opinions for an intake combo...

jonfor

New Member
Apr 20, 2009
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Columbus, GA
i need a new intake and carb and thought i would solicit advice from those who have it to give. my engine is an 87 HO engine with a 93 mustang cam and a C4. goal is cruiser that will seldom see a track and maybe eventually +250hp to the rear tires. i would like the best bang for the buck with $400-600 and i know i want an electric choke with vac secondaries. i like the "look" of the old holley carbs without all the shiny. i have a stock hood so height might be an issue. i would definitely consider a package set from like summit racing.

any thoughts??
 
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i need a new intake and carb and thought i would solicit advice from those who have it to give. my engine is an 87 HO engine with a 93 mustang cam and a C4. goal is cruiser that will seldom see a track and maybe eventually +250hp to the rear tires. i would like the best bang for the buck with $400-600 and i know i want an electric choke with vac secondaries. i like the "look" of the old holley carbs without all the shiny. i have a stock hood so height might be an issue. i would definitely consider a package set from like summit racing.

any thoughts??

i would say go with a dual plane set up, like a Edelbrock Performer RPM airgap or not and a 600-620 cfm Holley with vacuum secondaries.

there are other dual plane intakes that i am not specifically familiar with. but keep in mind the intake and carb aren't going to net you any spectacular numbers compared to new heads n stuff. but you should feel a nice kick in the butt dyno :)
 
Ford Racing A321 intake, topped with a Holley list 80783 650 cfm carb. Electric choke? I doubt you need it. With a good electronic ignition this setup needs no choke even down to 25*F, provided you tune the carb and ignition correctly. The carb lists for $355 thru Summit, the intake is about $200 (new)
 
I run a modified 289 high rise dual plane repop cobra manifold with a holley 650 hp with mechanical secondaries. it all fits under my 66 hood with shelby scoop. could not me happier with the performance. starts every time, hot or cold. however everything under the intake is top shelf.
hope this helps
 
Ford Racing A321 intake, topped with a Holley list 80783 650 cfm carb. Electric choke? I doubt you need it. With a good electronic ignition this setup needs no choke even down to 25*F, provided you tune the carb and ignition correctly. The carb lists for $355 thru Summit, the intake is about $200 (new)

got a source for the intake? i had one a few months ago and i sold it without knowing i was going to buy this mustang. the one i sold was cast in '69 as an OTC part. i'll try to get it back.
 
For the carb, I would suggest a Holley Street Avenger. This carb runs really well right out of the box and is a performance oriented vac secondary carb. Meaning you can re-jet both primaries and secondaries, tune when the secondaries kick in by easily swapping springs etc. I have used a couple of different Holley's, but they were pretty fussy to get dialed in. The SA I have now works very nicely. You can marry this carb with whatever intake makes sense for your engine.
 
I usually recommend an Edelbrock carb and manifold, or the Cobra manifold for nostalgia. Funny, it's within a few percent at high end, compared with modern manifolds. Those slide-rule guys back when were pretty sharp. I don't go down memory lane far enough to use Holleys; after 15 years on my daily driver, I've done my time. Besides, the Edelbrock is the Carter AFB (Aluminum Four Barrel), which has been around longer than the Mustang.

View attachment 256977
 
if it has stock heads etc.......an air gap wont do a thing for you. I would suggest a Weiand stealth intake or a weiand 8124 (a little milder) use a speed demon 575 vs carb, preferrably with annular boosters as it will add low end tq and throttle response. You can get reman demons on ebay for a good price, I have found them to be even better than new ones.

Edelbrock carbs run great but dont make the power of holleys, holleys are fine but unless you buy an HP series holley you get much more for your money with a demon and even so when you take a holley hp and a mighty demon (the same league) the demon usually always out performs the holley. In my case I bought a 750.00 prosystems custom made to my 408 950hp holley, then I bought a mighty demon 750 annular reman off ebay for 425.00 and right out of the box it ran way better from idle to max rpm.
 
got a source for the intake? i had one a few months ago and i sold it without knowing i was going to buy this mustang. the one i sold was cast in '69 as an OTC part. i'll try to get it back.

Sorry, no source right off hand. Edelbrocks old F4B was the same, as was your old one, the C9OX. The Shelby "Cobra" high rise is another version. The 80783 is about the only Holley left in the old zinc-chromate finish. The 3310 is offered with it, but a bit big for a 302. I'm running an A321 on an Explorer level (same in all respects except has ported E7's) roller 5.0 topped with a 570 SA Holley. Great combo in my 89 Ranger with a Toploader 4 speed and 3.73 rear. If you can't get ahold of these intakes, next I'd go with is a Performer RPM Airgap. You'll get the same bottomend as the low rise dual planes, but leave room up top for upgrades. (this is true for all the highrise dual planes)
 
The best intake I've ever used for a small block was an old Offenhauser Port-O-Sonic. It's an open-plenum manifold, and I don't think they're made anymore, but it made killer midrange on an basically stock motor. But the Edelbrock F4B intake is also a good one, as it's basically a copy of the old Cobra intake. If you're married to the idea of an electric choke, Holley makes a good 600cfm, vacuum secondary one that works well with this manifold. I'm not too crazy about the E-brock/Carter carbs, but I think that's more personal preference than anything.
 
today UPS brought this:

View attachment 256309
View attachment 256310

to replace this:
View attachment 256311

from the rough measurements, with a drop base, it's still 1/2" shorter set-up too. are low profile edelbrock intakes worth anything other than recycle value?

also got some of this:
IMG_0004.jpg