I've been reading with great interest your FE intake manifold comparisons from March 2006. For some reason the graphs are not being displayed in either IE or Mozilla. Would it be possible to get a copy of your articles with the graphics emailed to me?
I will be pulling the 390 from my 1964 Galaxie 500 (again!), and replacing the intake manifold is certainly a possibility.
By the way...you have your own engine dyno? You are my hero! I'd like to get some details about your setup. I'm considering getting my own.
Glad you liked the posts, Ed. Several months back I took down all the graphs in those posts, because a few people were reprinting them (without my permission) in their ads on ebay, to help sell their parts. So, I'm keeping the data confidential for now. It will all be printed in my upcoming book, which has been delayed somewhat due to my SOHC and Drag Week activities, but which I hope now will be ready in the spring.
My dyno is a Superflow 901, and it is probably the most fun car toy I've ever had. Lots of work to get it set up, though, and maintenance can be an issue.
Let me know if you have any questions about the dyno, or if you have questions about the performance of a specific manifold that I can answer.
Jay Brown
1968 Shelby GT 500 Convertible, 492" 667 HP FE
1969 R code Mach 1, 490" supercharged FE, 9.35 @ 151.20, 2007 Drag Week Runner Up, Power Adder Big Block
2005 Ford GT, 2006 Drag Week Winner, 12.0 Daily Driver
1969 Ford Galaxie XL, 460 (Ho Hum....)
1964 Ford Galaxie 500, 510" SOHC
What I'd realy like to know is a general idea of how they compared. I can get a factory iron 4bbl manifold pretty cheap. Does the factory aluminum manifold perform significantly better? How about the Edelbrocks or other brands? "Significantly" is like a 30 ft-lb difference at 2500 rpm. I'm building an engine for a daily driver, not a race car...so I don't really care about an extra 5 hp at 6000 rpm.
I'd like to stay with an early setup, with the PCV on the back of the manifold, for originality. For that reason I'm more interested in the factory setups, or vintage aftermarket. I could mill the PCV provisions into the back of an Edelbrock Performer, but does it perform so much better than factory to make it worthwhile? That's the kind of questions I'd like to get answered.
I've tested four factory cast iron 4V manifolds on my 428CJ dyno mule. The "S" intake as found on 390 GT cars was the worst performer. Up about 10 HP from the S was the "T" intake, as found on ford pickups. The early low riser 4V cast iron intake, as found on pre-66 FEs, was up about another 10-15 HP from the T. All three of these intakes delivered excellent low end torque, but fell off in power rapidly over 3000 RPM.
The factory cast iron 428CJ intake is head and shoulders above the other cast iron intakes, showing a 25-35 HP advantage over the early low riser 4V intake. This intake delivered almost as much low end torque as the other manifolds, and beat them hands down over 3000 RPM.
The factory aluminum intakes come in a variety of styles. Some are good, like the ones on the 427 medium riser engines and the 428 police interceptor manifolds. Others are not so good, like the ones on the 352 HP engines or early 390 performance engines. The low end aluminum intakes don't offer any performance advantage over the low end cast iron intakes.
The Edelbrock Performer intake offers good low end torque, and poor top end performance, just like some of the low end factory cast iron intakes. The Edelbrock Performer RPM, on the other hand, is an outstanding intake, giving up very little in low end torque, and making more HP than any of the factory single four intakes. The Performer RPM is arguably the best all around FE intake.
Not to be forgotten is the Edelbrock Streetmaster, which gives up very little low end torque for a single plane intake, while making excellent horsepower. If you can get one at a reasonable price ($150 or less), I'd grab it.
Hope that helps - Jay
Jay Brown
1968 Shelby GT 500 Convertible, 492" 667 HP FE
1969 R code Mach 1, 490" supercharged FE, 9.35 @ 151.20, 2007 Drag Week Runner Up, Power Adder Big Block
2005 Ford GT, 2006 Drag Week Winner, 12.0 Daily Driver
1969 Ford Galaxie XL, 460 (Ho Hum....)
1964 Ford Galaxie 500, 510" SOHC
Jay, i have just fitted my cast 428cj intake manfold on to my 69 428cj engine, it had a performer 390 alloy intake on the engine when i bought the car, what horsepower increase would i see, 428cj engine, 10.5 comp, 235int -244ex @.050" , .535" lift , 110 l/c hydraulic cam, 735 cfm holley vac sec, headers 4 into 1
thanks Idi
Upgrading from a Perf 390 to 428CJ Intake with a stout combo like yours should make
October 18 2008, 1:52 AM
as much power as if you rubbed the fender and a Genie offered you a wish. It's not just how much more power but how much larger the band will be. Your going from on of the worst to one of the best and the results will magnified by the good parts as a combo.
It will be mostly over 4500 RPM, because the Edelbrock Performer and the factory CJ intake are pretty close up to that point. But the CJ intake will give you a big advantage at higher engine speeds; my dyno tests showed 22 HP on my 428CJ at 5300 RPM.
Jay Brown
1968 Shelby GT 500 Convertible, 492" 667 HP FE
1969 R code Mach 1, 490" supercharged FE, 9.35 @ 151.20, 2007 Drag Week Runner Up, Power Adder Big Block
2005 Ford GT, 2006 Drag Week Winner, 12.0 Daily Driver
1969 Ford Galaxie XL, 460 (Ho Hum....)
1964 Ford Galaxie 500, 510" SOHC
Jay, your findings are just what I've preached for years about the meduim-high rise dual
October 18 2008, 7:00 AM
Plane intakes. Too many take to heart what Edelbrock and others advertise their intakes at as far as the operating ranges. They assume that something like the RPM, has no bottoem end over a Performer based on the stated operating ranges in their advertising. They'll bottleneck their engine with a Performer or a stock low rise dual plane and miss out on the boost the bigger intakes give in the upper rpms. I put a CJ iron intake on the first 390 I built and loved it, except for the back breaking chore of installing it( with the engine in the 67 Stang) without disturbing the gaskets.
Here are the dyno results on my 428CJ, for all the cast iron intakes. There is a 50 HP spread from best to worst. This engine peaked at 412 HP with the Edelbrock Streetmaster installed. The Blue Thunder dual plane and the Edelbrock Performer RPM dual plane were right behind.
Jay Brown
1968 Shelby GT 500 Convertible, 492" 667 HP FE
1969 R code Mach 1, 490" supercharged FE, 9.35 @ 151.20, 2007 Drag Week Runner Up, Power Adder Big Block
2005 Ford GT, 2006 Drag Week Winner, 12.0 Daily Driver
1969 Ford Galaxie XL, 460 (Ho Hum....)
1964 Ford Galaxie 500, 510" SOHC
