Thread: retro log style intake

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has anyone out there ever built a old style log type intake or have any ideas or recomendations or ideas on plenum sizes designs etc. i am entertaining one for my 500 caddy bucket and was thinking 8 runners into a single log plenum with either 3 or 4 small 2 bbls in a row.
the 500 in the t bucket doesnt need more power but the rod look is what i am going for. i would guess i could build somehting a lot lighter than the original 1/2 ton intake .
what kind of carbs could one use.,i used to have a 318 dodge that came with a small very simple 2 bbl carb. 3 or 4 of those in a row centered higher over the engine would look pretty neat.
any neat ideas would be appreciated. i think i could make manifold pretty easily with a plasma cutter and go frome there

i guess no one has any ideas or suggestions,come on guys!!!
someone has got to have thought of this before ??

n/m

or

i always thought it would be neat to mount 8 motorcycle carbs on individual runners like the Mopar ram induction photo shown above. Mount a fuel cell at the top of the cowl to feed them by gravity. Refill the fuel cell with a float mounted inside the cell that would activate an electric fuel pump to refill the cell from the main fuel tank supply and then shut off when the cell was full. Run all the carb cables together at one central point and attach your foot throttle cable or rod to the whole mess.

I'm thinkin' you could synchronize the carbs with a small twist drill to insert between the throttle drum and the bore of the venturi.

Years ago ('50's and '60's) I think it was Crowler who offered kits called "U-Fab" that allowed you to build your own log manifold. They consisted of the flanges for the two intake banks on each head, two long tubes that had holes punched in them for each runner to go to, and some short pieces of tubing to go from the flange plates to the long tubes, and some more flanges to mount each carb on.

The idea was that you would bolt the flanges to each head, then tack weld a short runner stub onto each port opening, then run the long tubes across the top of those runners. To the top of the long tubes you would weld on the number of flanges you needed to run 4-6 or 8 carbs. The two long tubes were joined together with another one or two tubes that ran between the two to act as a balancer. When you had it all tacked up, you finished welding it all up, and hopefully you had no leaks. The potential for warpage and leaks is tremendous.

These kits sold for like $ 19.95 back then, and I saw some on cars in magazines, but I wonder how many of them never got built, or got 1/2 way done and then given up on. I also can't imagine they were really effective at flowing properly, all they accomplished was to add more carbs to an engine.
I understand what you are trying to do, and to that end, you could make up your own log out of simple round tubing and some flat stock. I've seen some wild intakes done this way, usually on rat rods.

For carbs, you could go with early stromberg 48's or 97's, but these are getting costly, and are known to be fuel leakers, unless prepped well. I prefer the Rochester 2 GC carbs that were used on mid-60's cars like 283 chevies that came with a single 2 barrel. I started buying up these a couple years ago, to use on my next few tripower projects, and you can still get these for well under $ 100 each on Ebay. I like the ones with the fuel inlet out to the side, rather than out the front, as they fit better on multi carb setups.

I would use a bandsaw to cut the tubes and flanges, as a plasma cutter could warp the flat flanges and create leaks.
Hope this helps.


Don

PS: before my Son was able to score the W30 Olds intake he is currently running on his 455, we actually bought a blower intake and were going to make a flat mounting plate for the top of it to mount 3 carbs. And I think Vintage speed sells an adapter to mount two two barrels on a regular 4 barrel intake. I've seen these, and they are pretty nice.

I like the 8 carb deal with the individual runners and then u just need a valley cover.!

ooops wrong pic.

?

looks kewl, guess I prefer something that works right and doesn't need constant attention.

Now, if one wanted a really kewl look, then the Hilborn injection converted to electronic injectors is way kewl. No tuning required. Just a matter of plugging the old lap top into the ECU and mapping out the fuel and ignition curves......I'd post a pic, but I don't remember the company with the package, maybe someone with an active memory does.........

Kind of, sort of, in theory, and some experts say.....

The 'plenum volume' should not exeed the displacement of the engine.

Take that for what it's worth.......
A lot of guys running 3, 4, 6 carbs have some of them blocked off for driveability.

Invest in a Uni-Syn carb synchronizer (Edelbrock sells them).

Hope the info helps....
Jeff

Dave, Blower Drive Service may be who you're thinkin' of.....
http://www.blowerdriveservice.com/efigallery.php

Originally posted by techinspector1
Dave, Blower Drive Service may be who you're thinkin' of.....
http://www.blowerdriveservice.com/efigallery.php

Thanks Tech, could not remember their name to save my butt.

Anyway, it is one great looking set-up, I just happen to have a set of small block Ford Hillborn's laying around here someplace...... even the chebbie set-up looks good, though!!!

For what it's worth, it only takes a pin hole leak in one of the flanges next to the head to burn the valves in that cylinder. Been there, done that on a VW flat four. If you have a lot of welds they all need to be checked more for air leaks leading to a lean condition as well as maybe a gas leak to the outside. Assuming a partial vacuum in the log, the air leak won't hurt high up, but right near the head that will lead to a very lean condition at that port.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

thanks for the replies guys , some of the pics gave me some ideas.