Spent a little time evaluating a couple of Rover V8 single plane intake manifolds on Dave McLain's flow bench in Cuba, Missouri. I wanted to know which of the intakes would flow best when bolted to my 1964 Buick 300 aluminum heads. The heads are ported and use larger Stage 1 Buick V6 intake and exhaust valves (1.775" head diameter for the intake and 1.5" for the exhaust): http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album12/Buick_300_ported_stands_chambers_001 http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album12/Buick_300_ported_stands_intake_ports http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album12/Buick_300_ported_stands_exhaust_ports2 The two intakes tested were a Huffaker: http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album13/Huffaker_front http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album13/Huffaker_side and a Willpower: http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album13/Willpower_1 http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album13/Willpower_2 Note the Willpower intake pictured is not the actual intake tested. I've not yet taken pitures of the intake we tested but it differs from the one pictured in that it has EFI injectors bungs in each port but the injectors were not installed for these tests. The Huffaker has larger ports which better match the Buick 300 heads: http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/album12/Buick_300_Huffaker_ports The Willpower has smaller Rover-sized ports but has a better radius on the end runners than the Huffaker. An end port and a center port of the head were first flowed without an intake attached to get a baseline, then flowed with the intake bolted in place. Also, a Holley 780 carb body with the throttle plates at full open was bolted to the intake to represent the pressure drop across a carb or fuel injection throttle body. I'll be using an EFI throttle body later but have not purchased it yet. When the heads were ported, they were tested on a Superflow bench at a 28" H2O pressure drop. The head had a clayed intake radius but no exhaust pipe stub was used on the exhaust. Those numbers are shown in the 2nd and 3rd columns. The 4th and 5th columns are the same head flowed on Dave's bench which has a 10" H2O pressure drop. The numbers were converted mathematically to 28" to be on a consistent basis. Note the numbers are somewhat lower than those of the 28" bench. We're not sure if this due in part to the conversion or is simply bench-to-bench variation. In any case, it doesn't influence the results of the intake manifold tests. On both single plane intakes, the center runners are short and straight while the end runners are long and curved, so one center port and one end port were tested. The Huffaker was bolted to the head and tested first, followed by the Willpower. The results are shown below and are best viewed in a non-proportional font like courier: Valve Buick 300 Ported Buick 300 Same head with Same head with Lift 1964 head on McLain's Huffaker intake Willpower intake (inch) aluminum flow bench center runner center runner ported 10" numbers Int Exh converted to 28" CFM % of CFM % of 1.775" 1.5" Int Exh bare bare 1.775" 1.5" head head Int Exh center port 0.050 -- -- 26.3 22.6 26.1 99.2 27.6 104.9 0.100 66 47 56.3 51.6 55.1 97.9 56.4 100.2 0.150 99 82 86.8 75.0 87.8 101.1 89.0 102.5 0.200 129 104 115.1 98.4 117.2 101.8 119.1 103.5 0.250 155 119 140.4 114.1 141.4 100.7 142.8 101.7 0.300 174 130 158.1 125.4 160.6 101.5 160.0 101.2 0.350 187 139 171.7 134.4 169.9 98.9 167.9 98.0 0.400 191 146 179.8 140.2 170.5 94.8 172.2 95.8 0.450 194 150 181.3 143.2 172.6 95.2 174.3 96.1 0.500 196 152 182.1 144.3 173.9 95.5 175.3 96.2 Valve Buick 300 Ported Buick 300 Same head with Same head with Lift 1964 head on McLain's Huffaker intake Willpower intake (inch) aluminum flow bench end runner end runner ported 10" numbers Int Exh converted to 28" CFM % of CFM % of 1.775" 1.5" 1.775" 1.5" bare bare end head head port 0.050 -- -- 25.5 22.6 26.8 105.9 26.9 105.5 0.100 66 47 55.0 51.6 56.6 102.9 55.4 100.7 0.150 99 82 87.0 75.0 88.2 101.4 88.6 101.8 0.200 129 104 116.9 98.4 114.1 97.6 119.8 102.5 0.250 155 119 143.4 114.1 132.5 92.4 144.6 100.8 0.300 174 130 157.8 125.4 146.5 92.8 164.8 104.4 0.350 187 139 171.6 134.4 155.6 90.7 173.3 101.0 0.400 191 146 178.3 140.2 156.9 88.0 175.0 98.1 0.450 194 150 180.8 143.2 156.6 86.6 176.0 97.3 0.500 196 152 182.9 144.3 157.6 86.2 175.3 95.8 Despite the smaller runners, the Willpower is the better flowing manifold. The center ports on both intakes are quite close to the head flow but the Huffaker end ports are not as good. I think it would be worthwhile to port just the ends of the Huffaker intake end runners with a better radius to see if the flow loss could be recovered. There's a slight drop off in flow as lift increases on the Willpower intake that may be due to the small port size. The Willpower could be ported to a larger size but given how close the intake is to the bare head flow, it's probably not worth the trouble. The worst flows are at 96%. As a point of comparison, we've recently flow tested a couple of (non-Rover) dual plane intake manifolds and they were in the mid seventy % flow range (unported). The exhaust-to-intake flow ratio on these heads is excellent. Dave thought a bit larger itake valve, at the expense of exhaust valve size, might make more power if it were practical. During our tests, a 4" diameter tube was used to simulate the effects of the cylinder wall. To see if shrouding might be a problem, the tube was moved around (closer to the valve) but little effect was noted. Dan Jones
> Are the willpower intakes the same as what wildcat sells? I'm told that is the case. They look the same in the pictures. > Where are they available? Bill Laney makes them in Australia. Try dropping him an email message at williaml@hotkey.net.au Dan Jones
Thanks Dan. I have a lot to learn about these Buick/Rover motors. I also has some questions about the 64 Buick 300 heads. But the forum software wont let me post a link so Ill TTT it .
I received an e-mail back from Bill Laney with some pricing :shock: I guess Ill have to start saving up....
I sent an e-mail to Bill Laney who makes the "willpower" single plane intake for the Rover V-8.. Dear Mr Laney I am interested in the willpower single plane intakes for Rover V-8's. I am planning a build using 64 Buick 300 heads and a 4.6 block and offset ground crank. I also have a friend who is doing a similar build but looking into fuel injection. Do you sell your manifolds outright? I live in the USA in the state of Minnesota and the exchange rate to the British pound is not very good at present. This is the reply. BTW The Australian dollar exchanges at .88 to 1 for the US dollar. Its at an all time high and climbing. The British sterling is 2.05 to 1 ! Dear Tony Yes we do sell manifolds direct to USA . Price for 4bbl Rover V8 is $AUD 625.00 + freight approx. $AUD 160.00. Fuel injected Rover manifold is available, set to accept Bosch injectors, fuel rail supplied (billet aluminum) No computer or injectors supplied with manifold price $AUD 825.00 plus freight Regards Bill Laney Willpower Performance
Hey Dan, How well do you think the Willpower would run on an iron head 300 or 340.. keeping in mind the difference in port sizes.. Greg
> BTW The Australian dollar exchanges at .88 to 1 for the US dollar. > Its at an all time high and climbing. Ouch. It's gone up since I bought mine. > How well do you think the Willpower would run on an iron head 300 or 340.. > keeping in mind the difference in port sizes.. Better than the stock dual plane or a Huffaker and as well as my ported Buick 300 heads flow. At some point, the small port size will become a limiting factor and would need to be opened up. It would be straight- forward to see where intake port speed would choke. Dan Jones
Just a side note... I spoke with Ian Richardson at Wildcat and he told me that their single plane is their own design.. Not just a resold Australian Willpower intake.. Wildcat actually makes two types of single plane manifold. One for the stock Rover configuration and one for the Wildcat stage II heads which are patterned off of the Buick V-6 Stage II Indy heads. Wildcat intake for stock Rover = $ 260 Sterling. or $537.39 + XXX shipping Willpower intake ********** = $ 624 Australian. or $574.38 + 147 shipping Custom sheetmetal is looking better all the time :TU:
I just scored a Harcourt single plane from TRS in S. Australia. I got to speak to Ian Wilson directly! That was pretty cool. THey have recently had some sucess with a stroker Rover with Wildcat heads and induction. Pretty HOT TR7. ANYWAY. What's up with Rover/Buick strokers and guys named Ian>?? Here's a pic of the manifold: Here's the TRS website: http://www.triumphroverspares.com.au I'm pretty syched! BTW here's an Offy single plane on ebay I fell upon earlier this evening: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Offe...012QQitemZ220165521064QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW You guys ever seen one like this?
Please pardon my ignorance, but are these manifolds, Willpower & Wildcat bolt on's for the iron Buick 300cu in engine. I'd like more power from mine and the only option seems to be the stock 65 4-barrel. Thanks for any input.
These have all been designed for the smaller Rover/Buick 8.9" deckheight. I remember a couple guys making spacers to make these intakes work on 300 deckheight blocks. It's like a couple 1/4" spacers... I'll see if I can find the post... Here it is: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=9683
Edelbrock also makes a "Performer" dual plane for the 215. This could be another option for a bottom end torque type engine. Nic.. Nice score on the Harcourt! Used manifolds scare me .. But yours looks nice.:beer It looks like it even had some bosses above the runners.. You still going with FI? Maybe you could have those machined out for injectors..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...STRK:MESE:IT&viewitem=&item=140174475133&rd=1 try this on for size
I just got the intake. It is very close to fitting the Q-jet. It is off by about 100 thou in width for the secondaries. Maybe it was modified for an edelbrock carb... I will take some pix when I get the chance and post them. The tubes from the coolant ports turned out to be an intake heater. Kinda crude but functional. The floor of the intake is rounded. It looked more flat in the picture. The carb does sit right on top of the studs so it was made for some type of spread bore carb. It looks like it fits really well. That's a bit of a surprise. I have actually never heard of a single plane made for a spread bore for the SBB... Hmmmm. It looks like if I modify the flange a little wider to accommodate the secondaries it leaves me with just over a 1/4 inch to either side of the secondary barrels for vac sealing. Is this enough? I figure it should be. What do you guys think? It's pretty tall. That might be an optical illusion though I suppose with no heads to judge that off of.
Here's some pix of that intake I bought from Aus: Here's a pic of the intake with the Q-jet sitting on top. BTW that is the Q-jet I got off ebay. It's going to need the flange to be bushed. The throttle shafts are sloppy enough to wiggle around so I figure it's time. I'm looking forward to modifying it: The floor of the intake is pretty rounded. It's hard to get a good shot of that but I hope this isn't too different from what Shred was expecting. We'll see. This is also a nice close up of the flange modification for the Q-jet spread-bore. This is particularly hard to find for my engine. They just don't make them. The bottom pic is of the flange and the underside of the Q-jet. COOL! OH one more thing to show is the custom intake heater. It's made from a hard line taped into the rear coolant ports and covered wiht braided line for show. I'm not sure this will work well but we'll see: You can read in greater detail if you are interested on my Induction build page: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2357894/3
