AIR GAP INTAKE WORTH THE MONEY?

CFD244 said

Hi Folks

I just watched a "Nick's Garage" episode where he built and dyno'd a mild '72 340, built to low 10's compression ratio (750 AVS), shooting for 350 to 360 HP. In the end, upgrading from a stock '72 iron intake to a new Air Gap, got him from 350 to 358 hp at around 5300 RPM. Do you guys really think that's worth the extra $$? I sure don't. Unless, of course, there is a cash purse to the winner.

Sorry Mods, this may be a "General Discussion" I'm not sure how to change it?

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Wellll, not exactly simple to answer.
The Airgap is about 27# lighter and being an Airgap you should get a slightly denser air/fuel charge into the cylinders. One thing the Airgaps respond well to is annular primary boosters like the AVS2 carbs have. Performers can be changed up to the annular boosters.
Now if a stock appearance or concours car is your desire, stick with the factory manifold. Could do a little stealth work on the ports and make up a bunch of the difference.
My 1940 Ford has a 1966 289 in it. It came with a 2V carb, so when I got the whim for a 4V, I bought an Airgap. At that time the AVS2 were not available so I bought the Performer 600 CFM. I now have the annular boosters for the AVS2 650 CFM to install when I get the engine back together. The Airgap worked well on the stock 289. With the head work and 351 cam it should work quite well.