if you port the stock intake out dual plane mod it arent you going to see the same gains? if your doing the heads why not knock the intake. i cant see spending the coin sorry.
You should tell that to every OEM company over the last 50 yrs that has strived to build a more powerful engine, by creating/adding cylinder heads that flow more air,to their lineup, to help with power and effieciency p
That's great news! (about the heads, that is) Might want to suggest to Mike he may want to edit the description on his TA Stage 1 350 intake though. lol ---------- Post added at 03:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:47 PM ---------- This is the million dollar question. There is sooo much more to porting than to just hog it all out and cross your fingers. Hey look it flows big numbers now! Yeah so does a toilet when you put a plunger to it, but you gotta get your shyt to flow more optimally in the first place! Volume and velocity are the two major components to flow, and even those have sub-components that help each do it more efficiently. Everything has to match up and run as a team, the engine is a team effort by all the parts. Of course we all know this already, it's getting there that makes it all so much fun! Bigger is not always better, otherwise, why are any of us here in the "SMALLblock" forum to begin with? :beers2:
Look at Rick Crawfords times in the quote on post #37 from NickEV.. This guy could make a Prius run 12s. I really miss him. He is one sharp guy.. Jay
Just have to know your target. If it's 12's you're after that's one thing. If it's a driveable but hot street car that's quite another. I like to improve the power/weight ratio by putting Buick engines in little British cars and that's a whole different game entirely. But if it lives on the street 95+% of operation is going to be at idle or part throttle. There's just no way around that. Probably closer to 99+% really. And getting to WOT and redline is going to be very, very uncommon, especially in the higher gears. Why then would you want to optimize the engine for that less than 1% of the operating envelope, knowing that you were rarely ever going to use it? Especially if it means compromising idle and midrange, which it usually does, as well as other factors. OK, I get that it feels great when you finally do air it out, but if it isn't a race car that means it isn't going to be any fun to drive that other 99% of the time. And isn't the bottom line to have a car that is fun to drive? I mean, some compromises sort of make sense. If the car is paid off maybe for a mild big block 17 mpg is no big deal, considering the torque and horsepower, and the good manners. Don't get me wrong, I love a high revving smallblock too, and hope to be driving one soon. It's just that we often make changes that don't make sense in respect to our goals. Take the BBB I mentioned in an earlier post. If weight was not a factor, or the even larger issue of exhaust clearance, using those SE heads makes no sense at all. If it wasn't donated, the Poston S-factor intake would not have been a good choice. If another cam had been affordable at the time it should have been used. If higher compression pistons could have been had they should have been used. Often a fairly short delay in the build timeline will let us afford to make better choices. This is why a spare engine is such a good idea. Taking the time to get the right parts can make all the difference in the world. Instead we usually compromise on cost or availability because we feel we have to get the car running again. Instead, why not just drive it on that beater engine until the good motor is right? Then the beater goes under the bench until it's needed again. The unexpected side benefit of this? A chance to really see what it's like to drive the car with good manners and make a valid choice about what we really want. It may not be what you think. Jim
The stock intake limits you to only one carb, the Q-Jet. No other carb will work worth a crap because you need an adapter. The TA intake will let you run ANY Carb you want and any combination of spacers you want, 4-hole, open 1 inch 2 inch. yeah you only pick up 5 extra horse with this and a few more lbs of torque but you add that with taking 40+ lbs off the front of the motor the car will now lift higher on take off, transfer the weight better, and will in the end run faster than the stock intake will run in the 1/4. Keywords; Any Carb.
You make some good points, and I can see the pros and cons to both intakes. I guess it just boils down to what you want. Either one works. (but buying an adapter is cheaper than buying the aluminum intake!) It's just that the description on the sales page in TA's catalog talks it up like it's a day and night difference between the stocker, and this is simply not true, particularly if the heads are untouched. This is misleading and dishonest, imo. If money's no object, sure get the TA intake. Better yet, get their tuned port injection kit that uses that intake for a mere $3,850. 6-8 more mpg and 20-75 more hp is stated, though if this description is anything similar to the one for the intake itself, I would be skeptical. The 1021 pro charged (Buick) 350 used a hogged out STOCK intake with a 5" spacer, was stuffed into a Camaro and ran 8's in the 1/4. So go figure.
I hear ya on the misleading. When I asked Fred about the 350 aluminum intakes he said they don't help any. Then I told him someone adapted a 340 Crysler open intake to fit one he said yes those work. It seems to simple to get that intake and make up some mounting differences and then make a mold. The get some scrap aluminum, melt it and por it in and Walla! An open plenum intake for a Buick 350. And definetly make it the cool runner type.
You make this sound to easy LOL. I had a chance to take up Sean on using the single plane he had a long time ago but I was without a job at the time. But with that intake I would have liked to stick the TA 510 cam back in and up those gears to 410 and a good loose but tight 3500 stall convertor. We do need a single plane badly to go to the next level of power.
