I'm trying to decide on which intake manifold to use. I have a 302 with 10.3:1 compression, AOD trans, and 4.10 gears with 29.5" tall tires. My choices are: Blue Thunder Cobra Original Cobra Original SHELBY Edelbrock F4B Weiand 8011 Weiand 8020 Anyone one of these better than the others? Any other intakes better than these picks? This motor is for my 1938 Ford COE. I am building it as light as possible. Hoping to keep it under 3800lbs. Praying for 3500 or less.
The original Cobra and F4B are the same intake except for the Cobra lettering. I really like the F4B as it's a dual plane and works good through high and low rpm's. It's cheap too! I have had both on my car and they ran the exact same e.t.'s. I now have the Cobra only because it matches my valve covers and oil pan.
Are the original Shelby intakes the same as the original Cobra intakes? And what about these new Cobra intakes made by blue thunder? They have the original Cobra part number on them.
I can only compare two sbf intakes, the F4B and a stock cast iron Ford 4bbl intake. The stock sbf intake has quite a bit snappier throttle response and better fuel economy than the F4B. I'd say idle to 2500 rpm is better on the stock manifold, 2500-3500 rpm is about the same, and over 4000 rpm the F4B is noticably stronger. My engine was a 12.25cr 302 with a 600cfm Holley, .480 lift aftermarket cam, lightly ported stock heads, headers, and 4.11 rear gears and 4 speed ****** on 26" tall tires. General cruising is best on the stock Ford intake, but the F4B is better when you wind it up through the gears.
For that combo, I'd be running the Weiand 8020, no doubt about it. The first 4 you have listed are pretty much the same manifold. None of them are bad, per se, and they all have that 'HAMB friendly' look, but I know from personal experience that the 8020 works better everywhere in the rpm band.
I'm running a 65' 289 factory hi-po cast iron 4 brl manifold, performs very well. Picked it up on the bay for $40 about 12 years ago!
Is there a reason that you are stuck to just those listed? The reason I ask is a COE is heavy (I know you're trying to stay light, but...) and not aerodynamic at all (I had a 39), so your are working the motor all the time. And a 302 is not a big motor. Mine weighed 4200 according to the certified scales I had to use, with a full tank of gas, and even with a 383 stroker it was not very powerful feeling. I would use the Performer Air Gap, you need something to pull from the bottom end and won'd be revving it real high. That manifold will pull from idle to 5500 which should be perfect. The Cobra and F4B variants were not made for torque, they were made to pull higher RPM, and even with in those there are better manifolds today for that purpose - they are just old technology, we have learned so much more since then.
The best intake ever devised for a street SBF is the Weiand Stealth. Dual plane with long, fat runners. I picked up .2 in the quarter with this intake over a Vic Jr on a fairly healthy 302, and it was WAY better on the street. I recommend that intake to anyone that will listen. The Performer 289/302 is a good choice too.
I have had this intake over 3 years:http://www.kmjent.com/cart/ford-289-302-5.0l-polished-aluminum-intake-manifold.html Fit was excellent with strong bottom end and mid-range, wipes off and stays clean. One plus over other intakes is it has 4 water ports check out the pictures in the link, this allows all cylinders to cool equally without restricting flow.Check out Edelbrock and Weiand intakes that are used and you will usually find corroded water ports even where they block off the rear cylinders.Runner design of this intake is almost like a Weiand Stealth if you compare,another advantage to the 4 water ports is in many cases the front port is too close to the SBF's distributor this allows you to locate a heater hose or temp sender toward the rear out of the way.Here is a picture of it installed below,since I brought up the corrosion issue regarding aluminum you may want to check this out:http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=41164
That intake is an offshore knock off of the Weiand. Reverse engineered by unscrupulous 'business men' who felt it was justified to steal all of the engineering that Weiand paid for to bring the Stealth to market, then undercut them on price. Given that that intake is reverse engineered, I'd strongly suspect that there are shortcomings in the flow equality from runner to runner, and consequently performance. JMO. The rear coolant crossover port is another advantage of the Weiand Stealth 8020, that is for certain. I think it probably does a lot to keep the temperature consistent within the cylinder head from front to rear. Regarding the impact on corrosion, I don't know. Seems to me corrosion is usually caused by metal transfer from a lack of the use of coolant or other corrosion inhibitors, not a reduction in water flow. But I'm no chemist...
No such thing as a "Best Intake Ever Devised" unless you put a whole bunch of parameters along with it. Although that one picked up for you over one other comparison, I don't think that it would be appropriate for his COE truck. I don't think he is going drag racing and I bet his truck is heavier and more like a block wall than what ever you were racing. I took a Stealth OFF my 11.75:1 Aluminum headed roller cammed 306" and went to an Edlebrock Performer RPM Dual Air Gap with two 500's and pick up a ton over the stealth and 750, almost 20 HP, but I wouldn't call it the Best Intake
Thanks for the thread and information. Has anyone a recommendation for an inlet from the 69 Mustang Cast manifold on: 62 Comet wagon 289 600 holley Dougies headers C4 and 3.00 rear end on 14" wheels. This car was dragged many years ago, will mainly be used on the road, but always happy run some fun strips.
The Blue Thunder Cobra will WALK ALL OVER the rest, with the possible exception of the Stealth(sorry, didnt notice it there the first time). Compared to the original Cobra intake, the runners are enlarged, and the septum is opened up. It'll run neck and neck with the Performer RPM. Only thing is, a sharp eye will spot it as the re-pop, the casting is more rounded at the top of the runners, and the hole for the heater hose is bigger, so you have to run a pipe adaptor.
UPDATE I will admit it is a copy of the older Weiand Stealth with rear coolant crossover,but since Holley acquired Weiand the "new" version took the cheapo route and eliminated the rear crossover which did not go over well with guys on www.sbftech.com as they are hard core Ford over there. Professional Products has kept the older and better design.
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