Intake manifold recommendations?

[Project1970]

OK, now that I've got this thing called "money" (graduation is great!! haha) I want a new intake manifold for my truck. It's a fairly stock 350 with an HEI, a mild cam, a 750cfm Quadrajet, a cheap dual exhaust with stock ram's horns, and it's in my shortbed 2WD with a 3.73 rear. It's got a TH400 in it but I'm putting a 700R4 into it ASAP (which is SOON)

Anyway...I can hardly get the thing to rev beyond 5000RPM, so I'm looking at the cheaper, entry-level dual-plane spreadbore manifolds that advertise power in the idle-6000RPM range or thereabouts.

Is the Edelbrock Performer the way to go? Or is there another manifold that works better?

(I would love someone forever if they'd run this through Desktop Dyno.

And also...as a side note...how do these manifolds compare to the stock one in height? I think I'm pretty low on clearance with that 5" tall air filter, heh...so I might have to go find a 4" or 3" tall K&N instead...

[BLACK AND BLUE 67-72]

I have the Eldebrock Performer RPM and I like it quite well It's about the best from what I've seen and heard.

[superchevy]

I've got a brand new in the box Performer RPM for sale on the parts board for $95.
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[Longhorn Man]

I would go with the performer on your engine. Yu say small cam, that is the key thing. If you know the specs on it, find the RPM range. It may be what is killing you over 5000 RPM. If the power falls off drasticly, it won't have the power to spin any faster.
Save the RPM intake for a motor with more cam.
For the record, I have used both on stock motors, and both on cammed out motors.

[RodC]

Does anybody have an Air gap manifold? If so does it make your truck more cold natured since it does not provide the exhaust cross over to heat up the carb?

[Project1970]

http://www.pro-max.com/CompHiEngy.htm

That's the first time I've seen the suggested RPM range of my cam...I've got the 260H, a 10 year old one nonetheless...1200-5200RPM.

So yeah, I'm sticking with the lower-end models. Man, $95 for a Performer RPM...I'll pass that on to some of my friends with hotter engines than I've got, but I don't have enough cam for that. The 700R4 will give me a little leeway there with the huge first gear, but I'd still rather have the torque right now. I just kinda wish I had a 268H instead of a 260H.

The way I figure, I'll put a few cheap boltons onto this engine, but I'll save most of the money and effort for a new crate, like the Vortec 350HO with 330hp right out of the box...

[Longhorn Man]

And in all reality, 10 years on that cam probably has taken its toll and the lobes a a hair smaller.
If you were to put 1.6 rockers on there it'll act like a bigger cam...somethign to think about.

[70shortnphat]

Why not do a cam also?A good cam and lifters arent that much.
But not to big a cam or then you have to start worrying about heads and thats a whole other ball of wax( or should I say wad of cash)!

[kevins67gmc]

try either a weind action plus manifold dual plane spreadbore there cheaper than eldebrock or get the performer they both work with Qjets

[fnoblitt]

i have the 350 vortec w/330hp.it's a great motor.but the intake has a differant bolt pattern than a earlyier 350 beacuse of the vortec heads. chevy & eldebrock offer a vortec pattern manifold.i got a buddy that bolted the vortec heads and chevy dual plane intake on an earlier 350 block in his 74 c/10 and he loves the power.

[mikep]

Ive got an air gap manifold I run with an electric choke edelbrock carb . Its not cold blooded in any way . starts up and runs fine cold. I dont perceive any difference cold to warm really.

[Project1970]

Well, that's 10 years, but maybe 30,000 miles absolute tops. There's been less than 20,000 in the past 3 years its been driven, and nearly nothing in the 10 years previous to that...I will consider the rockers though, since I kinda need to go through the heads anyway (valve stem seals leak, I believe) and do a valvejob...

[Lumpy]

Project 1970... I have an older edelbrock performer (non rpm). When I bought the truck it had an rv cam. It had no power above 4500. I put in a crane 274 and now it keeps pulling to 6000 and beyond. The cam made the difference. Sounds like thats what you need to get up in the rpm. I still have tons of low end power as well. I got the cam and lifters for $79 from jeg's. Good Luck......Lumpy

[superchevy]

Just a note for you guys looking for a small block Performer intake at the swapmeets. The real early Performer's flow better than the "second design" Performer.
The early small block Performers have larger runners on the rear of the intake. This caused a problem with clearance for HEI distributors, so Edelbrock reduced the size of the rear runners to clear HEI distributors.
Check it out the next time you're at a swapmeet and see if you can spot the difference. Easy way to pick up a little better flow if you're not running HEI.
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[jhwkns]

my experience with stock HEI ignitions is that they pretty much fall on their face after about 5500 rpm. You shouldn't consider a high rev manifold or cam without upgrading your ignition.

[jhwkns]

On my small block I'm running an old Weiand single plane high rise closed plenum manifold. I've used this intake on several motors over the last 10 years. Although I've tried a few others , this one remains my favorite.

[Longhorn Man]

I keep hearing this 5500 RPM thing, but have yet to discover it. I've had my 350 wound to 7300-7500 RPM with a stovk hei. It was just screaming, no misfore at all.
I frequently see almost 6 grand with no trouble too.
All I have done is replace the coil and pick up coil with cheap auto zone items. (wells)

[68SWB4x4]

i have almost the same engine combo, i put a edelbrock performer on and LOVE IT, great improvment for the money IMO

[Project1970]

Hey Lumpy...do you know what heads are on it as well? I've still got the original '70 heads...they haven't been worked over very much at all...so I also don't really want to put anything in that's going to try to put the powerband beyond where the heads can deal with....