intake choices for Vortec heads

[rfoll]

The harness on the race car is out of date, the slicks are all done, and the track probably won't open until July. I plan to run my 84 El Camino a few times just to have a little fun. I will make a baseline with the 350 in the car, but I have a 350 with forged flat tops and Vortec heads ready to go in. I want to use a spread bore intake on the Vortec heads, but I'm not willing to spend the $265 Edelbrock and other reputable manufactures wants for their manifolds. Recent searches have come up with Speedmaster, (Pro comp), and Professional Products. I'm not expecting to spin more than 5500 rpm, so fit becomes more important than flow. advice from anyone having used with either of these, or experience with another brand spread bore manifold would be much appreciated.

[1980RS]

Just ran mid-11's with my 406 that had a GM RPM Performer type intake on it. So I am sure the crosswind intake that's a copy would work great on most Vortec engines.

[rfoll]

I might be inclined to keep this engine in the car for a while. It gets cold here in the winter, so anything air gap is not going to work. This car is my daily driver.

[BillK]

r,
You can run almost any Small Block manifold with the Vortec heads. All you have to do is redrill them for the "old" bolt pattern. The intake flange is not real thick so the best approach seems to be to drill and tap them for 3/8" fine thread and use studs instead of bolts. This is what the circle track guys were doing when the Vortec head fist showed up and there were not a lot of intakes available.

[rebelyell]

OP
Have run PP Cyclone on street vortecs w/ a Quadrajet. Sounds like it should work for your use as well

[F-BIRD'88]

The crosswind vortec intake is good. The edelbrock air gap RPM and non airgap RPM vortec is a bit better.
It has a hot water under plenum heat passage for winter.

I have had both . Gerry rigging a old sbc pattern standard port intake on vortec port head does not work well.
Get a vortec intake...
Put a proper divided carb adapter on to run a qjet on the rpm intake.

[F-BIRD'88]

The low rise performer/cyclone/speedmaster type dual plane vortec intakes with qJet flange are ok.. Can/may get a bit better with a proper Qjet (divided ) spacer.

[BOOT]

I would check ebay for a generic intake, a lot of times warehouse brands will just slap their name on that stuff n mark it up.

[rfoll]

I have the RPM manifold on two of my other daily usage vehicles with Vortec heads. I manufactured 4 hole spacers to adapt them for the Quadrajet carbs I use on all of my street vehicles. While this works OK, especially the part about the hot water passage under the manifold, I don't believe the late model El Camino has enough hood clearance. The spread bore requirement reduces the selection considerably. I'm really only finding the Speedmaster and Professional products that combine the inexpensive and spread bore. Money is an issue here, (we just bought a vacation home on the Nehalem River), and my real concern about the $100 cheaper manifolds is not about horsepower, but the fit. I have had recent problems with intake leakage and really don't have time for the hassle of dealing with warranty issues. They don't refund the $30 worth of gaskets you waste if the manifold is junk. I could not find any reviews on the Speedmaster manifold, so if any one has actually seen one I'm interested in their opinion. The revues on the Professional products manifold are all over the map. Thanks for the replies, Rick.

[FC-Pilot]

My brother Put a Speedmaster q-jet intake on his truck engine. I think it lost power over a brand name intake. The fit was decent enough. We used the non plastic gaskets and used sealer around ports and water. No leaks. I think the paper gaskets and sealer covers a multitude of sins.

Paul