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He already bought an ATP, which IIRC someone once said it was a Dorman.

While the Dorman does have ugly sharp edges inside, it does hold up quite well (knocks on wood). Years ago, I replaced a Ford replacement one on our old Cougar with one (before I knew better), and we put at least 80k miles on it before we sold the car. My current 97 has one that the PO had installed before I bought the car.

Sure, you can call a Dorman ugly, but you can also call the old Ford replacement manifold circa 2002 a POS because it only lasted like 40k miles.

Al
 
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Discussion starter · #22 ·
You’re going to be busting knuckles either way by the sound of things. You asked, we answered. The only option that fits your criteria gives you a small horsepower gain.
Yes, I asked but asked for an aftermarket manifold. Never wanted to get another stock one or modify to a PI. I am running a Dorman on my other 97 T Bird but was not impressed with it's construction. It has been reliable though after at least 10 years of service.
 
Yes, I asked but asked for an aftermarket manifold. Never wanted to get another stock one or modify to a PI. I am running a Dorman on my other 97 T Bird but was not impressed with it's construction. It has been reliable though after at least 10 years of service.
When asking for "Best Brand Aftermarket Intake", we delivered. The PI and FRPP units are technically aftermarket for the MN12 platform as they did not originally come with the car. The answer wasn't what you liked / wanted to hear.

A better thread title would have been, "What Aftermarket Intakes work" because that's what you were really looking for.

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Sure, you can call a Dorman ugly, but you can also call the old Ford replacement manifold circa 2002 a POS because it only lasted like 40k miles.

Al
The problem is that it drops at least 10-15 HP over stock.

It's been Dynoed here, if anyone cares to search.
 
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Every single aftermarket stock replacement manifold is the same thing. The dorman, ATP, SKP, and Ultra Power are all the same manifold made at the same Chinese factory with the same molds and the same level of quality control. You said in your first post that you were not impressed with the dorman unit. If that doesn’t work for you, then none of the others will be any better.
 
The problem is that it drops at least 10-15 HP over stock.

It's been Dynoed here, if anyone cares to search.
The “PI” dorman (et al) drops power on a PI engine, it’s basically just a lower quality npi in terms of flow. On a npi it’s adequate af far as performance. I don’t like them regardless because the plastic is even less robust to heat cycles and age than the Ford unit and the integrated gaskets add failure points.
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Thanks allot to everyone that responded. I have learned allot from you guys. I bought an aftermarket but will be looking for a Ford unit at the junkyard. From failures, I have noticed the weak point in the Ford unit is the water heater hose barb at the rear on the r/h side. They crack like crazy. Although the Dorman unit is not great for flow, Mine has never cracked at that connection. There is a great video on You Tube on how to convert from NPI to PI. Thanks again everyone.
 
. From failures, I have noticed the weak point in the Ford unit is the water heater hose barb at the rear on the r/h side. They crack like crazy. Although the Dorman unit is not great for flow, Mine has never cracked at that connection.
Because on the Dorman, the nipple and manifold are both plastic. On the Ford units, it is brass, and presumably expands at a different rate than the plastic, which eventually cracks the plastic.

Al
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
Because on the Dorman, the nipple and manifold are both plastic. On the Ford units, it is brass, and presumably expands at a different rate than the plastic, which eventually cracks the plastic.

Al
Ys, that's exactly what happened to my Ford manifold in 30K miles! These are probably made in China now too. I think the Dorman is not as free flowing but does last longer.
 
Well, back in 2017, the wife's car (1997 Cougar) finally blew an intake manifold gasket ....looking at everything, I decided to just replace the intake with a Dorman unit. Now I am typically not the biggest fan of Dorman...parts are typically good, but not great...this is an exception. From my research, Dorman changed their manufacturing specs/design about a year or so prior ...I ordered and received the new intake....it was actually (IMHO) a better design than the OE intake (which yes was replaced with the oe updated design in about 1998).
As an FYI, the Dorman intake does not utilize any of the oe cylinder head to intake gaskets...as they have incorporated these as individual units into the intake itself (eliminating one layer of gaskets).....IMHO, this was good from several points one of which when installing the intake, there is much less chance of damaging the gasket (although slim, it you got a little rough with it by accident, it could cause an issue) and makes it a much less of a headache aligning things up. But the biggie I saw was the runner design.....although definitely paralleling the oe unit, it did not have near as many of the horizontal type flow restrictors as the oe unit......a little casting flash (vertically) was there but nothing my dremel tool with sandpaper couldn't clean up in 20 minutes. The port alignment was excellent (which with their previous model, it was posted that sometimes you had to cut excess material off the outside of the flange to get it to fit).

Final result.....perfect seal & fit on the 1st time out....car runs excellent as good as it did before (no torque loss as others have reported with the previous model) and the upper rpm (4K+), seems to run a little better actually......IMHO...(ie. less obstructive flow pattern in the runners)

The new gen dorman manifold that they came out with about 2 years ago is really a good unit....I waited until I was convinced before replacing the intake on my wifes 97 cougar sport (4.6)…...the one issue that they most all have is the TB mounting location...vacume leak very common....use a touch of senor safe silicone and that resolves it (had 2 intakes on different vehicles with that issue). The intake runners are nicely formed with little to no casting flash to be removed (unlike their earlier ones)…...IMHO...I also used a touch of Permatex non-hardening gasket glue around the water jackets just for my comfort

I have a good one laying around my house right now......send me an email if you are interested.
 
Those clever integrated gaskets have their downside



This intake was two years old when I took that pic!
That's one of the reasons that I use a touch of Permatex at the water ports.....and I have also always used an anode in the cooling system which indirectly helps with a variety of issues...….and I also get a lot of questions such as, "The oem radiator lasted 17 years?...it was the plastic that started cracking?"
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
I ended up cancelling my order on the aftermarket intake and going to the junkyard and getting two PI manifolds. They ran a $46 each. I ordered all the parts I need to do the conversion. Should be good. I have another 97 with a Dorman manifold and may change that one later if needed.
 
I'd say Mikey has swapped a few of those; he runs a shop, and those fit a lot of cars.
 
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