Thread: Which Carb for my 350?

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As for the intake manifold, lots of fellows with street machines have chosen the Edelbrock Performer, part number 2101...This intake is rated by Edelbrock as being effective from idle to 5500 rpm's.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2101/
I disagree with this choice. This is a very low rise dual-plane intake and the only advantage I see to it is that it is aluminum, which takes some weight off the front of the vehicle as compared to a cast iron intake. It certainly is not a performance manifold in my opinion.

Stepping up to a high-rise, dual-plane intake has shown to give an increase of 30-40 horsepower on my DynoSim software engine builds and this seems to be borne out by what I hear from racers at the drag strip and what I read on other forums. One such intake would be the Edelbrock Performer RPM, part number 7101....This intake is rated by Edelbrock as being effective from 1500 to 6500 rpm's.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-7101/
You might say, well it doesn't become effective until 1500 rpm's as compared to the Performer, which Edelbrock says is effective from idle. Three things to be considered here....
1. You don't use any power from idle to 1500 for any performance advantage purpose whatsoever. It's just a transition from idle to a useable rpm range.
2. Most any enthusiast who does modifications to a motor will also change the torque converter to one that is a little looser and allows the motor to "come up on the cam". Most fellows will choose at least a 2000 rpm stall unit, which is well past the 1500 rpm starting range of the RPM intake.
3. Don't worry about the high end of the range, the 6500. If you ever do get the motor to that point, it won't be for but an instant anyway. The RPM will do an exemplary job from 1500 to 5500 in a common sense street motor.

Edelbrock also offers an "Air Gap" model in the RPM, rated at the same 1500 to 6500 rpm range as the standard 7101, but with an opening under the carb pad to supposedly cool the intake charge, making it more dense and therefore making more horsepower.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-7501/
I don't know, this may or may not work. I do know one thing though, if I lived in an area where it got cold, I'd probably get tired of waiting for the motor to get warm so that it didn't stumble and according to David Vizard, there is only 3-5 hp difference anyway. The standard RPM would be my choice.

Optionally, Weiand made a very nice dual-plane, high-rise intake called the Stealth, under part number, I think, 8016, but they are no longer available new, having been replaced by the Speed Warrior, part number 8150...
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WND-8150/

Holley also made a nice manifold that is no longer available new, part number 300-36. There is a 300-36S model made now (Maybe the "S" stands for Street, I don't know for sure). If the runners are smaller/shorter or the carb base is lower, then I doubt it will perform like the original 300-36. Here's an original for sale on Racing Junk....
http://www.racingjunk.com/category/0...or-300-36.html

Scuttlebutt has it that an Airflow Research engineer has said that there is no better intake for a street or street/strip motor than the Edelbrock RPM. I can't attest to the truth or untruth of it, all I know is that if I were going to build a carbureted small block that would be rpm-limited to 6500, I would use an RPM or find a nice 300-36 like the one I linked on Racing Junk.

And now viewers, for your edification and entertainment, here is a compilation of measurements that I stole from BeaterShark on the Corvette Action Center forum....

"SBC aftermarket intake manifold heights. Hopefully this will be useful to someone.

Here are some manifolds and their (advertised) heights I found when I was looking for a manifold to fit under my hood.

DUAL-PLANE:
Edel Performer (2101):
Front: 3.50" Rear: 4.60"

Performer Air Gap (2601):
Front: 3.72", Rear: 4.92"

Edel Performer RPM (7101):
Front: 4.20", Rear: 5.25"

Edel Performer RPM Air Gap (7501):
Front: 4.20", Rear:5.25"

Holley Street Dominator (300-36):
front 4.44", rear 5.33"

Weiand Stealth (8016):
front: 4.18", rear: 4.50"

Weiand Action Plus (8000):
front: 3.75", rear: 4.63"

Weiand Action Plus (8004):
front: 3.50", rear: 4.00"


SINGLE-PLANE:
Edel Torker II (5001):
Front: 3.53", Rear: 4.63"

Edel Victor Jr (2975):
4.58" (This is the height at the center of the carb pad and the carb pad is at a 3 degree angle down toward the front)

Weiand Team G (7525):
front: 3.50", rear: 4.50"

Weiand Team G (7530):
front: 3.63", rear: 4.56".

Weiand X-celerator (7546):
front: 4.38", rear: 5.31"

Weiand X-celerator (7547):
front: 3.09", rear: 4.06"



I don't know what the stock manifold height is, but I'd bet it is real close to the Performer."