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69 Superbee 383 Highrise intake with ram air

69superbee383

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Just "finished" my superbee build. a few specs on the motor 454 lift cam, edelbrock aluminum heads, 800 cfm holly 4 barrel msd ignition, and full length headers to name the jest of it. It performs good but not as good as I expected. The stock intake manifold is holding it back. Any guys out there who have done some fabricating to make a high rise work with the ram air. Any help is appreciated.

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Very nice Super Bee! Back in the late 90's, I used a modified aftermarket fiberglass base that was cut down at the carb base to clear the Ram Charger box and fit properly.

Im sure others have modified the original bases as well. The base for 440 models (R/T & GTX) is a bit shorter as well.

One must have for that set up is a good torque strap. Otherwise under hard launches or acceleration the air cleaner will raise up and smash the the air box into the hood causing it to chip and break. I found that out the hard way. I would use one that limits the engine movement as much as possible, like the Schumacher one.

Good luck and again, Very nice 'Bee.
 
Nice car!! Imo, your carb might be a bit on the big side for a stock intake. I ran a 650 DP with a stock 69 383 intake on a 400 in a 4000 lb truck and it ran mid 15's in the 1/4 with 3.54 gears and 29" tires. Not exactly a ball of fire but I didn't think it was too bad for a 3/4 ton pickup with the gears/tire combo it had. Those intakes are really a pretty good intake.....
 
Thanks for the info guys. I want to run an m1 high rise. I think this added with the gear that I am already running would really turn it up.
 
you might get by with an edelbrock dp4b and a 440 air filter base. a wiend action-plus might work with a stock air filter base but i think the dp4b will make more power. i have a 69 r/t with the ramcharger fresh air stuff and its either the stock 4bbl set-up or six-pak; nothing else will fit without whacking something.
 
you might get by with an edelbrock dp4b and a 440 air filter base. a wiend action-plus might work with a stock air filter base but i think the dp4b will make more power. i have a 69 r/t with the ramcharger fresh air stuff and its either the stock 4bbl set-up or six-pak; nothing else will fit without whacking something.

I lied a bit I think what is on it now is a edelbrock dp4b. I called it stock because it doesn't look like that big of an improvement over stock to me. As I said above I would really like a high rise m1 to drive some air into it. Its the missing part of the equation there is more fuel, more spark, lots of room to push exhaust but I think it needs more air.
 
looking at the pics again, you have an edelbrock performer (a dp4b derivitive). back in the day i had a 383 4spd '68 road runner. i had a set of 1 3/4 hookers, crower 201hj camshaft, dp4b with 780 holley, 4.1 gear. it'd run low 13's, with a couple high 12's, all day long sliding around on 7" tires. i'd re-visit the camshaft, tinker with the heads and tune-up. i don't think the intake is an issue. 383's don't make a lot of torque. big tires and tall gears will make them lazy on the street.
 
looking at the pics again, you have an edelbrock performer (a dp4b derivitive). back in the day i had a 383 4spd '68 road runner. i had a set of 1 3/4 hookers, crower 201hj camshaft, dp4b with 780 holley, 4.1 gear. it'd run low 13's, with a couple high 12's, all day long sliding around on 7" tires. i'd re-visit the camshaft, tinker with the heads and tune-up. i don't think the intake is an issue. 383's don't make a lot of torque. big tires and tall gears will make them lazy on the street.

My friend who helped and guided me with the build has a 68 charger 383 4 speed stock heads that he gasket matched, similar cam to mine, m1 intake manifold, same size carb, and 3.73 gears (same as mine). and his is noticably faster. Looking at that is what has had me think the intake is the missing link.
 
this thread has me thinking about some friends with their 383 builds in the past couple years. these guys had the machine work and builds done at the local shops. the machinists put "stock" cast replacement pistons in the short blocks. anyhow, the pistons have a 1.84 pin heigth compared to the stock 1.92. actual compression ratio with a fel-pro gasket ended up at around 7.8:1. cars drove nice but made dismal low speed power.
 
this thread has me thinking about some friends with their 383 builds in the past couple years. these guys had the machine work and builds done at the local shops. the machinists put "stock" cast replacement pistons in the short blocks. anyhow, the pistons have a 1.84 pin heigth compared to the stock 1.92. actual compression ratio with a fel-pro gasket ended up at around 7.8:1. cars drove nice but made dismal low speed power.
Interesting. I THINK can't remember exact specs but I think we went with keith black pistons with reliefs to clear valves and the compression ratio was around 9:1.
 
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the kb flat tops with an unmilled head and fel-pro type gasket will probably be around 8.8:1.
 
so you don't think a high rise would offer enough of a power increase to make it worth while?
 
you already have a '60's era high rise. a modern "high rise" would be an edelbrock rpm and it really won't fit the fresh air stuff. there are two types of m1 manifolds. the stock replacement dual plane and the racey type single plane. the m1 dual plane is a step back and m1 single will probably sacrafice torque below 3000rpm for a modest gain on top. without a little headwork, some compression increase and better cam the benefits of the single plane won't be realized. go after the tune-up before you spend money on an intake. maybe the fuel pump isn't keeping up, recurve the distributor, is the jetting correct? look at other stuff.
 
you already have a '60's era high rise. a modern "high rise" would be an edelbrock rpm and it really won't fit the fresh air stuff. there are two types of m1 manifolds. the stock replacement dual plane and the racey type single plane. the m1 dual plane is a step back and m1 single will probably sacrafice torque below 3000rpm for a modest gain on top. without a little headwork, some compression increase and better cam the benefits of the single plane won't be realized. go after the tune-up before you spend money on an intake. maybe the fuel pump isn't keeping up, recurve the distributor, is the jetting correct? look at other stuff.

Carb still hasn't been jetted and as someone mentioned above I'm thinking 800 cfm might be a little to much as well. distributor still needs to be curved just have it rough now.
 
an 800 holley is perfect. i used to run a 780 which is an "800" with vacuum secondaries. thats a single plane manifold. it will kill torque in a low compression engine. looks like you have an adjustable valve train so why the .454 cam? who's rockers? whats the complete spec on that cam? you didn't tell us you had good heads. if those are 84cc eddies that gets the compression up to about 9.2:1. are those 1 7/8" headers?
 
an 800 holley is perfect. i used to run a 780 which is an "800" with vacuum secondaries. thats a single plane manifold. it will kill torque in a low compression engine. looks like you have an adjustable valve train so why the .454 cam? who's rockers? whats the complete spec on that cam? you didn't tell us you had good heads. if those are 84cc eddies that gets the compression up to about 9.2:1. are those 1 7/8" headers?

Whoops that was a type o 545 lift cam. Yes 84cc edelbrocks and 1 7/8 headers
 
if thats an xe285hl you don't have enough compression. hot hydraulics kill torque in small engines. a smaller mechanical would be my choice.
 
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