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Tatsu333 · 06-04-2022, 05:22 AM

Also arrived today (well, I guess it's yesterday now...LOL) were a set of knockoff billet power blocks (copied from Crawford's Billet Power Blocks).

First, why am I installing the power blocks?

Thing is, the power blocks seem to be a bit controversial, despite a couple of threads (here and here) speaking really highly of them. There was also an article from Moto IQ that, again, was very enthusiastic about the results. In those threads and that article, they call the BPB's a "no brainer" and "pretty much the best bang for your buck" for an NA car.

In other threads scattered throughout the forums, though, folks talk crap about them for various reasons. I think a large part of it is that the peak-to-peak HP gains aren't huge (generally only few hp) and they do lose power at the *very* top end of the rev range in exchange for their gains down lower. Some argue that they can get "the same gains" with tuning alone, or that "any benefit they give disappears" with any further tuning, though both seem a bit illogical to me due to the nature of the mod.

I decided that, for my use case, where the car is my daily driver and occasional canyon road carver, I don't really care too much about the very top-end of the powerband and instead want a bit fatter upper-midrange, and that's exactly what these are designed to do. They should also complement the gains I should see from the ACE headers through the torque dip and midrange once I get those installed and sort out all the tuning.

That's a ways away though, so I'll focus on trying to dial in the tune with these and the stock headers for now.

Second, why knockoffs?

Generally speaking, I'd much rather give my money to the guys that spend the time to develop and test a product, and am willing to pay a premium to have the "real deal".

Given the seeming controversy over whether these really do what they say on the tin, though, I can't help but have a little bit of nagging doubt. This despite having first-hand experience of the effect of longer, larger volume intake runners on my previous car (though that manifold also significantly increased the plenum size, which was badly needed on that motor), and feeling like the theory matches up with what those two really positive posts reported results-wise.

I also am not keen on the red anodized finish on the genuine BPB's since it wouldn't *quite* match with my stock red aluminum manifold, and I got no reply from Crawford to an inquiry about having a set anodized a different colour, or even just shipped raw (unfinished). While this ended up being a non-issue since you really can't see them when they're installed anyway, it would have been nice if they would at least reply to my inquiry...

Anyway, with all that going back and forth in my head, I was a bit hesitant to pull the trigger on a new set at the full MSRP.

Then, I snagged a deal on a used set - HURRAH! But it needed new hardware, because the seller had misplaced the bolts and gaskets after removing the power blocks from their car.

No problem - Crawford sells a "reinstall kit" for just that scenario, so I placed an order...and then the deal on the used set fell through, with that kit already on the way!

That annoyed me, so I hummed and hawed about it some more, then finally decided to pick up a set of knockoffs in black to test them out relatively inexpensively. If they really "wow" me, I may end up ordering a set of the genuine Crawford ones...but still, maybe not, because of the colour, and the work to re/re them.

OK - on to the install story. I followed the install video from Crawford, and while it was mostly OK, I ran into a few challenges.

Not sure if there are some slight differences with how things are lined up / connected on the 2017+ aluminum manifold vs. the video (which was on an older, plastic manifold car), but access to a few of the bolts was MUCH harder than it appeared in the video (in particular the rear bolts on the passenger side crash guard and manifold due to the ICU wiring and other stuff being in the way, and the front bolt on the driver's side of the manifold due to a bunch of lines being in the way).

It was also a HUGE pain in the ass to get the driver's side crash guard out around the V-bar. Do yourself a favour, and just undo the four friggin' bolts to take the V-bar out!

I also had to undo a bunch of other stuff not noted in the video (hoses and harnesses, cut/remove tape holding some wiring runs together, and cut one clip at the back of the driver's side of the manifold) and unclip the airbox in order to be able to lift the manifold high enough to get the BPB's in place.

This would have been *much* better with another pair of hands to lift the manifold while sliding them in, but I was working solo in my garage late at night, so had to struggle through. Eventually, I got them in there, but it took WAY longer than I would have expected or hoped.

As far as the quality of the knockoff kit goes, it was a bit of a mixed bag. The power blocks themselves seem good - well machined, nicely finished. They were also packed so fancy, each one bubble-wrapped and tucked into it's own fabric drawstring bag (seriously!).

The gaskets included seem "OK". They fit snugly, and they didn't fall out when I was installing.

The remaining hardware, on the other hand, definitely leaves something to be desired.

Instead of longer versions of the same 12mm bolts as OEM (like the genuine Crawford kit), this kit uses 6 mm Allen head bolts. No problem if you have a 6mm Allen hex bit to use with your sockets and extensions, but I don't. So, I had to work at it using a 6mm allen key, from the short end, which was NO FUN. One bajillion 1/6 turns on the short end later, I was able to tighten down the 10 bolts, but FML, it was frustrating.

The coupling and extra bit of hose to extend the PCV line between the manifold and the block seem kind of cheap-ish and the zip ties they include to secure those are a total joke. I've never seen such a flimsy, teeny tiny zip tie in my life!

It also seems like the standoffs for reinstalling the crash guards might be a little short as well, because it feels like the crash guards had to be snugged down lower than before (I.E. the little pegs on the manifold they fit over seem to protrude through their holes more). I suppose in retrospect they're meant to be the same height as the BPB's, but I never did check whether they were.

The biggest omission, though, was that there was no adapter plate for connecting the bottom mounting / grounding bolt for the Injector Control Unit like the one included in the genuine kit. I managed to cobble something together from a spare bit of IKEA hardware I had laying around, but it ain't great, and while I was able to secure it to the ICU and it's a pretty solid interference fit with the mounting bracket below, I haven't actually been able to screw it onto the bracket. I think my spacing on the holes was off *just* enough that the screw isn't lining up.

Here's a pic of my DIY ICU mounting adapter:

Long story short, I wouldn't really recommend a knockoff BPB kit just because of the quality / omissions in the hardware. All the knockoff ones I saw out there seem to be the same, just sold under different vendors. I guess if you have a 6mm hex driver, you'd be better off than I was, but you'd still need to figure out a solution for that ICU mounting / grounding bracket, and the other bits and pieces just seem cheap (no surprise, being a knockoff kit).

I still have the Crawford "reinstall kit" on the way, and I think I'll replace the hardware with that stuff eventually, even if I don't replace the blocks themselves. I intend to swap out the adapter mount for the ICU right away though.

So, anyway - they're in, and the car fired right up and idled normally as I backed it out onto the driveway, so I'm hoping the gaskets all stayed seated properly during the install and there are no leaks. I guess I won't really know until the motor gets some real vacuum going, so we'll see.

I haven't had a chance to go for a drive yet, because it's past 2:00 AM now, and I have to be up in a few hours to drive my daughter to work.

I'll update with some driving impressions at some point tomorrow or the next day.

06-04-2022, 05:22 AM	#76
Tatsu333 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Drives: 2020 BRZ Sport Tech RS Location: Canada Posts: 359 Thanks: 425 Thanked 247 Times in 140 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Next Mod: Billet Power Blocks (Knock-Offs, Unfortunately...) Also arrived today (well, I guess it's yesterday now...LOL) were a set of knockoff billet power blocks (copied from Crawford's Billet Power Blocks). First, why am I installing the power blocks? Thing is, the power blocks seem to be a bit controversial, despite a couple of threads (here and here) speaking really highly of them. There was also an article from Moto IQ that, again, was very enthusiastic about the results. In those threads and that article, they call the BPB's a "no brainer" and "pretty much the best bang for your buck" for an NA car. In other threads scattered throughout the forums, though, folks talk crap about them for various reasons. I think a large part of it is that the peak-to-peak HP gains aren't huge (generally only few hp) and they do lose power at the very top end of the rev range in exchange for their gains down lower. Some argue that they can get "the same gains" with tuning alone, or that "any benefit they give disappears" with any further tuning, though both seem a bit illogical to me due to the nature of the mod. I decided that, for my use case, where the car is my daily driver and occasional canyon road carver, I don't really care too much about the very top-end of the powerband and instead want a bit fatter upper-midrange, and that's exactly what these are designed to do. They should also complement the gains I should see from the ACE headers through the torque dip and midrange once I get those installed and sort out all the tuning. That's a ways away though, so I'll focus on trying to dial in the tune with these and the stock headers for now. Second, why knockoffs? Generally speaking, I'd much rather give my money to the guys that spend the time to develop and test a product, and am willing to pay a premium to have the "real deal". Given the seeming controversy over whether these really do what they say on the tin, though, I can't help but have a little bit of nagging doubt. This despite having first-hand experience of the effect of longer, larger volume intake runners on my previous car (though that manifold also significantly increased the plenum size, which was badly needed on that motor), and feeling like the theory matches up with what those two really positive posts reported results-wise. I also am not keen on the red anodized finish on the genuine BPB's since it wouldn't quite match with my stock red aluminum manifold, and I got no reply from Crawford to an inquiry about having a set anodized a different colour, or even just shipped raw (unfinished). While this ended up being a non-issue since you really can't see them when they're installed anyway, it would have been nice if they would at least reply to my inquiry... Anyway, with all that going back and forth in my head, I was a bit hesitant to pull the trigger on a new set at the full MSRP. Then, I snagged a deal on a used set - HURRAH! But it needed new hardware, because the seller had misplaced the bolts and gaskets after removing the power blocks from their car. No problem - Crawford sells a "reinstall kit" for just that scenario, so I placed an order...and then the deal on the used set fell through, with that kit already on the way! That annoyed me, so I hummed and hawed about it some more, then finally decided to pick up a set of knockoffs in black to test them out relatively inexpensively. If they really "wow" me, I may end up ordering a set of the genuine Crawford ones...but still, maybe not, because of the colour, and the work to re/re them. OK - on to the install story. I followed the install video from Crawford, and while it was mostly OK, I ran into a few challenges. Not sure if there are some slight differences with how things are lined up / connected on the 2017+ aluminum manifold vs. the video (which was on an older, plastic manifold car), but access to a few of the bolts was MUCH harder than it appeared in the video (in particular the rear bolts on the passenger side crash guard and manifold due to the ICU wiring and other stuff being in the way, and the front bolt on the driver's side of the manifold due to a bunch of lines being in the way). It was also a HUGE pain in the ass to get the driver's side crash guard out around the V-bar. Do yourself a favour, and just undo the four friggin' bolts to take the V-bar out! I also had to undo a bunch of other stuff not noted in the video (hoses and harnesses, cut/remove tape holding some wiring runs together, and cut one clip at the back of the driver's side of the manifold) and unclip the airbox in order to be able to lift the manifold high enough to get the BPB's in place. This would have been much better with another pair of hands to lift the manifold while sliding them in, but I was working solo in my garage late at night, so had to struggle through. Eventually, I got them in there, but it took WAY longer than I would have expected or hoped. As far as the quality of the knockoff kit goes, it was a bit of a mixed bag. The power blocks themselves seem good - well machined, nicely finished. They were also packed so fancy, each one bubble-wrapped and tucked into it's own fabric drawstring bag (seriously!). The gaskets included seem "OK". They fit snugly, and they didn't fall out when I was installing. The remaining hardware, on the other hand, definitely leaves something to be desired. Instead of longer versions of the same 12mm bolts as OEM (like the genuine Crawford kit), this kit uses 6 mm Allen head bolts. No problem if you have a 6mm Allen hex bit to use with your sockets and extensions, but I don't. So, I had to work at it using a 6mm allen key, from the short end, which was NO FUN. One bajillion 1/6 turns on the short end later, I was able to tighten down the 10 bolts, but FML, it was frustrating. The coupling and extra bit of hose to extend the PCV line between the manifold and the block seem kind of cheap-ish and the zip ties they include to secure those are a total joke. I've never seen such a flimsy, teeny tiny zip tie in my life! It also seems like the standoffs for reinstalling the crash guards might be a little short as well, because it feels like the crash guards had to be snugged down lower than before (I.E. the little pegs on the manifold they fit over seem to protrude through their holes more). I suppose in retrospect they're meant to be the same height as the BPB's, but I never did check whether they were. The biggest omission, though, was that there was no adapter plate for connecting the bottom mounting / grounding bolt for the Injector Control Unit like the one included in the genuine kit. I managed to cobble something together from a spare bit of IKEA hardware I had laying around, but it ain't great, and while I was able to secure it to the ICU and it's a pretty solid interference fit with the mounting bracket below, I haven't actually been able to screw it onto the bracket. I think my spacing on the holes was off just enough that the screw isn't lining up. Here's a pic of my DIY ICU mounting adapter: Long story short, I wouldn't really recommend a knockoff BPB kit just because of the quality / omissions in the hardware. All the knockoff ones I saw out there seem to be the same, just sold under different vendors. I guess if you have a 6mm hex driver, you'd be better off than I was, but you'd still need to figure out a solution for that ICU mounting / grounding bracket, and the other bits and pieces just seem cheap (no surprise, being a knockoff kit). I still have the Crawford "reinstall kit" on the way, and I think I'll replace the hardware with that stuff eventually, even if I don't replace the blocks themselves. I intend to swap out the adapter mount for the ICU right away though. So, anyway - they're in, and the car fired right up and idled normally as I backed it out onto the driveway, so I'm hoping the gaskets all stayed seated properly during the install and there are no leaks. I guess I won't really know until the motor gets some real vacuum going, so we'll see. I haven't had a chance to go for a drive yet, because it's past 2:00 AM now, and I have to be up in a few hours to drive my daughter to work. I'll update with some driving impressions at some point tomorrow or the next day. __________________ 2020 BRZ Sport Tech RS Last edited by Tatsu333; 06-04-2022 at 03:16 PM.