Gutting intake plenum without a milling machine

An angle grinder with cut off wheel & flap disc kinda works. Do not waste your time using a stone grinder attachment. You'll still need to use a dremel with flexible attachment to finish it off. Even then it's a lot of work. Many of us have tried this route. It's really not that expensive to have a machinist gut it. Been quoted .5-1hr to have a machinist knock out. The expensive part is the welding of the plate & deleting everything. I've gone both routes. The machinist route is the most efficient & cost effective way. I've been there done that & got the T-shirt.

Thanks for all the info. I think I'll use my angle grinder to do a good chunk of the work and the have the rest milled. I think there is a shop that is somewhat local that can do it. Thanks again

I used a recip saw and metal cutting blade. Much faster than a grinder. There are pics in my build thread of the process.

I hacked out most of mine with a grinder and finished it off with a mill at work. Although I didn't pay for it and did it myself, it doesn't take long at all when its at the stage.

Oh, and I did use a die grinder after milling to get a kind of bell mouth around the ports. Counter sunk holes for bolts, yada yada yada.. Seems to work well.

Random thought: would aluminum brazing work to seal a new top on? Much easier than welding, great for sealing, but not as strong as welding. People typically use it for boat repairs.

Why not weld? Last thing you wanna see is danger to manifold light flashing on the dash..

Apparently people have blown the welds on intake manifolds running 20+ psi of boost. I guess the fast and furious wasn't lying lol