand way!!

[Funtimes]

When I did my LS swap on my Chevy OBS I put together a spreadsheet showing the pros and cons in cost of moving to the LS vs a 350. Even though I probably could have put a 350 in a little cheaper I am so glad I went LS. It is so much more powerful than the old TBI 350. Thank you for putting this kind of information together to educate people to make the most informed choices.

[zander]

You should do transmission next if possible bc I'm thinking of upgrading from a 4L60 to a 6L80 with an aftermarket ecu to control the transmission

[BamaGunsOutdoors]

Really like this channel . I’m working on my very first Hot Rod build. I bought LS 5.3 back in the spring of 2024 from a good friend who’s a big gear head. I bought the motor that came out of a 03-04 Chevy Silverado with a TBSS Intake and building this motor to go in my 99 Chevy stepside zQ8 hoping to get 400-450 horses. Going with a auto 4L60e tranny with a corvette servo for better quicker shifting. I have the 706 heads that have just been redone from a machine shop. I’m going with a summit LS Pro truck Cam stage 2 so this should interesting but it does take time and hopefully won’t have to spend too much money but I’m enjoying learning more about LS motors along the way. Keep posting these videos!

[tomizhou]

These videos are PERFECT to watch while having lunch

[NikMitchell]

wow, man, you're killing it lately!! This is so awesome! Love the layouts

[jacquescrusan]

For any 4.8l LR4 lovers/users out there:
If you have the clearance by which to do so, highly recommend getting the TBSS 5.3l cathedral port intake if it will fit under your hood (truck guys, don't worry about this. It'll be fine.) After testing this back to back with a stock truck intake, I noticed some marked gains and have some real-world numbers to work with.
Setup: 1. 4.8l LR4 sourced from 2003 Tahoe.
2. Stage 1 ported 706/862 cylinder heads from Total Engine Airflow (part number TEA-OEM5.3ST1-CUSTOM if you're curious about the specs, although different valve springs were ultimately used) side note; as far as I'm aware, the only difference between 706 and 862 head castings were the methods used to cast them. Otherwise they are identical.
3. Summit Racing Pro LS stage 2 truck cam P/N SUM-8701R1 (.522"/.524", 218/227 @.050", 112 LSA
4. Mahle 3.830" head gaskets, .051" compressed thickness
5. Summit Racing Pro LS domed pistons P/N SUM-2999273810-2 (chosen because it had the correct wrist pin diameter) -> static compression ratio 9.83:1
6. Holley 92mm 4-bolt cable-actuated throttle body.
7. (x8) de-capped EV6 injectors (stock flow 30 lb/hr)
8. stock LS1 corvette manifolds ported only to remove harsh transitions and 90 degree corners.
9. modified 2002 Camaro SS ECU and wiring harness (modified only to fit the EV6 injectors onto the new harness.
Running them directly back to back (WOT) shows that torque production at or below 4, 700 RPM is virtually identical, with small 1's and 2's popping up where the different resonant tuning of each manifold comes into effect and then falls out. Between 4, 800 and 5, 800 I observed an average torque gain of ~8 lb-ft, with the difference growing the higher the RPM goes. From 5, 800 to 7, 000 average torque production increased to ~10 lb-ft with the only time the difference being less was at and beyond 6, 800 RPM.
Disclaimers: oil pan used was a Speed Engineering Camaro SS swap pan, with a stock windage tray worked over to have sharper leading edges. Oil used was Mobil-1 5W-30 full-synthetic, 6 quarts. Idle oil pressure (normal operating temperature) - 28 PSI; redline oil pressure - 78 PSI. Stock water pump from 2006 Trailblazer SS used. Engine ran in mostly stock configuration (alternator, P/S pump, water pump). Peak numbers: 368 lb-ft @5, 300 - 387 HP @ 6, 700 RPM.
Do with this information what you will.

[mgbgtguy]

One caveat with the LS-1 intakes. The late F-body used the LS-6 intake with a drive by cable throttle body in the LS-1. I have an ‘02 from an F-body going into my swap.

[FilterYT]

Wow, what a great resource, thanks for your efforts, and for sharing so much! Excuse me if you have thought of this, but it may be useful to include a side profile image like the one at 13:20 to document the intake position. I haven't looked at the book yet and it won't surprise me if you have already done that. Thanks again for all your great content.

[THEFERMANATOR]

There was 2 cathedral port intakes you left off, but I can understand why since they were both limited production. You had the 05 Trailblazer/Envoy/SSR intake which was like the gen 3 truck intake, but used a 4 bolt throttle body, and the ls4 fwd 5.3l car intake.

[adrianolacerda]

i bet these take lots of time and effort, but it would be fenomenal to have a guide like this to the ford modular engines!. Anyway, great content as always! love from brazil

[Volvo]

I'm so glad you posted the manifold height pictures, I've been looking for the Gen 3 - Gen 4 height difference info for months

[ReeshaRacing]

Thanks I really appreciate the detail you put into your videos.

[jayvalentin]

This is something I can’t wait to start supporting. Thank you for all of this.

[shockasuarss]

As always, thank you for the content. Will hopefully LS swap my Z32 one of these days

[sinisternoah]

This video stopped me from making dumb purchases for the cool factor. Well put together!

[heinrichgerhardt]

Amazing amount of research you did here! Good job!

[tylerholt]

Love this type of videos as someone who wants to Ls swap

[bbahunter]

The return-less fuel pump has the regulator inside the tank, in the line coming from the pump outlet and dumps directly from the inside of the tank.