Drag race aluminum sheet metal intakes

[chevytaylor]

Hi all - can anyone recommend a quality sheet metal intake manufacturer?

How many manufacturers have had experience with W motors?

Thanks guys, Chevy Taylor. :)

[tripowerguy]

PM Ronnie Russel he is running a very good looking one on his 409 powered Chevy II. Also if we could get Jim of Phantom 409 to quit his day job and start making clones of the one he made for his 55 we would be in luck.:D Roy

[chevytaylor]

Thanks Roy, that sure is a neat looking manifold on Ronnie Russell's friend's Chevy II. :cool:

It seems that Hogan's have thier finger on the pulse. Was Ronnie Russell happy with fit and performance?

Are there any other top notch companies making sheet metal intakes for 409's other than home made (nice job Jim)?:dunno

[tripowerguy]

At 140+ mph and in the 9's I'd be deliriously happy with the fit and finish. and with Jim's he made that one at home which is a true Hot Rodder heart. I have thought of doing that so I could have something better to run 3X2 on than the stock factory. I just don't have the skills of machinery to make it. I talked to Barry Grant and someone from his firm was on the forum for a while talking about building a manifold but it is to expensive to tool up for. There are some manifolds out there that are cast aluminum that look very very good. One is made by DQ's friend Rich and I think there is another that is being tooled up for as we converse. Rich's looked really great but it would do me no good because I have 817 heads[ thanks again Tom]. These manifolds have different plates that bolt to the top so you can run single or double carbs or maybe 3X2's. I believe the cast aluminum is cheaper than the sheet metal but I'm not sure of that. The sheet metal are very labor intensive. It's winter down under now so how cold is it there? I love it when so many people around the world love these W's.:beerbang Roy

[Ronnie Russell]

chevytaylor, Sure, we are happy with the Hogan. Hogan makes each intake to the exact specs. of the customers engine. However, it is cost prohibitive . I would be embarassed to admit how much it cost. The aluminum tunnel ram that Roy mentioned is a great intake manifold and I think it sells for $1,300 to $1,400. See Lamar Walden's web-site. Our engine design definitely needs a company to jump in and design us a new intake manifold, but it does not appear that will happen. We do have some members running fantastic times with modified #881 intakes. I guess it all comes down to what you intend to do with your engine and how much money you are willling to spend. It's always about the money.:doh :doh

[Ronnie Russell]

" It's always about the money",,,,,,,,, Unless you can design and build your own like Jim did. Wished I had that kind of talent and skill........

[jim_ss409]

I don't think you need a ton of skill to build an intake,,, but you do need a lot of time. There's a lot of welding and fitting involved and it really helps to have a plasma cutter. I had to do a lot of reading and searching the net to figure out how long to make the runners, but I later got this program that accurately predicts the optimum length and size for intake runners as well as header tubes and collectors... http://www.maxracesoftware.com/pipemax36xp2.htm
Here's a link to a post I did on the tunnel ram.. http://www.348-409.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7329

[chevytaylor]

Roy, a 409 running 9's at 140 sure does sujest the Hogan manifold is about as good as it gets!! :eek:

Factory 348 tri powers in my opinion are cool. Let's not forget that back in 1960 Dyno Don prepped 348 chevys were turning times in the mid to high 13's. :cool:

The temperature down here depends on where you are. I can only speek for Sydney's northern beaches because that's where I live. To me it's really COLD, about mid to low 40's (approx 10-5 deg C) at night. All the western Sydney dwellers (that's where our world class drag strip is) out near the mountains are probably suggesting I stop my winging and whining as it gets down to and below the low 30's (approx -2 - 0 deg C) out there. Some parts of Australia are alot colder than this during our winters. :D

AS for a love for these engines and cars Roy............. well to me it's more like a religion. Being hauled around town in the Dan Gurney 61 409 bubbletop as a youngster was enough for me. :)

Thanks for your input Ronnie Russell and Jim.

How fast you want to go depends on how much money you want to spend.:doh That intake you made Jim is a work of ART!! All that time and effort shows in the Phantoms performance. :cheers