put RPM on my less than 170hp 302 , added 600cfm holly and dual exhaust flow masters, put over 217hp. not a big change but the combo seems to work, spun the tire so much cracked the left side shock mount on the body. will plate it.
Just my opinion but you are asking for a high rise in your signature and you want to limit the RPM to 5000 - 5500. the high rise manifolds will carry your HP well above that range. The Performer is listed for your exact RPM range (5000-5500) and adding more manifold will only take the torque curve and move it up in the RPM range. That will net you a bit more power at the peak HP but you will lose Average HP by doing it. I am a firm believer in matching components to each other. The E7 heads, and exhaust are pretty much on the low side of 5000 - 5500 range; The carb is on the large side and if you use a manifold that is larger than the heads and exhaust you will end up with mis-matched components that confuse the HP and Torque curves. You are likely to end up with a curve that is peaked in a couple of places and down in others. That will drop the average torque and HP over the entire range. For the best average torque and HP, you need a torque curve that climbs fast and then flattens out and remains high for a long time. That makes the HP curve rise faster and rounds off around the peak power RPM. (somewhere I have a graph of my old 351W that shows what I'm talking about - the whole intake and exhaust was done to get peak torque at the same RPM you are dealing with and get about one HP per cubic inch - As I recall it did slightly better than that. I will have to see if I can find it.
Well said Paul, it's so easy to forget that some times less is more. The first thing that popped out at me is the "daily driver", that screams dual plane.
Umm, the RPM is a dual plane. And with a daily driver will work fine with what he's got. Any loss in bottomend (if there is) will not register on the seat of the pants meter. I run an A321 on a roller 5.0 (basically an Explorer level motor, but with ported E7's in place of the GT40's) and there's no loss of bottom end torque. Fuel mileage is in the 15-18 mpg range in a 3800 lb Ranger with no overdrive.
I realize that and that is where I cast my vote. I was agreeing with Paul regarding staying with a dual plane intake over the Victor.
I have an edelbrock 500 manual choke w/ weiand dual plane and MSD 6AL, duraspark II distributor. Works very well. Nice and smooth. It idles around 450. FordMuscle did a bunch of test combinations and rated the 500/weiand the best combo for all around performance. Works for me.
Gotcha. But Paul seems to think a Performer is a better choice between the RPM and the Performer. That's where he's at.
I think the performer is a better manifold for this build with a peak power between 5000 and 5500. Absolutely! If the builder wanted to turn his engine faster then I would recommend a different intake. If you want maximum flow through a manifold then it is hard to beat a tunnel ram BUT you don't get anything out of it if you put it on a grocery getter flat stock engine that is run in all weather conditions and in traffic. If you want to run 6500 RPM on the drag strip with a modified engine that is set up to breathe at that RPM it would be just as silly to put a Performer manifold on it. All the components have to match to take advantage of the HP that any combination makes. That is what I am recommending. Added: With slightly modified heads that will maybe flow efficiently at 5000 RPM the only thing that a Performer RPM manifold will do over the Performer is to move the torque curve higher into the RPM range - higher than the builder has stated he wants. That means less than ten additional HP peak at an RPM that he will never use, so it will decrease the HP he can use. It will also mean less torque available to him on the low side which is where a street car needs it most.
Were not discussing tunnel rams here. Were talking about the difference between a Performer and a Performer RPM. The difference in the day to day performance of the two in the lower rpms on a stock to mild 302 is miniscule. You'd have to compare the outputs on a dyno readout to see if there is a difference. The advantage the RPM has over the Performer is you'll always have that little bit of extra "oomph" in the upper rpms if you need or want it. Show me a guy who does a 4 bbl intake swap and NEVER wants to see what it'll do out on the open road, foot on the floor, balls to the wall, at least daily, and I'll show you a guy who's a loser and shouldn't have wasted his time and money on a Perfomer. He'd have gotten the same satisfaction from any $50 used factory 4 bbl intake. And components don't HAVE to match to get satisfaction from any parts combo. There's nothing wrong with doing performance upgrades one piece at a time. With most guys, one good thing, leads you to want to do more. There's little gratification(with most gearheads) in buying or building the "perfect" motor the first time then quitting cause you think you've got the perfect combo.
