intake manifold question
12-21-2006, 05:23 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2006
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Posts: 294
intake manifold question
i was told a few times that a new manifold and larger tb with stock heads and cam wouldnt do much...is this true? how much of a hp gain would i get outta it? the reason i do not want to do heads/cam is because i only have around $600 and i do not know how to install heads or a cam and that would cost a lot more $.
12-21-2006, 05:33 PM
#2
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Posts: 907
RE: intake manifold question
All those mods support each other. While an intake swap is a good idea and will net you some decent gains, the same intake would give more of a power increase if it had the heads to support it. IE 10-12 HP from the intake alone on stock heads vs 15-20 HP gain from intake alone on aftermarket heads.
12-21-2006, 05:36 PM
#3
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 5,693
RE: intake manifold question
You will get a gain, but, as you stated above, it's not going to be a huge gain. Your stock heads are a huge bottleneck and that will cause the most problems. Why not do a budget build like I did? I bought a 1996 Explorer Engine from a junkyard for $350. That gave me GT40 heads and the Explorer intake manifold. Then I bought a cam for $200. That's $550 for the H/C/I.
The next step for me is to take the old Mustang heads and intake and put then back on the old Explorer 302, thus ending up with a full turnkey 5.0. I can then clean it and paint it and sell it for dirt cheal to recover some of the $550 I spent.
As far as installing heads, it's isnt going to be as bad as you think. The hardest part (IMO) is installing a new cam. But if you're gonna skip that and just do the heads, you shouldn't have any problems. And if you're taking the intake off anyway, why not take extra step since you're already so close?
The next step for me is to take the old Mustang heads and intake and put then back on the old Explorer 302, thus ending up with a full turnkey 5.0. I can then clean it and paint it and sell it for dirt cheal to recover some of the $550 I spent.
As far as installing heads, it's isnt going to be as bad as you think. The hardest part (IMO) is installing a new cam. But if you're gonna skip that and just do the heads, you shouldn't have any problems. And if you're taking the intake off anyway, why not take extra step since you're already so close?
12-21-2006, 06:00 PM
#7
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 5,693
RE: intake manifold question
Some pics from my budget build:
Lower Manifold after hitting it w/ wirebrush
Heads before cleaning them
Clean / Painted Upper
Clean / Painted Lower
pic of the block itself
Another pic of intake and heads
came out pretty good considering how cheap I got it. And look how nice hte pistons look! I still haven't cleaned or painted the block, but no rush really.
Lower Manifold after hitting it w/ wirebrush
Heads before cleaning them
Clean / Painted Upper
Clean / Painted Lower
pic of the block itself
Another pic of intake and heads
came out pretty good considering how cheap I got it. And look how nice hte pistons look! I still haven't cleaned or painted the block, but no rush really.
12-21-2006, 06:45 PM
#10
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: texas
Posts: 1,082
RE: intake manifold question
dependin on cam,there are lotsa cams outthere that are good with stock heads..and a intake i had a performer cam,performer intake not rpm and a carb,and made 42more hp...stock heads..1.78/1.45 made 194 rwhp in a 70 f100 half ton truck...and 246 rwtorq...
