'68 350 4 bbl.... .030 over...Engine will be right at 9.9 - 10 to 1 CR and the #5 heads have light bowl work & 2.00/1.625 valves.

I'd like to keep my orig intake for originality purposes and because I have the divorced choke setup & no easy way to convert to anything else using my 7028250 carb...

While a Performer RPM is the better choice for power, it won't work with what I want to do. I've heard that the Edelbrock Performer non-RPM flows about the same as the orig iron intake so the only improvement would be the weight savings for the Performer. Does this sound right ?

Any tricks/tips to squeeze more out of this combo ??

 

Are you running headers?? The performer is good from idle to 5500 rpm, and would probably be an improvement over stock, it does have your choke setup! The rpm would be a better choice though!

 

Basically same situation I am in. I am very likely going to use my stock iron orig (well not quite... it is from 2blu4uuu) intake b/c I hate not being able to mount my A/C bracket, and I hate having to heli-coil carb holes with Edelbrock int. manifolds. Plus the Q-Jet and choke stove thing. I could maybe live with a stock W31 intake though.

However... I am likely going to try to squeeze some more out the stock exh. manifolds some how. Extrude honed perhaps. I know it can be done on certain exh. manifolds... just not sure on how better if any it will make things.

 

I have a performer here if you need one.
If you run a stock iron, I'd recommend matching the ports, and cutting up the center.

This stock intake customized by Milan, allowed 454 horsepower through it on a 455 motor with home ported iron heads.

 

I'm toying w/ the idea of Sanderson shorties... It would be either those or stock logs. The Performer 3711 has the choke setup for the hot air/stove type choke (& EGR port). Mine is the older divorced style with a thermo coil that sits in a little square pocket on the intake. See below...Its the squarish pocket just below the secondaries....(not mine, just a pic from the intake thread)

Agree that an RPM would be better. I actually have a battered old RPM and was trying to figure out if I could somehow fab a choke coil box on it, but this RPM needs just about every hole heli-coiled so I kinda shelved that idea for now.

Now, the Perfomer 2711 has no choke or EGR...so it might be a better candidate for my fab-the-choke-pocket idea, but they're too new to find used & so they're $$$....

 

IIRC, your car ( 70 & up) has the 'hot air stove curvy tube thing' type choke and the 3711 (non-RPM) Performer has provisons for the choke. The RPM & the 2711 do not.

I vaguely remember jensenracing77 was going to ream out some stock SBO mani's, but I don't remember the outcome. I'd be willing to hit my old pair w/ a die grinder if it has potential. If they can be made better, this would be my preferred route as I could use all of my stock heat shields/hot air pipes to look factory correct...

I'm fascinated by the Sandersons. The gotta be way better than the logs but without the hassle of long tubes. But they're pricy, I don't know if I have to fill the center port divider for them, and they'd take me further away from stock appearance....

 

The stock intakes aren't so bad and seal well to the heads. Intake changes are relatively easy, and visible, leadng many into thinking they "need" to buy one. Sam Murray held the J/S record at 11.37/114.57 mph iirc using sstock heads and intake on his 72 350 Cutlass.

 

I remember doing the valve job on my 330, I needed another person to set that intake on straight! My god that thing is heavy!!

Good luck with your quest!!

 

Whuuhhhh!??

I never thought of cutting an iron one !

I don't know intake theory....
How does removing all that material affect performance ? Does it sacrfice street drivability/low end ?