Which intake manifold

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NealS

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I am new to FABO. Building a 541 RB motor for my 68 Barracuda. This will be a street car that I will be drag racing occasionally. Using a stock block with billet caps. studs and a girdle for strength. Engine has 11 to 1 compression, Trick Flow 270 heads, solid lifter cam with .700 lift, 263 - 271 duration with 108 degree LSA. Looking for 700lbs torque and 700 horsepower and would like to break into the nines.

My question is has anyone seen or heard of a similar build using using the INDY dual plane intake ported to max wedge intake size? I am not looking for a high rpm peak horse power number as much as I want a big flat torque curve. I hope to use a 3500 torque converter to avoid frying the transmission while cruising. I appreciate the group's input.
 
Hard to find, and not the ultimate performance manifold either, from what I'm told, but there are early factory Max Wedge sized port intakes floating around. They were dealer only items way back in the day, and NASCAR was the intent. I'll look for a part number....they were very good for MW heads with hood clearance on a B-body. Prolly do about as good as your gonna find for an A-body too.
 
Welcome aboard!!!

Yes! Over on FBBO (ForBbodiesonly.com) there is a group of guys over where one did just that intake though I don’t think it was on a large engine as you have but a sizable one none the less. IIRC, it was a horrible looser.

I’m surprised @541 cubes you would search for a dual plane though I do get the huge flat predictable torque curve is a nice something to have.


What are your cam specs and style of cam?
 
I am currently building a 493 RB with the Indy dual plane now for my 71 demon. Also a street car with trick flow 270’s, 11.5 to 1 compression, and a solid flat tappet cam with 275 @ .050 duration. I’m only looking to run mid 10’s and picked the Indy for improved street manors, to avoid hood clearance issues and the fact that it was available. Originally wanted the 337 M1 single plane but have had no luck finding one.
 
I appreciate the imput. Maybe this is why I have not been able to find any dyno results for an engine using this INDY manifold. I guess if this combination does not work, no one is writing about it. Hood clearance is not an issue as I am using the hemi style scoop. I have read that a tunnel ram is the best choice, but do not know of any other max wedge intake other than the $1,000.00 INDY manifold. I am afraid that a super victor or other like single plane will not provide the torque curve I am looking for. Hopefully, someone has a combination that is close to what I am hoping for.
 
Rat Bastid said:
With that displacement and the rest of the combination I would never even consider a DP intake.
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^^^^This 100%.....That plus a 3500 converter and wanting to run 9's.....Not exactly what I would call optimal or realistic. A good converter (with a trans cooler) will not fry your transmission driving around town.

For what its worth, I drive my low 10 second car with an 8" ~5200 RPM converter all over town AND to the race track, win(and lose) races and drive home...nothing other than standard trans maintenance. My point being, you don't have to botch your entire combo by buying a crappy converter to make it "streetable"....just my 2 cents.
 
Edelbrock super victor maxwedge intake, and a dominator. Intake is $505. You will need a dominator anyway with that much motor and camshaft.
 
263/271 @050 and you want to stab an intake on it that’ll only go to 5500rpm? I’d seriously reconsider your entire package before making a choice on a dual plane intake.
 
Is your cam off the shelf or custom? The supplier may be able to help provide guidance on the intake. My cam (275 @ .050 bullet flat tappet) was spec’d for a peak of around 6,000 rpm by a fairly reputable builder (Ray Barton) for my exact application. Ray also spec’d my solid flat tappet in my small block and it runs exactly the number I asked for. I do agree with your cubic inches that you will have no shortage of torque but I believe the max wedge port Indy dual plane intake will make power at least to 6k.
 
Thank you for the discussion. I have a 1050 dominator as well as a 1050 standard Holley carb, so I will run the same size carb with either manifold. The Trick Flow 270 heads flow 352 cfm @ .700 lift. An article written by Steve Dultich several years ago tested the air flow of the INDY dual plane manifold and found that it flowed an average of 300 cfm as cast and 360 cfm after Helgison opened it up to max wedge size. This would almost match an unported single plane intake flow wise. I agree that I would be giving up some horsepower with the dual plane. Just not sure how much. My cam will be a custom grind from comp cams. I will not turn my engine more than 6100 - 6300 rpm. Based on Flyfish's comments I will purchase a higher stall converter. With the torque the engine should be making, I probably will not use one over 4500 rpm though. I did find an article where INDY did build a 543 very similar to what I am building. They used their dual plane manifold and a too small hydraulic cam with SR heads and made 613 hp and 700 torque. However I learned a long time ago not to believe everything I read. I appreciate everyone's opinion.
 
Sounds like you talked yourself into a winner.
 
NealS said:
Thank you for the discussion. I have a 1050 dominator as well as a 1050 standard Holley carb, so I will run the same size carb with either manifold. The Trick Flow 270 heads flow 352 cfm @ .700 lift. An article written by Steve Dultich several years ago tested the air flow of the INDY dual plane manifold and found that it flowed an average of 300 cfm as cast and 360 cfm after Helgison opened it up to max wedge size. This would almost match an unported single plane intake flow wise. I agree that I would be giving up some horsepower with the dual plane. Just not sure how much. My cam will be a custom grind from comp cams. I will not turn my engine more than 6100 - 6300 rpm. Based on Flyfish's comments I will purchase a higher stall converter. With the torque the engine should be making, I probably will not use one over 4500 rpm though. I did find an article where INDY did build a 543 very similar to what I am building. They used their dual plane manifold and a too small hydraulic cam with SR heads and made 613 hp and 700 torque. However I learned a long time ago not to believe everything I read. I appreciate everyone's opinion.
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Don’t base your intake manifold choice on flow bench numbers. It’s bad policy.
 
A single plane with long runners will have more benefits than any dual plane for your 541, you're not going to miss out on any torque, if it were less, it wouldn't be noticable on your butt. You're rpm range will be better, torque carried into higher rpm equals more HP.
Oh and I think that 700 hp mark is going to be off by 50 or more HP, based on Andy f & his 470 with 240 heads, I think his 512 with 270s was over 800
 
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Umm ....or how about a max wedge port modman with dual 4150 top ?
 
I am familiar with AndyF's builds and would love to get similar results. I wish he had included in the articles the dyno numbers showing the power and torque curves. This would really would help in choosing a converter. AndyF used the STR manifold early on and it was down on power compared to a single plane. I do not know what torque it produced. I am more and more leaning toward a single plane with a dominator. Does anyone know what the choices are for rocker arms when using the trick flow 270 heads. Summit only recommends Harlan Sharp rockers. I am also considering oiling the rockers through the push rods. What do you guys recommend?
 
Oil it one way or the other. It doesn’t make a big difference as long as the system has oil. If through a pushrod is the path, block it from coming up from the block.
 
NealS said:
I am familiar with AndyF's builds and would love to get similar results. I wish he had included in the articles the dyno numbers showing the power and torque curves. This would really would help in choosing a converter. AndyF used the STR manifold early on and it was down on power compared to a single plane. I do not know what torque it produced. I am more and more leaning toward a single plane with a dominator. Does anyone know what the choices are for rocker arms when using the trick flow 270 heads. Summit only recommends Harlan Sharp rockers. I am also considering oiling the rockers through the push rods. What do you guys recommend?
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When the trick flow heads came out AndyF ,Icq,and another engine builder put out dyno and builds somewhere in the bbm section.Andyf did a intake flow and trickflow flowed the most out of the box.He sent a m1 to get ported and after that it flowed more.
 
Bigdummy said:
When the trick flow heads came out AndyF ,Icq,and another engine builder put out dyno and builds somewhere in the bbm section.Andyf did a intake flow and trickflow flowed the most out of the box.He sent a m1 to get ported and after that it flowed more.
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I looked and the post is gone.Andyf and others gave a lot of free info away.I machine shop closed.I had bought lifters of him.I can't remember his name but like Andyf and another shop in Kalifornia was full of free help.

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flyfish said:
^^^^This 100%.....That plus a 3500 converter and wanting to run 9's.....Not exactly what I would call optimal or realistic. A good converter (with a trans cooler) will not fry your transmission driving around town.

For what its worth, I drive my low 10 second car with an 8" ~5200 RPM converter all over town AND to the race track, win(and lose) races and drive home...nothing other than standard trans maintenance. My point being, you don't have to botch your entire combo by buying a crappy converter to make it "streetable"....just my 2 cents.
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Great advice! Just want to add that you (OP) should run a trans cooler.
 
Thank you for checking on the post. It would have been great to have the numbers. Is AndyF still around?

I run a trans cooler on all my projects. Good insurance.
 
NealS said:
I am familiar with AndyF's builds and would love to get similar results. I wish he had included in the articles the dyno numbers showing the power and torque curves. This would really would help in choosing a converter. AndyF used the STR manifold early on and it was down on power compared to a single plane. I do not know what torque it produced. I am more and more leaning toward a single plane with a dominator. Does anyone know what the choices are for rocker arms when using the trick flow 270 heads. Summit only recommends Harlan Sharp rockers. I am also considering oiling the rockers through the push rods. What do you guys recommend?
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