Better intake manifold
11-10-2011, 06:37 PM
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Car: White 84 z28
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Better intake manifold
How much will a better intake manifold make my car run? Is it one of those things that you can feel, or something that doesnt really matter unless you have alot of money in engine.
And which one do you suggest?
And which one do you suggest?
11-10-2011, 11:17 PM
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Re: Better intake manifold
CID,carb, cam, CR,trans...ETC. Whatcha got? All parts work together to make HP.
11-10-2011, 11:50 PM
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11-11-2011, 05:41 AM
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Re: Better intake manifold
Think of your motor as being like a series of pieces of hose all in a string; and the purpose of modding it, as being to make the string of hose flow more.
Imagine if you will, a 25' piece of ¾" hose, a 50' piece of ½" hose, a 10' piece of ¼" hose, and a 100' piece of 1" hose, all in a row, just like that; and you're out in the middle of your front yard, trying to fill a bucket in x seconds through this series of hose sections.
Quick: how much difference to the fill time of the bucket will it make, if you up the ¾" hose, to 1"? what about to 1½"? to 2"?
Right.
How much difference will it make if you increase the ¼" to ½"? to ¾"? to 1"?
Right.
Now, with the insight you just gained, which piece of your engine's induction system most nearly resembles the ¼" hose RIGHT NOW? Furthermore, at what point will that part begin to resemble increasing the ¼" hose past the size of the ½" hose?
If it's not the intake, then .... changing the intake will have EXACTLY as much effect on the engine's overall power output, as changing one of those larger pieces of hose while that ¼" hose is still in place.
In the case of the LG4, the first and foremost bottleneck, i.e. the piece of ¼" hose, is the EXHAUST, all the way from the heads to the bumper. EVERY SINGLE PIECE needs to go away and be upgraded. Not one other thing you do will make the tiniest bit of improvement until that is done.
Next is the cam. But to upgrade that very much you need to upgrade the heads, because the valve springs that are there now are barely adequate (if they're even that) for the sub-.400" stocker.
Next is several things about THE CAR, not the motor at all; the gears, and the torque converter.
Somewhere along the line, the air cleaner should be included.
After ALL THAT has had the restriction removed, then MAYBE an intake will make a noticeable improvement. Until then, it is a wate of money.
The way to make A CAR faster is NOT to open the hood and replace the biggest, most conspicuous pieces you can find that are sitting there out in the open, with something shiny. The only way doing that makes A CAR faster is by way of weight reduction, with all lightening centered on the owner's wallet.
THe RIGHT way to make A CAR fast is to find THE ONE THING that is most limiting it, and attack THAT ONE THING logically and sensibly by upgrading it in a manner reaonsable for the REST of THE CAR. That will then expose something ELSE as the NEW LIMIT, which you then deal with the same way; and then another, and another, and another, and so on. Note that I said CAR, because many of the things that makes cars slow, AREN'T part of THE ENGINE at all. Like gears and converter. Furthermore, they are not bling, so n00bs are hesitant to spend money there. But, that's where the battle is won or lost.
Imagine if you will, a 25' piece of ¾" hose, a 50' piece of ½" hose, a 10' piece of ¼" hose, and a 100' piece of 1" hose, all in a row, just like that; and you're out in the middle of your front yard, trying to fill a bucket in x seconds through this series of hose sections.
Quick: how much difference to the fill time of the bucket will it make, if you up the ¾" hose, to 1"? what about to 1½"? to 2"?
Right.
How much difference will it make if you increase the ¼" to ½"? to ¾"? to 1"?
Right.
Now, with the insight you just gained, which piece of your engine's induction system most nearly resembles the ¼" hose RIGHT NOW? Furthermore, at what point will that part begin to resemble increasing the ¼" hose past the size of the ½" hose?
If it's not the intake, then .... changing the intake will have EXACTLY as much effect on the engine's overall power output, as changing one of those larger pieces of hose while that ¼" hose is still in place.
In the case of the LG4, the first and foremost bottleneck, i.e. the piece of ¼" hose, is the EXHAUST, all the way from the heads to the bumper. EVERY SINGLE PIECE needs to go away and be upgraded. Not one other thing you do will make the tiniest bit of improvement until that is done.
Next is the cam. But to upgrade that very much you need to upgrade the heads, because the valve springs that are there now are barely adequate (if they're even that) for the sub-.400" stocker.
Next is several things about THE CAR, not the motor at all; the gears, and the torque converter.
Somewhere along the line, the air cleaner should be included.
After ALL THAT has had the restriction removed, then MAYBE an intake will make a noticeable improvement. Until then, it is a wate of money.
The way to make A CAR faster is NOT to open the hood and replace the biggest, most conspicuous pieces you can find that are sitting there out in the open, with something shiny. The only way doing that makes A CAR faster is by way of weight reduction, with all lightening centered on the owner's wallet.
THe RIGHT way to make A CAR fast is to find THE ONE THING that is most limiting it, and attack THAT ONE THING logically and sensibly by upgrading it in a manner reaonsable for the REST of THE CAR. That will then expose something ELSE as the NEW LIMIT, which you then deal with the same way; and then another, and another, and another, and so on. Note that I said CAR, because many of the things that makes cars slow, AREN'T part of THE ENGINE at all. Like gears and converter. Furthermore, they are not bling, so n00bs are hesitant to spend money there. But, that's where the battle is won or lost.
11-11-2011, 09:50 AM
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Re: Better intake manifold
Think of your motor as being like a series of pieces of hose all in a string; and the purpose of modding it, as being to make the string of hose flow more.
Imagine if you will, a 25' piece of ¾" hose, a 50' piece of ½" hose, a 10' piece of ¼" hose, and a 100' piece of 1" hose, all in a row, just like that; and you're out in the middle of your front yard, trying to fill a bucket in x seconds through this series of hose sections.
Quick: how much difference to the fill time of the bucket will it make, if you up the ¾" hose, to 1"? what about to 1½"? to 2"?
Right.
How much difference will it make if you increase the ¼" to ½"? to ¾"? to 1"?
Right.
Now, with the insight you just gained, which piece of your engine's induction system most nearly resembles the ¼" hose RIGHT NOW? Furthermore, at what point will that part begin to resemble increasing the ¼" hose past the size of the ½" hose?
If it's not the intake, then .... changing the intake will have EXACTLY as much effect on the engine's overall power output, as changing one of those larger pieces of hose while that ¼" hose is still in place.
In the case of the LG4, the first and foremost bottleneck, i.e. the piece of ¼" hose, is the EXHAUST, all the way from the heads to the bumper. EVERY SINGLE PIECE needs to go away and be upgraded. Not one other thing you do will make the tiniest bit of improvement until that is done.
Next is the cam. But to upgrade that very much you need to upgrade the heads, because the valve springs that are there now are barely adequate (if they're even that) for the sub-.400" stocker.
Next is several things about THE CAR, not the motor at all; the gears, and the torque converter.
Somewhere along the line, the air cleaner should be included.
After ALL THAT has had the restriction removed, then MAYBE an intake will make a noticeable improvement. Until then, it is a wate of money.
The way to make A CAR faster is NOT to open the hood and replace the biggest, most conspicuous pieces you can find that are sitting there out in the open, with something shiny. The only way doing that makes A CAR faster is by way of weight reduction, with all lightening centered on the owner's wallet.
THe RIGHT way to make A CAR fast is to find THE ONE THING that is most limiting it, and attack THAT ONE THING logically and sensibly by upgrading it in a manner reaonsable for the REST of THE CAR. That will then expose something ELSE as the NEW LIMIT, which you then deal with the same way; and then another, and another, and another, and so on. Note that I said CAR, because many of the things that makes cars slow, AREN'T part of THE ENGINE at all. Like gears and converter. Furthermore, they are not bling, so n00bs are hesitant to spend money there. But, that's where the battle is won or lost.
Imagine if you will, a 25' piece of ¾" hose, a 50' piece of ½" hose, a 10' piece of ¼" hose, and a 100' piece of 1" hose, all in a row, just like that; and you're out in the middle of your front yard, trying to fill a bucket in x seconds through this series of hose sections.
Quick: how much difference to the fill time of the bucket will it make, if you up the ¾" hose, to 1"? what about to 1½"? to 2"?
Right.
How much difference will it make if you increase the ¼" to ½"? to ¾"? to 1"?
Right.
Now, with the insight you just gained, which piece of your engine's induction system most nearly resembles the ¼" hose RIGHT NOW? Furthermore, at what point will that part begin to resemble increasing the ¼" hose past the size of the ½" hose?
If it's not the intake, then .... changing the intake will have EXACTLY as much effect on the engine's overall power output, as changing one of those larger pieces of hose while that ¼" hose is still in place.
In the case of the LG4, the first and foremost bottleneck, i.e. the piece of ¼" hose, is the EXHAUST, all the way from the heads to the bumper. EVERY SINGLE PIECE needs to go away and be upgraded. Not one other thing you do will make the tiniest bit of improvement until that is done.
Next is the cam. But to upgrade that very much you need to upgrade the heads, because the valve springs that are there now are barely adequate (if they're even that) for the sub-.400" stocker.
Next is several things about THE CAR, not the motor at all; the gears, and the torque converter.
Somewhere along the line, the air cleaner should be included.
After ALL THAT has had the restriction removed, then MAYBE an intake will make a noticeable improvement. Until then, it is a wate of money.
The way to make A CAR faster is NOT to open the hood and replace the biggest, most conspicuous pieces you can find that are sitting there out in the open, with something shiny. The only way doing that makes A CAR faster is by way of weight reduction, with all lightening centered on the owner's wallet.
THe RIGHT way to make A CAR fast is to find THE ONE THING that is most limiting it, and attack THAT ONE THING logically and sensibly by upgrading it in a manner reaonsable for the REST of THE CAR. That will then expose something ELSE as the NEW LIMIT, which you then deal with the same way; and then another, and another, and another, and so on. Note that I said CAR, because many of the things that makes cars slow, AREN'T part of THE ENGINE at all. Like gears and converter. Furthermore, they are not bling, so n00bs are hesitant to spend money there. But, that's where the battle is won or lost.
11-11-2011, 10:33 AM
#6
Supreme Member
Re: Better intake manifold
My best recommendation for the 305 is to use upgrades that can be used for a 350 
.
Start with catback then headers. After that go for manifold / carb work all thinks that will fit on a 350.
.Start with catback then headers. After that go for manifold / carb work all thinks that will fit on a 350.
11-12-2011, 05:01 PM
#7
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Re: Better intake manifold
i agree. the biggest bottle neck on these cars is the exhaust. its puny even for the low output 305. i started with a 3" catback many years ago as the first mod I did myself and it made a big difference. now im runing a full 3" exhaust from the header collector to the tail pipe.
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