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318 4 barrel intake advice

blazer 2010

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I have a pretty much stock 318 with good dual exhaust and would like to to switch to a 4 barrel intake.The swap meets are starting up soon and would like to know what I should look for,is there a good stock one to look for or on a 318 or would anything be an improvement .
 
All the early 318s were two barrel but they started putting four barrels on in 1978 police engines for several years using either the Thermoquad or a Rochester Quadrajet carb on top.
 
The factory 4bbl cast iron intakes are a very cheap way to upgrade to a 4bbl. But the Edelbrock 2176 is a better intake for the 318 imo. You can pick them up pretty cheap depending where you are at, just watch for cracks. I found a very nice used 2176 a few years back for a $100.
 
Weiand action plus flows a bit better but is harder to find.

I see performers fro $60-$75 several times a year.
They are actually much easier to find than stock iron.

I see stock iron intakes for $50 routinely.
 
The only draw back to a factory iron intake is its weight, not its performance level or ability. The only catch to the factory intakes are if you want to run a spread bore carb (TQ or QJ) or a sauare bore carb (Typical Holley or Carter/Edelbrock)

The spreadbore intakes can accept a square bore carb easy with a simple plate under the carb in some cases. Sometimes they do not need one. I didn't with my Carter 625.
The use of a TQ is highly recommended and the small primary TQ is the one you should seek from '72 & up. Less emissions on the carb the better. Earlier the better.

The Edelbrock Performer is a fine intake as well as the Weiand intakes. The Weiands are a little better. But if the engine is near stock or stock, anything will work equally as good as the next intake would.
 
Don't go with an OEM cast iron jobbie.

Buy an alloy airgap manifold. They're cheap, light and perform very well.

If you have aircond, you may need at drill and tap a hole or two for the compressor brackets....

Paint with a can of Mopar engine blue, it'll look factory.
 
Define cheap?

Even the knock-off A/G is routinely $120 and up.

There's also a potential issue with the head surface angle on those.

Finding a name brand A/G is not too easy on the used market.

I've seen exactly one in about three years and the seller wanted almost new retail money for it.

The OP should be able to find a name brand performer for under $80 or $90 if he looks around and bargains.

I've bought three in as many years for $50, $60, and $65, the last one including a carb spacer.
 
I hardly find anything up here for small blocks so I,m hoping the swap meet will come up with something
 
Unfortunately every time I find something on e-bay 9 out of 10 they don't want to ship to Can.and with our dollar in the toilet [.70 cents] it's not worth buying anything unless is local,plus have to pay for shipping
 
318 4bbl. You don't say what year you have. There are 2 basic types of factory 4 bbl manifolds for the A-eng. Square bore w/centered thermo housing for the older v-2 a/c comp and the newer units built for the rotary a/c comp that have an offset (to drivers side) thermo housing. Most of these are spread bore for either the thermo-quad or the Q-jet (used from 85 until the TBI systems started). The manifolds for the thermo-quad have the choke heat sink fully machined and drilled, the ones for the Q-jet are just as cast w/no machining since the Q-jet used an electric choke. True, they are heavier but are based on the old 340 HP casting and are no slouch performance wise. Ones cast for the police 318 have smaller ports than the 360 units and will work better on the 318 heads. 360 units have larger ports and will create some turbulence when used w/ the 318 heads. Port matching would be recommended. 360 spread bore units can be found on 80's era pickups, ramcharger, and full size vans (especially the 3/4 ton units). I'm running a 360 spread bore on my 75 Duster w/ 318, headers, mild street cam and modified Q-jet. Heads have been port matched to the manifold and have 360 intake and ex. valves. Runs pretty good. A note on the Q-jets for MoPars, they have MoPar specific throttle linkage and will work w/ Chrysler TV linkage of the same generation. May be way more info than you wnted but better to have too much than not enuf.
 
Don't know what part numbers are actually made for the teen but if you have the LA engine (don't know about the 'A' series poly head engines), be aware that the ports in the heads are smaller than the 340/360's have and most small block intakes have the larger ports. If you go with an intake made for the 340/360, you will need to port match the 318 heads to match the intake or you'll have the air/fuel mix hitting a step going into the 318 head. This might be worth doing if you ever want to upgrade to a larger small block. Think of a flight of stairs....air will flow down a step better than it will flow up over a step.
 
I have a weland 8007. for sale if wanted.
 
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What Cranky said is pretty much all you need to know. Matching the ports will prevent a power loss. The factory knew this, they used the 360 heads on 318 engines with a 4bbl intake which is why you see the same intake part number (4173915) on both 318 and 360 engines in the later years.

Early 273 4bbl intakes match the 318 better if you aren't going to do any porting or head swap.
 
The motor is a 318 from about a 78 dodge truck that was rebuilt a year before I bought it,They won some lottery money and sold me the truck for $600 and I took the motor and sold the truck for $300,good deal.
 
Don't know what part numbers are actually made for the teen but if you have the LA engine (don't know about the 'A' series poly head engines), be aware that the ports in the heads are smaller than the 340/360's have and most small block intakes have the larger ports. If you go with an intake made for the 340/360, you will need to port match the 318 heads to match the intake or you'll have the air/fuel mix hitting a step going into the 318 head. This might be worth doing if you ever want to upgrade to a larger small block. Think of a flight of stairs....air will flow down a step better than it will flow up over a step.

I am not saying Cranky is wrong or right, but i read something on another forum that expressed a different opinion on the necessity of port matching a larger port intake manifold to a smaller port cylinder head: The intake charged is sucked in by vacuum to the combustion chamber, it is not blown in from the outside; just picture the intake port of the cylinder head as a vacuum cleaner hose. Nothing is going to hit a "step" anywhere because the intake charge is being "pulled" into the combustion chamber from the inside. Something to think about, although I don't know the science or physics of the explanation I share here.
 
I am not saying Cranky is wrong or right, but i read something on another forum that expressed a different opinion on the necessity of port matching a larger port intake manifold to a smaller port cylinder head: The intake charged is sucked in by vacuum to the combustion chamber, it is not blown in from the outside; just picture the intake port of the cylinder head as a vacuum cleaner hose. Nothing is going to hit a "step" anywhere because the intake charge is being "pulled" into the combustion chamber from the inside. Something to think about, although I don't know the science or physics of the explanation I share here.


There is no difference between 'sucked in' or 'blown in' as far as the air is concerned; there is a pressure differential forcing the air through the port. If it encounters a ledge or obstruction along the way, it will slow down.
 
The eddie 2167 intake lists that it is for 318-360 engines,do I have to still port match ?
Probably but I'm not familiar with the port size of the 2167 but I doubt it's the same size as the teen.

I am not saying Cranky is wrong or right, but i read something on another forum that expressed a different opinion on the necessity of port matching a larger port intake manifold to a smaller port cylinder head: The intake charged is sucked in by vacuum to the combustion chamber, it is not blown in from the outside; just picture the intake port of the cylinder head as a vacuum cleaner hose. Nothing is going to hit a "step" anywhere because the intake charge is being "pulled" into the combustion chamber from the inside. Something to think about, although I don't know the science or physics of the explanation I share here.
Any time the air/fuel mixture has to climb over a ledge or step, it's going to impede flow somewhat. Going from a small port into a larger one isn't so bad but even that one will benefit from a smoother transition. Ask the same people on that other forum if they've ever done any valve pocket work in these old heads and see what they say. They should have the same attitude about not needing to do that too but doing that is probably one of the best improvements you can do to a stock type head. Ever run through a hallway with a lot of turns and steps and junk in it? Same principle and the factory valve pockets are junk. For a comparison, look at the factory intakes and head ports and see how nice they are. There's a reason the new performance cars of today perform so well and no computer can make the old stuff run like the new stuff. Even a stock pickup truck Hemi head is pretty impressive looking compared to this old stuff.....
 
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