I know there have been a hundred and 9 questions about intakes from noobs buuuuutttt im just curious.... im text book knowledgeable i do nothing but research every day looking at numbers and power bands, relitive changes... blah blah blah... now i personally rebuilt this olds 455. Its got a new voodoo cam from lunati 276/284 with 1.6 roller rockers on C heads that have been machined: cleaned up new exhaust seats, replaced burnt valves, new seals, acid dipped, ports all cleaned so basicly new C heads. Ive got a street fighter II stall converter that flashes at 3050rpm on a th400 trans. Stock 3.08 gears and stock toronado exhaust manifold, and stock toronado intake manifold. Everything else i removed cleaned and checked since i was on a budget i didnt replace any other engine component's just ensured they were in good running condition. I have a static CR of 10.48:1 with a 750 vacuum secodary holly. Now ive driven this car stock and with this set up and i havnt seen anything "impressive" its solid and pulls but by no means a seat of your pants daily driver. My question is ive got a edelbrock rpm airgap intake that ill be intalling over the next few days... everything from the cam to the stall and intake shouldin theroy all be in the rpm range of eachother or insync with all the componets for what im building for. All except the exhaust manifold still need headers... now just my simple question... with the new intake... should i notice better performance out of her... not asking if ill have more power but should it be lets say more playful? Or will i not notice till the exhaust is finished? The intended use of the car... well im trying to achieve as close as i can to a 12 second daily... i know final drive gears would help but i have what i have at the moment. Thanks for the input guys...

 

You've pretty much answered your own questions. IMHO, your Toro is a very heavy car, the gear ratio is your real limiting factor. The other issue is the exhaust flow is choking your engine. I'm not familiar with whats available to correct that in your situation. My other concern is if the RPM manifold will fit under the flat hood. If that engine were in an A body your dream of 12's is not far off with a good set of gears and a free flowing exhaust.

 

Its a 69 toro with a custom chevelle cowl, i fiberglassed the intire hood... molded and set a new hood on... so i didnt molest the original. .. and cut some weight. I know gears are key but on a toro its like $800 for a set so its at the end of the list... but i was curious what the new intake will feel like... im currently sitting at work bored and thought id ask... will it be more snappy? Better throttle response? Burnout eaiser? High way should be better... and also what gears should i choose because i guess the tecnical term of the build im doing is a 12 second pro touring car cuz id love to take it out of state on it own wheels... if thats not possible id like to get close... thanks again

 

Your engine should be pretty snappy to start with. What are you using for a distributor?

 

Stock distributor with a points eliminator kit... i should also mention in in denver, co so snappy isnt easy to come by...

 

To me its odd... my buddy has a 55 chevy with a 489, slightly bigger cam all hydraulic, 5000 stall, th400, same intake granted the 454 heads flow better but just pocket ported heads and 1 3/4 to 3" long tube headers, hes producing close to same numbers in power if not less due to valve float and the same carb. But yet his i can barely drive cuz i have to tap the throttle because its so sensitive. .. now im not expecting the same thing here but i feel it should be close to that... but then again gears and headers...

 

Im running that cam in my small block with a 750 carb and edelbrock rpm intake with 3.73 gears. Now small blocks to big blocks are a bit diffrent as that cam in your bbo will act smaller but it's a pretty agressive cam. My small block should be in the 12's in my 72 but its lighter and has all the tricks to get it there. Fwiw here is what it sounds like in my small block in your bbo it will sound slightly diffrent.

 

Here mine no mufflers, pipe ends under cab, its got glasspacks now but getting a H pipe at some point.
https://youtu.be/i2Lv9wwMROM

 

These engines need more initial timing to be happy. I would find someone in your area that knows how to recurve a distributor to make your engine a bit happier and still be able to drive at lower altitudes. I know of one other member that had some issues where compression + altitude = major detonation with advanced timing.

 

Oh yeah i recurved it by adding slightly lighter springs the weights are the same the curve hits peak at about 3500rpm... ive herd its all about playing with it... till you find what works best.

 

My engine runs great with 14 initial mechanical is 20 degrees so total is 34 coming in around 3300 rpm. Not to argue with you eric but i have never had an engine that needed more than 14 initial with an hei. My old 350 thats in my dads car we are running 12 initial and thats where i ran it for years . Now with altitude Idont know how that plays out i assume you have to slow the curve down as the altitude goes up.

 

I should probably get some weights to play with and see if i can slow the curve down

 

The springs control the rate at which the mechanical curve comes in. Im just assuming the timing has to be slowed down as the load of the engine goes up as alititude goes up due to gravity . Dont quote me on that though . I have never had any issues with timing and detonation due to altitude.

 

Ill google search altitude effects on timing... so ill figure that out... so back to the question at hand how is an rpm air gap gonna feel compaired to the stock manifold...?

 

Well it helps on the higher rpms , ligther , stays cooler . The stocker is restrictive , heavy , and soaks heat .