I've done 'bout everything 'cept port the TB and sleeve the cylinders and camming to my 5.7L LT5 including removing the secondaries, but have never heard of anything referred to as
"power plates". What is/are they?
Bypassing the TB coolant path is a legit trick: Coolant by-pass does reduce intake heat a teeny bit. As Dom said, welcome to the
"rabbit hole" of the quest for eking out performance tricks. (I plugged my TB coolant (as well) over a decade ago and never had a moment's regret - tho I can't point to an isolated 'before n after' result to justify it specifically. But, combined with a number of tricks (porting by far having the most significant effect), they all add up!
