In our last episode of Project C7 Corvette, we installed some Hooker Blackheart long tube header for the direct-injected LT1 engine. For this episode, we are going to add an MSD Atomic intake manifold to complement the headers and all the other engine mods we did to date to help us get the car ready for LS Fest West where we are going to enter it in the Grand Champion event to see how our Project Car stacks up against some of the best modded Chevies in the country. We are hoping that our mods will help wake up our LT1 and fulfill our objective to exceed the power output of the venerable LS7 engine, Chevies king of the naturally aspirated engines.
The MSD Atomic intake manifold has been recognized as one of the most power intake manifolds on the market that can fit under the low slung hood of the Corvette. It is made of injection-molded thermoplastic in two pieces. The plastic does not conduct heat well and aids in keeping the intake charge cool. You can see the recesses for the positive sealing, and reusable o-rings around the intake ports here. You can also see the metal inserts around the head bolt holes for durability here as well. This is a great, often overlooked detail.
At the bottom of the manifold, you can see how the intake plenum takes up all of the space here for additional plenum volume. The Atomic manifold also can accept throttle bodies of up to 103mm if you wanted to go bigger.
You can see how much fatter across the bottom the MSD Atomic manifold is over stock in this picture of a stock LT1 intake manifold.
The MSD Atomic intake manifold was designed with extensive use of CFD or Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation. This helped design the optimal plenum volume and the best flowing manifold runners. You can see the bell-shaped entrance to one of the intake runners here.
