Hi and thanks for the kinds words. Pretty much everyone has been happy with the intakes over the years with no complaints except for one person a couple years ago who was extremely critical of everything he bought, not just the Offy intake. I paid the shipping both for the return and to send another intake. The 2nd one he kept, but was still not 100% satisfied. I sold the 1st one he sent back to a guy in Australia and I had never heard any complaints from that guy. Anyway, every other Offy intake I have ever sold I had nothing but great feedback from who I heard from. Now for your questions:
No I don't actually have one of the intakes on any of my trucks yet, but I have kept two #6204 intakes from the first run I ordered almost 7 years ago and I kept one of the #6203 dual port intakes from that one run I was able to order dual port intakes. At some point down the road whenever the project trucks get worked on again, I plan on having the intakes installed. I have a few LUV trucks, so yes I plan on keeping the 3 intakes I have for my trucks, so don't even bother asking if I will sell those.
For your 2nd question, I guess you didn't notice all the posts after that from the first run? Don't pay any attention to all of that stuff, it was just initial jumping to conclusions about the intakes because of the number on the bottom. If I recall, I talked to Offy a couple days later and the way I remember him explaining it to me was that both the #6204 and #6203 intakes have identical bottom halves, so it doesn't really matter which ones the foundry ended up using to cast the intakes. I believe every run I have ever ordered had #6203 on the bottom. Offy told me that they could probably grind off the numbers to avoid any possible confusion, but they just don't bother. We know what we are getting, so no worries on that.
For your 3rd question, there was no remedy necessary, see above answer to your 2nd question. The accessory kit, which comprises of the 4 bolts, spacer, 2 gaskets, and T-fitting, Offy sends with all the intakes. Apparently in the past from what I remember someone mentioning, when Summit Racing used to carry the intakes, they would charge like $30 extra for the kit. I never did that and since Offy sent them with each intake, I always ship them out with each intake. The one run I ordered, I happened to luckily notice when I first checked one of the intakes before I shipped any out, that Offy had forgot to include in the kit the T shaped fitting. I called and explained that they weren't included, and they sent them right out to me.
Question 4, well I really never had a list that was anything necessary for LUV owners to obtain an intake. In the very beginning when I was deciding whether I wanted to go ahead with becoming the distributor, I wanted to gauge how much interest there would be in the intakes to help decide if I wanted to order them. I believe a run or 2 later I did actually hold off like I have been the last few months and I was keeping count of how many people wanted intakes. I think I waiting until I had 12-15 persons before I ordered. Well if I remember correctly I ended up only selling 6 or 7 when I finally did receive my order. I think it was the run that I had ordered the dual port intakes. So like I mentioned in previous posts, many people ask about an intake, but when it comes down to it, half don't end up buying one. I have probably only had half a dozen people ask about an intake in the last 8 months or so, so you can see why I am in no hurry to order more.
As for the smog ready question, well I thought I remember someone saying that it could be used with the intake, but I am not sure how strict your inspections are? I believe one person said that if it didn't look stock then they wouldn't pass it. I guess it all depends on where you take it and how old the truck is? I don't think I have sold very many to California residents, so that is probably why there hasn't been a whole lot of discussion on it. Maybe someone who knows more about it will chime in? Most people get rid of the smog junk and many areas don't require an emissions test, or at least not on a truck that old. Here where I live, my county doesn't require an emissions test. Some counties in Pennsylvania do, but I don't think any of the LUV trucks would be required here since they are old enough. For my county I know on my newer vehicles if they came with the emissions junk, then it has to at least be there, but it doesn't have to work, unless you are in a county that requires emission testing and the vehicle isn't older than the cut off date. I believe I read here in the forums that in California it is 1975 and newer that require testing? I have read where some people, like you said you have thought about doing, put on the emissions stuff for the inspection, then take it off after.
Next question, I wouldn't say it was a case of the foundry not mastering the castings. From the way Offy explained it to me, the dual port are just trickier to cast and they have a higher loss rate. I guess that is just the way it goes. I believe Offy uses more than one foundry and the particular foundry that cast those dual port intakes just probably wouldn't want to do them again because of the higher loss rate. I believe that time I had ordered a dozen dual port and I only ended up with 7. I suppose if I told Offy I would order a few hundred dual port intakes, then the foundry would probably not mind doing it. For just a few though, it probably isn't worth the trouble for them. That is what I am guessing anyway. I will certainly ask Offy again, as I have every time I have placed an order since then, but I am not expecting to be able to order them again.
As for the spacer from a dual port, I don't see where that would make any difference at all except for a little piece of aluminum in the middle of the spacer. The dual port spacer has 2 holes in it, and the spacer for the #6204 is just one opening. The intakes are different, so I can't see that using a dual port spacer on a #6204 would make any difference.
Well thanks for the inquiry and I hope this answers your questions. Let me know if you have any others and I am sure I or someone here will be able to answer. I really can't say at this time what the future price may be. Every run I have ordered through the years, Offy has had an increase. I believe he always explained it as the cost of materials was rising. He always tells me he keeps the increase as low as he can, but that is how it goes everywhere for everything, you know how that goes! The last run the price was $260.00 plus Priority shipping and insurance through the US Postal Service. I have always used the Postal Service since they are generally the best price and shipping time for the price. That was running around $22 total then. I know there has been increases since I last shipped one here in the US, so I expect that price to be a little higher. If I was to guess based on past increases, to give you a rough idea, I would say probably around $300.00 - $310.00 range total with shipping and insurance, but I really won't know for sure until I place an order and receive the intakes.
I do plan on ordering more since there still seems to be some interest in the intakes, I have just been holding off some since demand has been lower. Also I have been busy and with the weather nice here, I have been doing other things and not really taken the time yet to talk to Offy and discuss everything and place an order. I guess I will have to get an order placed sometime soon. Lead time has generally been 6-8 weeks, but I really won't know for sure until I talk to Offy. Maybe at the time I place an order the foundry won't be backlogged and it may go quicker? It has generally been 6-8 weeks though from the time I place the order to the time they arrive. I will certainly post updates when I place an order and when I hear from Offy. I usually hear from him when they receive the order from the foundry and Offy generally has them a week or so to machine them and inspect them and get them ready to ship out. I usually hear from Offy again when they ship them out. Let me know if there are any other questions and I will post updates when I place an order.