I have a stock 302 2 bbl. with headers in my '74 van. What do you gear heads recomend for a bolt on intake/carb combo ? Hopefully something that adds tons of sac and is cheap and can found at discount prices on web sites and ebay and such? I use the van for a daily driver and work but like having some power and out of the box tuned carb. Thanks

 

also how much benifit would a cam add and what is required to swap as far as lifters etc.?????

 

Personally, I would use Edelbrock performer manifold and Edelbrock performer 600 carb. I probably would not do a cam swap. If you do, you will need new lifters, gaskets, and new timeing chain would not be bad idea. Edelbrock sells the kit with all that stuff in it. Holley also sells some good carb, cam, intake kits.

 

I have got a weiand stealth intake and a holley 600cfm elec choke carb on my 1979 302. The difference between that and the old 2bbl is pretty amazing. I have alot better midrange power than i had before.

 

Drew,

I got a 570 Holley street avenger, an Edelbrock intake, a Crane 272 Energizer cam, MSD ignition(6A Box, blaster coil, dist.), double roller timing chain, dynomax headers, carb spacer, and 9mm Ford racing wires. This is on a 78 302 shoved inside a 68 F100. When mixed with my C4 with shift kit, 2400 stall, and 3.70 "posi", it makes for a mean little truck.

I have used the Edelbrock 600 and it is a good carb but I have managed to get more power out of a Holley. As far as Cam swaps I would stear clear of the Edelbrock cams. I had a bad experience with performance from one of their cams. I would use a Comp or Crane cam, also most cams come with new lifters. If you do a cam swap get a new timing chain. Their prices vary greatly in range, I spent 60 bones on my double roller, but it is a top quality piece from Ford racing. You get what you pay for.
Also with a cam I would reccomend changing your valves spring, a set of those runs you about 60 bucks.

cam- $120
valve springs- $60
new water pump(not necessary but since you got the old one off...)- $30
various gaskets- $60
new thermostat- $10
various fluids- $30

A cam is money well spent if you get the right one, but as far as simple bolt ons a good Holley or E'brock on top of a good dual plane intake, with a good set of headers, will help tremendously.

Sanders

 

For low rpm performance, there's the Edelbrock Performer and Weiand action plus dual plane manifolds. I personally prefer the Weiand, but the Edelbrock is okay. The Edelbrock performer isn't much different from a stock Ford 4V intake. The Weiand Stealth and the Edelbrock Performer RPM types are for high performance engines with bigger cams, headers..ect, up to 6500 RPM.

I like Holley carbs myself, but the Edelbrock carbs are good, and tuning is usually less involved and easier. I believe once a Holley Street Avenger is dialed in, it will give slightly better economy than an Edelbrock carb- in my opinion. With a 302 you don't need more than 600 cfm. Actually 600cfm would be okay on a high revving 302 hot rod engine. 500 cfm's is still big enough for most near stock 302 applications. The smaller the four barrel carb, that is still just big enough, then the better the throttle response, economy, and low end tourqe.

Most stock 302 cams are extra mild.

 

i have a 302 bored .060 with a mellings cam and oil pump. it has speedpro coated pistons and long tube headers. i also have the edelbrock 1406 600 cfm carb that is a very nice unit. i just traded weiend street performer intake, i think it is the action plus. they are the same anyway you look at it because the intake said street avenger but the summit book had one with the same part number and it said action plus i think.well anyway i traded that dual plane intake for an edelbrock torker II intake. if anybody remembers, this motor was in an 82 super cab with a c6. now it is in my baby, an 89 5 speed coupe mustang. i have not put the new intake on yet but the when i had the weiend on there it hauled major ***.

 

F100,

Is the torker II a single plane manifold? Mustang 302's (not usually trucks) run great with mild single plane manofolds like the Weiand X-cellerator. I think the Torker II is a streetable single plane, but it' s been awhile.

 

Yes, the Torker II is a single-plane manifold. I would stay with a dual-plane on a heavier vehicle like a van or large truck, especially with a stock engine. I had a stock cast-iron 4V 289 manifold that I traded to a guy for an early Torker. He was running it on a 302 in a 59 F-100, and it just had no bottom end. He really liked the stock manifold (I liked the Torker) so we were both happy, but I wouldn't run that Torker in a truck or van. Single-plane manifolds are made for mid-range to high rpm power, dual-plane for low to mid-range, putting it simply. -TD

 

i was not recommending the torker intake to anybody here but i was saying i traded a weiend action plus or street avenger intake that would be great for a truck for the torker.the weiend was a dual plane with power from idle to 5500 or something. i am not to sure

 

Right. I knew you were using the Torker on your Mustang, and not reccomending it for truck. I was just wondering if it was indeed a single plane.

Basically we have about four types of intake manifolds we can use with a carb, depending on what we build the engine for:

Dual planes like the Performer or Action Plus work good on trucks and close to stock, street machine motors.

The next performance level is the dual planes with large pleneum volumes like the Performer RPM, RPM-Air Gap, and the Stealth. These give high RPM horse power potential, without sacraficing too much low end or throttle response.

Street single planes like the Victor Jr, and X-cellerater, and perhaps the Torker(?), are for hotter street machines that also race.

Finnaly there's the full race single planes like the Victor Sr, and Tunnel Ram designs..ect.

 

What intake did you choose

 

< ZOMBIE THREAD ALERT!!! >
This thread has not been active in 20 years!!!

If you are seeking advice today, we'd need to know a bit more about your vehicle/engine/trans/gear/usage.