I see that ZZP has a ported and machined lower intake on their website. I am supercharged and eventually will be installing their stage 2 intercooler, what gains and benefits would this lower intake have for me? Is it worth the money?

 

If you plan to do an intercooler, I would suggest having the lower intake inlet opened up to match. Not sure what the power delta is with vs without, but you can do it yourself for nearly free if you have basic tools so I see no reason not to.

There are some threads out there that show where to cut. Just trace the cut area and cut it out with a jigsaw. Just keep in mind there are support posts/pillars inside also. You can use a hand saw or Dremel to cut these or just smack the part being cut out with a hammer and it will fracture off so you can go in and cleanly remove the rest of the post.

 

I don't seeuch gains from porting a Lim unless you are porting the heads with it. Just my opinion

 

I called ZZP and asked them what I need to get along with their intercooler and they said they highly recommend buying their ported LIM because I wont have PCV otherwise. Is this true?

 

If you just bolted their IC onto a stock manifold, you would block off the pcv. You can just run a valve cover breather to prevent the buildup of pressure.

There are a few alternatives to keep it:
-Buy a zzp LIM or grind out the passage yourself. You can see generally how it looks here:

http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/brandon20142/media/8c2470c5-ba68-4c17-afed-bbcb99debc47_zpsba36e8da.jpg.html

LIke opening the inlet, this is a pretty simple job with typical shop tools so I personally wouldn't pay for them doing it. Juse make sure you don't grind all the way through- you're just cutting a channel in the surface. Personally I don't like this approach at all as I don't believe the channel can be large enough for full functionality as its maybe only equivalent to 1/8" diameter.

-I believe some have drilled/tapped and made this portion of the PCV external. I've never went this route, so I can't be of help there.

-You can also go to a full external PCV setup. It won't be nearly as clean as the all internal stock setup, but you can then select line size, you can add catch cans, etc. This is certainly more on the race car side. This is the method I went with - drilled both valve covers and routed all of the lines externally.
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I think I will probably just get ZZPs machined and ported LI. If I do so, do I need to do the Runner Porting/Gasket Match?

 

As turbo mentioned above, porting is a waste IMO. Only time that's worthwhile is if you're doing ported heads also. Just doesn't make much sense to open up and smooth out only the first inch of a 3 or 4 inch runner.

 

Don't I need to do something for the PCV though?

 

ZZP's site says you only get the IC version of the LIM when you have an IC. If you get the regular LIM for a non-IC engine, you'll have to modify it later to work, or get another one. Save your money for the intercooler, or look into something that will net decent gains, like headers.

 

Porting the outlet has nothing to do with pcv. They're just going to be opening up the 6 outlet runners going to the head ports and then opening them up to the gasket port size.

Because you've got stock (unported) heads, there is really no benefit to paying for this part of the service.

Opening the inlet and modifying the PCV channel are the only things you want done.