I have a 72 with a bone stock 360. 3 speed column shift. As I was changing the intake manifold gasket I see that the front port for the water pump is almost gone. I don't think it is re-usable unless I have it milled and re-threaded with some sort of fitting.







My question is what aftermarket options do I have for replacing this intake?

Is there an aluminum 2 barrel? I know if I go 4 barrel I'll need a new carb.

Is there any that will use my stock air cleaner?

Any other suggestions on getting this back on the road are welcome. Trying my best to make an informed decision here.

 

there's a fix for that , try searching for it .
or just get a used edelbrock performer , they are inexpensive on craigslist/Ebay

 

oh i guess you would need a 4bl carb too .

 

Thanks Mike, what's a good intake or carb combo for this? Thinking about these. Thoughts?

 

I'm pretty sure that is a press in fitting. Cheapest fix is to have it cleaned at a machine shop and a new one pressed in.

On what to do with a stock 360 - the answer is either a lot or very little. You can't make much more power out of it with a 4V and a new intake. The advantage of an aluminum intake is it is much easier to handle because it is less than half the weight.

Unless you get serious (meaning $$) you won't get much more out of it no matter what you put on it. BTW a Performer intake is pretty much a stock 4V Ford intake made out of aluminium. The Performer RPM is a step up in performance, but as noted, you won't feel a difference on a 360 without some other serious work.

 

That makes sense. In-line with what I've been reading all morning. Not ready to turn it into a 390 yet. Would like to do that in the future when I have to cash to do it right.

I just called a machine shop in town and they said they can get to it sometime next week. Might be best to do that and save the $ for headers and exhaust.

Thanks for the advice on the intake. My pickup is mostly stock so I don't know jack about the aftermarket options.

 

Salty - really depends on what you are trying to do. If it just getting it running well I'd stay with the intake and a 2V carb, and get the intake cleaned in a hot tank and get the fitting pulled and replaced.

I regret wasting time and money on my 360, but it depends on what you are doing.

 

you could run a performer aluminum intake with a circle track 2V to 4V adaptor and keep the 2 barrel on it.

 

Stuart - it is generally a question of - to what end, and at what cost? I'm a small fortune into a 445 I built. I always wanted to build my own engine, and if I was going to it had to be a monster, and it had to be an FE. For me it served my purpose and I had the budget.

 

That pipe is repairable like others said, it's a press-in fit.

As for putting a 4bbl on a 360, I've done it, and even using a 2bbl-4bbl adapter and a 2bbl intake, with headers it woke up quite a bit at mid-to-high RPMs. If you really want to go 4bbl it's not just pissin' in the wind

Plus, you can use it when you finally build a 390

I would keep the carb small, 600CFM would be the target.

 

I agree but, I'd stay away from the 2 to 4 converter as it still limits the air flow since it has to match the intake. If you going 4 barrel then find an intake wether stock or am. Stock is heavier but the truck will never notice it. Your not doing the 1/4 mile.

 

All I meant was that even a 2bbl-4bbl converter and a 4bbl got me some extra power on a 360 - a full 4bbl intake would be even better

 

I'm not trying to soup up the 360. My goal with the truck is to keep the stock looking and the engine bay looking nice. In the future I would like to build a bad *** 390 that sounds great and can smoke some tires but I want to do it right and to do it right I'll need more budget. When I posted yesterday morning I was thinking I might have to get a new intake not knowing that the fitting was fixable.

Yesterday everning I dropped off the intake with a new fitting at the machine shop. He's going to fix it and send it through the hot tank.

When the time come, the two barrel is gone!

Ole Jerry Jeff Walker! I'll have to put song on today. Sometimes I'll catch him in the bars here in Austin. I'm going to stay stock on the intake/carb for now but I have my sights set on headers in the near future. Thanks for the tips. I'll be back for more I'm sure.