My buddy has a Edelbrock xc-8 cross ram intake for a small block chevy. I tried a search on here for for info., but didn't get much. Are they rare? What era are they from and what is value? The thing is in perfect shape. Thanks for your help!!
Expect prices to start coming down on everything, with the economy. I've been to a couple of huge swap meets in the last few months (Ozarks, Charlotte), and guys are still pricing their stuff like it was a year and a half ago. And they're loading it back up and putting it on the trailer. hit the smaller swap meets, where guys aren't trying to get their entry fee, meals and gas costs back on one sale. -Brad
I'm kinda looking for a cross ram right now, that said, i am not planning on paying over $350 for one
These intakes are not terribly rare, but you don't see a ton of them. Mine is an Offy and is very similar to the XC-8. They were somewhat popular on drag boats and cars, etc in the very early 60's and were the predecessor to the more common tunnel ram. I have heard that the XC-8 was the last intake that Vic Edelbrock senior was involved in designing. Mine actually works quite well on the street, but I have the accompanying gearing, camshaft, heads, etc. to make it work properly. The engine idles at 1,000 rpm and makes a pretty sweet howl right through 7,500 rpm. I like it just because most people are not familiar with them. Also, there was an early Project X article where Popular Hot Rodding built up a cross ram engine for their yellow 57 Chev (I think around 1967, It was on the cover...) My engine is loosely based on the same formula because I always dug the early Proj X. Watch the popular auction sites and see what sells, and what it sells for. It is not that hard to see what the going rate is. Generally, you will see these intakes going anywhere from $250-$650 depending on condition. An NOS original intake or a highly polished intake will go for more than a used, gas stained intake that might have some bumps and s****es, welding, extra holes, etc. Don't forget that it is going to cost a lot more for carbs, linkage, fuel lines, breathers, etc than it did for the intake. A complete setup in good usable condition can be put together on the cheap if you rebuild your own carbs, but it will more likely be a $1,000 plus deal if you do it right. Mine was about $375 for a polished intake that needed a little more work (swap meet), another $575 for a pair of new Edelbrock 500 carbs and $125 for a linkage setup from Enderle. Then I added some finned aluminum breathers that added another $300, some red Moon fuel line at $12 and some chrome clamps from the Harley shop at $30. There is also a polished fuel block and a fuel pressure regulator and guage at another $100 or so. A little over $1,500 total pretty easy (never really added all that up until right now. Yikes.) You can obviously do it cheaper, but these are real prices and you asked... Good luck.
Thanks for the info. I was curious because I have honestly never seen one like it before. It looked like a 60's drag car item, but wasn't sure.
These intakes were popular from the late 60' early 70's. Chevy used a similar intake on the 69 Z28 302 (dealer option/install). Then, the tunnel ram was the way to go if you wanted dual carbs. Today, if you don't want to cut up your hood you can get dual carbs inline like Edelbrock's dual carb setup. I have a friend who has one in endurashine. It looks really nice. BLING! BLING! You have to ask yourself do you want performance or looks. If it's performance, you're better off going with a big single carb. If it's looks then go with the dual carbs. Keep in mind dual carbs are harder to tune than a single carb. Keep the dual carbs under 500 cfm.
i have one on my drag car . cool factore is awsome, but its kinda a pain to work on/around. and you have to tune the carbs out, right carb runs left head and left carb runs right head. so you better know about carbs.
My buddy has the intake, a pair of Mickey Thompson aluminum valve covers and a 69 s/b Chevy engine. (not sure if it's a 302, 327 or 350 yet). He's had it for 20 years and has not used it. He's debating whether to get something to put it in or sell it all. He's not really into cars so I think he will sell it all.
If you want performance go with dual carbs and learn to tune them. The thing that killed multiple carbs was the tuning factr and not the all out performance factor. A single car is easier to tune. All the cross ram intakes are a bear to tune unless you are pretty good with induction BTW.
I saw this intake advertised in a 1965 issue of Popular Hot Rodding. I have one also and just installed it on my 55 Chevy this weekend.I still have to adjust my valves & time it before I really test it out.Im running 2 carter AFB 625's. The first problem I had was the linkage binding.I have the original Edelbrock linkage so I know it should work right when I had it adjusted. I decided to use this intake because its a little different and I know it makes power with the right combo.I read an add years ago that the 69 Z28 Camaro would run 14:20's or so in the 1/4 with the single Holley,but then when ran with the optional cross ram and the GM cam that went with it,it propelled the car into the 12's.The Z also had 4:10 gears. We went to Billet Proof this weekend and saw 1 of the X on a 30-31 Model A coupe unlike the 20+ tri power set-ups.
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