List your preference on Dual Quad FE intakes

In the event I can find the money (or a good enough deal) to jump on a dual quad instead of the single quad (I want it purely for the look), I do want to get the best one I can, and not get one that will say be worse than the cast iron boat anchor I'm replacing.

Looking for you guys to list the well known (new or old) dual quads in order of preference from best to worst (performance/flow wise)

Feel free to include more than one intake from the same maker, as long as they are not exactly the same intake. (E.G. Edelbrock performer, performer air gap, and the like)

Some brands I've been looking at : edelbrock, holley, weiand, FoMoCo, etc...


Going on a 390 with 63 406 heads, will make long tube headers for the car awell. Cam undecided, but*probably a aggressive street strip.

Car will be street strip, I will drive it alot. I tend to lean more towards a race car on the street than a street car on the track, if that makes any sense.
Thanks
Brian

 

I think for the money and ease of finding one, you can't beat the Edelbrock Air Gap.

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/manifolds/ford/bb_fe.shtml

 

Or if you have a couple of extra bucks burning a hole in your pocket an Offy is always a nice upgrade.

 

The problem with this intake is you can not use Holley's unless an offset adapter is used. They require the Edelbrock carbs which I'm sure was a calculated move by E-bock. A low riser Ford intake would be my choice. They are fairly plentiful at swap meets and on E-bay and you can use off the shelf 600 Holleys with a repop linkage kit. Blue Thunder also makes a decent 2x4 intake but it's a bit pricey.

If Edelbrock would have just made the carb spacing far enough apart for the Holley it would be a great choice.... FE's don't look right with those AFB carbs in my opinion...

 

I have an Offy dual quad on my '57 Fairlane 390. I'm running holleys (they mount backwards). I haven't run it yet but it looks cool. I bought repro linkage and fuel log. I got it on ebay for a good price. The only thing I don't know is how to set up the carbs. How to jet them and set them up.

 

I put an Offy on mine, got it on a trade. Some people don't like um, but I'm a tuner and love it. I have 61 low riser heads, worked over good, and a .560 lift 290 dur cam w/long tube headers... 3.50 gears and stick..My car has tons on bottom and pulls very hard on the top..600 vac sec Holleys...Plug the power valves in both carbs....Happy Motoring....

 

I have an Offenhauser with two genuine Carter AFB's on our shop truck. If it ran any better or got any better fuel economy you guys wouldn't believe me.

I married two Carter 4759s with a pair of Lincoln carbs to get the desired carbs.

I would have tried a factory Ford manifold, but I can't afford the gas for the Holleys.

Jon.

 

http://holmanmoody.com/ still sells lots of FE intakes. Not cheap but then again neither is this hobby.

 

X2 You can probably find a Ford manifold just about as cheap as an aftermarket one that won't look right and will be harder to set up.

 

You have 2 options here.
CarbKing will probably be able to dial in anything you want for either an Edelbrock-Offy or Weiand intake if you use th Edelbrock-AFB spacing or one of the manifolds with off set adapters for Holley's.
I traded one here on HAMB --- guess he alrealy responded.

Or you can usually get an OK FE 2X4 LowRiser intake for the $500 range or a 3X2 for $400 to $600 any day. Carbs, linkage and ir cleaner extra,
There are a few 3X2's complete on the FE Forum right now for the $1200 range. I do have multiples of all of these but not for sale

My opinon don't bite on a M/T cross ram unless you just want the look and get the distributor adapters. I just did for the look (but at the right price) & I can make the adapters.

Movn/on

 

C7ZX, or a Tunnel Wedge, but you need to twist the rpm's, and make them work good. more cubes, too!
FWIW,
Eric

 

Oh, I like the Weiand's the best!, Oh, wait that is the one I offered, LOL!
Let me know if you get interested, Joe

 

For actual power output, it's very hard to beat the factory medium riser 2x4 intake- stronger than the low riser version, and not that far off the Tunnel Wedge- the TW is a little stronger on top, but the MR 2x4 is pretty stout, and great midrange. Originals go for pretty good bux, but the repops run just as well for less bux. And the LR version ain't bad.
Edelbrock really dropped the ball by trying to force folks to buy their carbs, they could have sold a lot of 2x4 intakes if only the Holleys would fit- and their carbs would fit that way too

 

Gene - pure speculation on my part, but I don't believe the Edelbrock manifolds were created to sell their carbs.

Remember that Edelbrock has only been selling the AFB clone since the accountants at Federal Mogul redesigned the AFB so it could be sold cheaper and compete in price with Holley. Federal Mogul's clones came out in the late 1980's and Edelbrock got them still later.

Many of the Edelbrock designs from the 1960's (at least with Pontiac intakes) had the closer spacing. The Pontiacs would always do better, even with the low rise Offys due to the spacing being similiar to the O.E. spacing than with the Edelbrocks.

Jon.

 

Here ya go! #1 want in my book...for looks alone... http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-EDE...Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d34c06233&vxp=mtr

 

Brian - be very careful looking for the best deal. Used intake manifolds can be a gamble. Manifolds get surfaced to match head surfacing. Corrosion can be an issue, as can crossthreaded studs (although crossthreaded studs can be removed, and the hole drilled oversize plumb, and a heli-coil installed). OFTEN THE LEAST EXPENSIVE MANIFOLD (IF STILL AVAILABLE NEW) IS BUYING IT NEW! (And no, I don't sell new manifolds!).

The carburetors can be more tricky. I won't comment on using Holleys, not my area, and there are plenty of Holley gurus on this forum to help you. But if you are going to use either genuine Carter AFB's or AFB clones; be aware that the aftermarket AFB's are calibrated for Chevrolet. The Ford calibration is TOTALLY different. Read my post above about marrying the Carter 4759s with the Lincoln carb. Yes, you can easily change jets, springs, and metering rods on any of the genuine AFB's or the clones; but the auxiliary air valve, the idle tubes, and all of the airbleeds, restricters, and bypasses are also different. This is the reason I used the Lincoln guts with the A/M castings.

The amount of homework you do will have a bearing on your eventual satisfaction. Remember the 5 P's of engineering.

Jon.

 

What you're missing is if they made the intake with the spacing to fit the Holleys like the factory ones, the AFB types would also fit- but not vice versa. This manifold has been discussed at length by the serious FE crowd, and the opinion is pretty much that they screwed the pooch with that one, because serious FE guys just don't run AFB's on them- Holley, Weber, Quick Fuel, sure- but an AFB on an FE causes the serious folks to hack up a hairball. Could we make one run with AFB's? Sure. Just not interested. They could have sold a LOT of those intakes if the Holleys fit- I'd have bought one if I didn't have a bunch of factory 2x4 and 3x2 intakes- but not if its AFB-only

 

Gene - I see your point and agree with you. My comment was that the design they are using was done prior to their selling their own carburetors. The carb calibrations for the Ford engine are similar to the Pontiac engines. The Fords would probably run better with either type of carb with the wider spacing.

Jon.

 

An FE with afb's is just wrong. Blue Thunder medium riser re-pop unless the engine is REAL serious, then Dove tunnel wedge.

And as an FE guy, I TOTALLY agree with Genes comment that Edelbrock designed the 2x4 air gap rpm to sell more carbs. MASSIVE fail, and the sales of this abortion reflect that. Running an FE is a LOT about the factory sixties racing aura, and dual holleys are a must. If it wasnt for the aura, you would just build a 385 series with a dominator and be done with it. God knows you'd make more power for a LOT less effort and hassle. I waited for that intake come to market, and when I finally saw it only took AFB's, well, disappointment doesnt even BEGIN to describe it.

 

Sounds just like my 57 fairlane setup, So you plug the power jets? What size jets do you run? Thanks, Very helpful stuff.

 

X2 on med rise fact manifold.I ran 2 600s holleys with no progressive linkage,fatten up primaries on rear carb 1 or 2 sizes never missed a beat

 

Medium riser???.....
Got plenty more pics of FE intakes I'll post later....

 

Yea John, mine was way fat and couldn't get the idle clean. Plugged the PVs and booyaw! I can't remember the jets, but what the 600s come with is whats in mine, maybe 64s...Also both carbs are hooked together....

 

I meet a guy this weekend at the Pomona swampmeet sells used intakes all kinds, hes out here in S. California, he might have something for you? do you want his card info?

 

Plain-Jane #1850 600cfm Holleys will work quite well on a factory LR or MR 2x4 with minimal work. Taking out the power valves on a street engine is usually a bad idea and unnecessary, but if you have much duration/overlap at all, you'll want ones that opens at a lower vacuum- that's tuning it, and allows the power valves to enrichen the mixture as-needed, as they are supposed to . I think I have #35's in the Galaxie with a 291 duration solid cam, opening around 3.5 inches of vacuum, and I think it has primary jets 2 sizes larger than stock, as it spends more time uncapped than with exhaust. Use the factory progressive linkage and adjust it so both carbs are wide open at the same time, and one will start to open a little ahead of the other as intended for good response. The low-opening power valves, progressive linkage and about 18 degrees initial advance will make for sweet throttle response. The factory-type setup works very well if you just set it up the way it was intended to work, usually the more you mess with and modify it, the worse it works.
BTW, the factory intakes tend to like some spacers under the carbs- got 2'' on the MR intake on the Gal, with a 4K converter and 5.14's- throttle response will get your attention
With the mufflers on, the howl from the carbs will also get your attention- but uncorked, you can't hear much of anything else for a pretty good radius

 

^^ heavily worked porto-sonic and a 1050 dominator on my 428, tight 8" and 4.56's in a 3100lb car, yea, throttle response was ummm, "crisp". Maybe I should have out this on the O/P's 4bbl thread, but it seems to tie in with Genes comment, so...

 

I agree with what Mean Gene said. The PVs may be needed on a big motor w/600s, but mine is a 390 flat top and it's way more happy with less fuel. I have 64s in the primary's, that's a total jet size of 256. A single 750 Holley w/72s is only 144 on the primary side. Your performance and plugs will tell you...Happy Motoring...

 

The ONLY time I would plug the power valves in a street driven car is a tunnel ram with sideways mounted carbs. As a matter of fact, when I do 4500 dominators for a street/strip application, adding a power valve is the second thing I do, right after reducing the IFR's.

 

Make sure the muffler bearings are good too...

 

Seems like you don't really understand how & why a power valve does what it does, and how to set one up for a particular engine. If you get the PV circuit "right", the idle will clean up, but the PV can still work and enrichen the mixture a little when the vacuum drops. A stock PV can be "open" all the time at idle with a large cam that doesn't pull much vacuum at idle, and it will do a great job of killin' skeeters and making your eyes water and the plugs black. A little experimenting with a vacuum gauge and a few different "sizes" (actually just the vacuum level the particular PV opens) will let you get that circuit tuned to your engine- the PV adds another level of tuneability to the carb that you lose by removing it