Shopping around for an intake for my Ford 390, I can't decide between an Offenhauser and an Edelbrock Performer- anyone know what the pros/cons of an Offy on a FE? Seriously considering it, but don't know much about them.
...than I come across THIS. The going bid makes the carbs seem like free. It's an aluminum factory FoMoCo. But being that my '57 Effie is a daily driver, and knowing gas prices in Humboldt, it seems suicidal to Mileage. Tempting, though... Anybody run with a 2/4 setup before?
I think that the main difference between Edelbrock manifolds & Offenhauser is that Edelbrock intake manifolds actually make more power than stock intakes. The reason I say that is that everyone I've known who used offy intakes later reported that they were useless and that their cars ran much better with the factory set-up. Maybe this isn't true, but I've heard that Offy hasn't done any research & development in forever & are basically selling the same product they did decades ago.
repoguy is definately right, at least for most engines. The only thing I've seen an Offy make more power on was a straight six. The Nailhead manifolds are awful, pretty, but no power...
I love offy and I sport a couple of thier stickers and a set of valve covers, but I know that the intake they offered for Studebaker V-8s was mearly a stock intake cast in aluminum and changed a little to put 2 carbs on it
[Tangent] Humboldt Cat...What ARE the gas prices up there like? I lived there between '94 and '97, and remember that gas was usually $.15-.20 more per gallon than it was in Santa Rosa. I'm paying from $2.09 up to $2.24 a gallon for 87 in this area. [/Tangent] That Offy looks like a small port low rise single plane. The Performer is a low rise dual plane. The Eddy *Probably* benefits from a few more decades of R&D. As for the 2x4 setup, if you want to use a bunch of carbs, but maintain some semblance of fuel economy, you could always run 4 to 2 adapters on each plenum and use 2 Weber 32-36 Staged Progressive 2 Bbls. *Edit* Looking at that Offy pic again and it says "Dual Port" Is that one of those intakes where there's a set of runners for the primaries and a set for the secondaries, with the port divided about 2/3 top to bottom?
Ive actually ran both the offy and the edelbrock, and I liked the offy better about 400 more rpm on the top end. I would stay away from the dual quads looks cool but headaches unless your racing it. Go with the offy besides not to many people have them old school ya know.
There's a magazine ad in a '64 Copy of Speed & Custom magazine where Offy advertizes a dual 4 intake for the (then new) 273 Mopar. Looks like they recast Mopar's 273 single-plane 2 bbl intake. I don't think they're competitive in the V8 market anymore, though I know their Slant 6 4 Barrel intake is a good one.
Oh yea one other thing its more a weight thing than performance. The factory intake flows just as good as the edelbrock. If you want a good factory intake then go with the 428 cj cast intake you can still find them about 120.00 and they look stock just a little higher.
[ QUOTE ] Tangent] Humboldt Cat...What ARE the gas prices up there like? I lived there between '94 and '97, and remember that gas was usually $.15-.20 more per gallon than it was in Santa Rosa. I'm paying from $2.09 up to $2.24 a gallon for 87 in this area. [/Tangent] [/ QUOTE ] Hey, at least you discipline yer tangents... I gotta work on that... gas up here's been near 2.20, lately. We got a Costco gas station in town recently, so things are looking up. Comparitively, at least. Thanks for the input! Still indecisive, but at least more educated on it. I've pretty much talked myself out of the dual quad option, because of it being a daily driver, and the thing's thirsty as it is. For the NEXT ride, though. Anybody have any Edelbrock's for a 390 they want to sell?
Well, this is the point I'm at: I don't have enough for the few Edelbrocks I've been able to find, but am trying to decide between a 390 GT manifold (from '66) and a '68 428SJC intake. The 390's cheaper- is there an obvious difference between the two, to make up for the price difference? It's cast iron, but I'm sure the power increase would make up for the weight I wasn't able to lose. What do you think, which one would you go for? Mercury Bill's reply got me re-thinking about this. It's a 75-buck difference. It may not sound like much, but considering I had to borrow it from my gf's son... well, it's not exactly growing in my backyard. Even though I live in Humboldt. And now I've said too much...
I have never seen an aftermarket manifold flow better than a stocker on a Ford F E motor. Many stock options. Most aftermarket stuff are just poor copys of real Ford. Look at the Ford racing program from the 60s, they built that stuff to win, and did!!!..............OLDBEET
I slept on it (and besides, someone snagged the 428SJC), and am getting the 390 GT. Your input seems to be the consensus of most people I've asked about it. Thanks for the input, all. All I need then to is to finish up Plan 9's Holley, get the lifters 'n pushrods in the mail and I'll be hittin' the two-lane again. Sweet.
Sorry, didn't mean to be a space hog with that last pic, I just dig how clean it is. The bottom of it looks just as cleaned up. $100 + shipping.Sounds dorky, but am having fun learning about alot of the OTHER manifolds you don't always hear about.That'd be really something if this FoMoCo stocker from '66 could match/outdo an aluminum aftermarket do-up. Can't wait to find out.
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