Got a chance to compare the Weiand to the Edelbrock today. Some good, some bad, and some ugly.

Here's a top shot, showing that the Weiand has nice smooth contours. And, the carb mounting flange is much larger. But, in the lower left corner there's a problem that you really can't spot from this shot, but will later. Also shown in this shot is the Eddy's country of origin.

EDIT: I put the red and green arrows on the wrong end of the manifold. But, the idea is the same - the Weiand is not trimmed back to clear the thermostat housing like the Eddy is.




Here's a shot of the bottoms, and in it you can see the oval ports the Weiand has. Also, you can see the country of origin.




Here's a shot of the ports on the TFS heads - which are a better match for those of the Weiand intake than those of the Eddy.




Ok, that's the good, but what about the bad? What's missing in this pic?





Ok, then how does the Eddy fit? You can see in this shot the red line that shows where the edge of the Weiand would be. Is that a quality control issue? Did they miss a step on this intake that would have taken that flange off? If so, what else did they miss?






And, now for the ugly:




So, I'm pretty sure this particular manifold isn't going on my engine. Maybe another 8010, but probably not this one. I can deal with the slag in the runner by using a Dremel or die grinder, although that is poor quality control. But I obviously can't run it when I can't mount the thermostat housing because a flange on the manifold covers the bolt hole.

I'm going to send Tim a link to this post and see what he suggests. But, am I missing something?

 

That's pretty disappointing for the Weiand. Mine must be an older one, doesn't say CHINA on it. One thing I don't like about the Edelbrock intake is the ultra thin carburetor mounting flange.

 

My objection to it is the "China" cast in the bottom. My experience with their metallurgy makes me run from anything cast there.

 

You don't mind that you couldn't mount the thermostat housing? Who cares about metallurgy when you can't use it???

Seriously though, I'm guessing that your point is that even if it didn't overlap that bolt hole you'd not like it due to the fact it was cast in China? Right? Would you go with the Eddy instead? Tim seems to think the Weiand is the better intake of the two.

 

Maybe back in the day Weiand was good. I would be concerned about casting porosity in addition to just plain sloppy workmanship.

 

Wow Gary, that Weiand intake looks terrible! Did that go through Tim first, or was it shipped directly from the supplier?

I originally considered going with the 8010, but just didn't want to spend the money on one when I rarely see anybody using them on the 351M/400. Maybe this is why......

 

Looking at the paperwork it says "sold by TMeyer", which suggests to me that it was shipped directly from Weiand and Tim never saw it. Hopefully he will call me tomorrow and answer that, among other, questions.

I'm at a loss to understand how one like this could get out their door.

 

Probably directly from Beijing.

 

I knew this, but just in case you don't..... Wikipedia says this of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holley_Performance_Products: "Among the company's owned divisions are brand names Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS), Weiand, FlowTech, Earls and Hooker Headers."

 

And if you're getting this kind of quality from a Holley owned division, I wonder how your Demon carburetor will look/perform?

 

"Performance" parts made in china. Pretty sad statement......
I bet those chineese foundry workers have never even seen a 400 ford, yet they are casting parts to "fit" them........
It's sad to see manufacturing jobs leaving the USA and going to china, but too many people want it cheap, rather than good......

 

Heavy taxes and over regulation keep driving costs up. Can't win in US manufacturing. On the other hand, firearm manufacturers are expanding into the US. Rock Island Armory has opened a plant in Nevada. Lots of others are relocating within the US as well. Maybe we need to encourage the manufacturing business more.

 

No maybe about it.
If more people would start asking for Made in USA and refusing to buy china stuff, that would be a huge step in the right direction.

 

The US can compete. Edelbrock is doing it as their manifolds are sold at roughly the same price as the Weiands.

Critter - You didn't answer my question about what Weiand manifold you have. If it is an 8010 then it must have that flange trimmed - right? And, did you have any goobers in the ports like mine?

Edit: Shaun - I did miss that Demon wasn't included in that list. But Tim dyno'd an engine with that carb and said it did well.

 

Gary, maybe Shaun's is an older, US cast one.

Second, look closely at the head surface flanges, in particular the little circles. If those are water spots then you are OK, if not, then what you are seeing is very poor casting work, incomplete bonding or segregation in the alloy or even inclusions. This can come from poor mixing in the melt pot, oxidation during the pour (aluminum is very reactive) or any of a number of poor quality control issues.

FWIW, NNS has a very nice foundry that pours steel and non-ferrous castings so I have looked at a lot of both good and bad cast material in my 30 years there. My other concern would be, what alloy is it? There are some aluminum alloys that are "monkey metal" at best and the thermal cycling and different expansion rates of aluminum and iron can and will cause a lot of stress possibly leading to a catastrophic failure.