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Intake Manifolds - Question for build guru’s

Ron H

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Going to be removing the intake from my motor as it’s looking crappy with peeling paint and the lipstick trick isn’t cutting it anymore. This is on a poly, old stock 4bbl manifold. The motor has been hepped up some with a .60 bore, mild cam, solid lifters, headers, Eddy carb, etc. Got to thinking…if I’m going to do this if I should consider a ‘performance’ intake for it? Any thoughts/experiences on how this might improve performance, suggestions? Thanks!
 
I believe your selection of performance intakes is fairly limited for the poly. If you do find one your going to have to pay up for it. 440'
 
As 440Coronet500 mentioned theres not much available & if/when that one or two manifolds are available they are 2-3 times the cost of a 440 intake... IMO clean up what you have & be happy that you have it....
 
This company makes them but they ain't cheap.
They have suspended production for now and don't know when they will start again.
If you already have a 4bbl manifold even though I want it, my advice is keep it as they really are good manifolds as heavy as they are.
https://cpwebstore.com/Poly
 
Never read a thread about comparing Poly intakes, but judging from B intakes, the difference over stock is not worth the money. Might be better to take the cash and upgrade ignition or exhaust
 
Thanks gents for your feedback...I sold my old factory dual quad manifold about a year ago thinking I didn't need the extra hassles having it for my needs. Go figure they put those on at the factory in the late 50s'.
 
Ron,
Are you using the factory 4bbl on your Poly? What year is your motor? What is your intended use? Street, street/strip? What are the specs on your cam?

I am building another Poly now. It's a '59 block so no stroking it.A real good source of information is a guy named Gary Pavlovich. You can find him on F.B. on the Poly website. Not the Poly Power site, the other one.

Hope to hear back from you. Ed
 
Ron,
Are you using the factory 4bbl on your Poly? What year is your motor? What is your intended use? Street, street/strip? What are the specs on your cam?

I am building another Poly now. It's a '59 block so no stroking it.A real good source of information is a guy named Gary Pavlovich. You can find him on F.B. on the Poly website. Not the Poly Power site, the other one.

Hope to hear back from you. Ed
Motor shows Oct '64 so not original. I bought this car in '94 and didn't realize the motor had been bored .30 with hardened seats installed around 1980. Well, it was a CA car. Engine was bored another .30, 650 Eddy carb, cam 262 dur/450 lift, solid lifters, headers, X, 3’’, hi po fuel pump...running on full mech advance until I can figure out vac advance and maybe curve it. Replaced the 3:23's with 3:55's. Recently replaced FM 50’s with 2.5” hemi mufflers. The 3" exhaust thing was a dumb decision...got talked into it before thinking first...as I did being just about ready to get a 360 crate. The giddy-up IMO is marginal, notably better top end; but sure don't seem much different off the line. Cruising? Should a left the 3:23's in it. No racing it, just car shows and country drives mostly with a couple bud's in their rides. I've read articles on Gary - sounds like he's theee encyclopedia on poly's.
From what I've read sounds like stroking the motor is what will get you the thrilling go with a poly.
 
The factory 4bbl is a dual plan manifold. The Weland 7503 is a single plan. The 7503 loose power from 1,500-3,200 rpms, then starts making more and will flow better than the factory 4bbl above 5,000 rpm's.

Bottom line, an A block (Poly) is good until about 6,500 rpm's. It will make more usable power and torque with the factory 4 bbl than the 7503 intake at lower rpm's. A car with a factory 4 bbl intake will leave harder and a respond better then an exact duplicate car with the 7503.
This is not true about an LA motor. Lots of differences between the two 318 motors.
 
The factory 4bbl is a dual plan manifold. The Weland 7503 is a single plan. The 7503 loose power from 1,500-3,200 rpms, then starts making more and will flow better than the factory 4bbl above 5,000 rpm's.

Bottom line, an A block (Poly) is good until about 6,500 rpm's. It will make more usable power and torque with the factory 4 bbl than the 7503 intake at lower rpm's. A car with a factory 4 bbl intake will leave harder and a respond better then an exact duplicate car with the 7503.
This is not true about an LA motor. Lots of differences between the two 318 motors.
Good to know Ed. Appreciate your info. I know I've moaned about this before, lol more than once...my expectations weren't met with the complete rebuild, most notably the undetectable difference low end pre & post build. Simply could be the poly needs more done to it than was done...and then...it's a poly. I get a bigger thrill off the line with my wife's 6 cyl Sonata.
 
Ron, I still think there's a specific issue with your set up (cam timing maybe, or need a looser converter) - did you ever resolve the issue with the distributor, not running properly with the vacuum advance?
The Chrysler Wind Tunnel manifold won't improve the bottom end compared to the factory 4 barrel, and your cam is at the lowest end of the range where that intake "works" (that's according to Gary P. as I was looking at that manifold myself a few years back).
I say stick with the factory 4 barrel and work out what else is holding the engine back.
 
Ron, I still think there's a specific issue with your set up (cam timing maybe, or need a looser converter) - did you ever resolve the issue with the distributor, not running properly with the vacuum advance?
The Chrysler Wind Tunnel manifold won't improve the bottom end compared to the factory 4 barrel, and your cam is at the lowest end of the range where that intake "works" (that's according to Gary P. as I was looking at that manifold myself a few years back).
I say stick with the factory 4 barrel and work out what else is holding the engine back.
Thanks 66 Sat - you have a better memory of my whining than I do, lol. Not yet tackled the dist - btw my wife and daughters projects pop up and than the other fix-it stuff. I'll try to stop bitchin until I DO work on the dist.
 
I had my 383 tuned years ago. It had 60,000 miles and ran good. The mechanic pulled the distributor and set it up on a Sun machine. I don't know what he replaced or adjusted, but that car never ran better. One of those: "Wow!" moments. Money well spent.

Get an HEI Distributor and rid yourself of a few things that can rob performance.
 
Ron,
Has there been ANY head porting done? That is one of the best ways to make a Poly work. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes. Also get your vacuum advance working and limit your total advance to 30 degrees. About 8-10 degrees on initial timing. It is very common to have mismatched port opening between the intake and the heads. Same on the heads to headers.

Have you confirmed that the cam timing marks are correct? Polys are known for their bottom end power. If you tune a Poly like a LA it will not work well. Let me know your thoughts.
Ed
 
Ron,
Has there been ANY head porting done? That is one of the best ways to make a Poly work. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes. Also get your vacuum advance working and limit your total advance to 30 degrees. About 8-10 degrees on initial timing. It is very common to have mismatched port opening between the intake and the heads. Same on the heads to headers.

Have you confirmed that the cam timing marks are correct? Polys are known for their bottom end power. If you tune a Poly like a LA it will not work well. Let me know your thoughts.
Ed
Shop that re-machined the motor did a 5-angle valve job, but doubt porting was done. It's been a couple years and can't recollect any discussion on it and my invoice doesn't make any mention of it. I was planning to remove the intake (prompting my question about the possibility of other intakes for a poly motor) so as you bring it up, I can have a view of mismatched ports topside. If I follow, mismatching ills were typical from the factory? Well, have a '62 4bbl factory intake I had installed as my engine had a 2bbl on it. In '63 no 4bbl option for the poly (or dual exhaust). At some point though, before I got the car dual was put on it 2". Last check on total timing, recall it was closer to 35 degrees. Cam timing? Have to look at this. Thanks Ed.
 
Ron,
What is wrong with your distributor? Reason I ask is because you mention your not using any vacuum advance just mechanical advance.
A port job(by someone that knows what they are doing) can cost up to $2,000.

You can buy the bits and port match the heads yourself, but you need to remove them and the valves first. Don't just open the port face, go deep equally all the way to the valves. If your build only cost $3.000 to $5,000 including all new parts and machine work, I would say no porting done. A 5 angle valve job is good.

Cam question for you. What is the centerline? Trans question, is yours a automatic? What converter are you using?
 
Ron,
What is wrong with your distributor? Reason I ask is because you mention your not using any vacuum advance just mechanical advance.
A port job(by someone that knows what they are doing) can cost up to $2,000.

You can buy the bits and port match the heads yourself, but you need to remove them and the valves first. Don't just open the port face, go deep equally all the way to the valves. If your build only cost $3.000 to $5,000 including all new parts and machine work, I would say no porting done. A 5 angle valve job is good.

Cam question for you. What is the centerline? Trans question, is yours a automatic? What converter are you using?
Did some porting eons ago on another engine. Of course what I could do with a grinder vs a shop is apples & oranges…but gain ‘some’ improvement. Well, this was a pricy build on the poly by a reputable mopar shop, pert near 6 grand. We had a falling out so to speak, longer story; but I’m the bad guy so won’t be going back there. Guys that used to do machine work in my past are retired or dead and I’m a geezer now. The TQ was changed out to a later version mopar with a 2200-2400 stall. My car has a 727 PB. As for the timing, car apparently didn’t have any vac advance post build I determined sometime later futzing with tuning/timing. Adj canister wouldn’t ‘adjust’. Another longer story – anytime I’d hook up the vac I would get misfiring cruising depending how I set the timing btw 2500 and 3000 rpms….lower or higher with various adjustments. Only time motor ran without was with the vac adv plugged. Some 20 years ago, put in a mopar electronic ignition. Been wondering about getting a different HP distributor for it; but not sure as yet what doing this will all involve with the system I have in the car...compatibility-wise.
 
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