Holley Strip Dominator vs. Edelbrock Victor 340
At some point in the near future, I am going to go through my 416 that has been sitting for a few years and make sure everything inside looks OK. The heads are coming off to make sure whatever I can't see from the outside is still hunky-dory. Whatever the result of the inspection is I'm going to need new intake gaskets. And since I'm gonna have to install new gaskets when I put it back together... you know where this is going.
Currently, I have a "gasket matched" Holley Strip Dominator. I have no clue if the grinding I did helped anything. I went up into the runners a few inches on each port and did some light cleanup of the plenum but that was it. I know it's an older design though by all accounts it's still regarded as a decent intake. I've often thought it might be a choke point though because of the comparatively shorter runners.
I also know the Victor 340 is a proven intake though not sure whether it's worth the expense over what I have. My motor makes peak power around 6,200 and peak torque is 4,900 rpm so at least right now it's not a high-revving affair. I'm not sure if the somewhat limited rpm of the combo is due to the Strip Dominator intake or some other factor like the 4" crank.
The cam is a solid flat tappet 251/259 @ .050". Heads flow 293 cfm at .550" with 1 7/8 headers so the capability to spin it higher should theoretically be there. Whether it's beneficial to rev it higher is sort of the question. And even then, would a "better" intake intake by itself allow the combo to spin faster and/or move the peak numbers higher up?
If it's reasonable to expect a perceived 10hp or more gain from switching, I'd probably be inclined to do it. Don't know if that's realistic expectation just from an intake swap especially between somewhat similar designs. The SD has the spread bore plenum opening and the Victor is a 4150. The Victor is taller overall but basically they're both single plane intakes for standard port heads and have a similar operating range, let's say 3,500 rpm-up. I don't get over 3,500 rpm on the street too often but sometimes.
I've always had a single plane on this car so I am used to it. When the car is together it does mostly get street driven but will be subject some amount of drag racing as time allows. Car is also Sniper EFI so hopefully that will help with low rpm tuning.
I'm sure there are plenty of opinions on this particular subject so let's hear 'em. Spend the money on the Victor? Maybe send the Strip Dom somewhere for real porting work? Forget about all of it and just put the thing back together?
Thanks,
- Greg
At some point in the near future, I am going to go through my 416 that has been sitting for a few years and make sure everything inside looks OK. The heads are coming off to make sure whatever I can't see from the outside is still hunky-dory. Whatever the result of the inspection is I'm going to need new intake gaskets. And since I'm gonna have to install new gaskets when I put it back together... you know where this is going.
Currently, I have a "gasket matched" Holley Strip Dominator. I have no clue if the grinding I did helped anything. I went up into the runners a few inches on each port and did some light cleanup of the plenum but that was it. I know it's an older design though by all accounts it's still regarded as a decent intake. I've often thought it might be a choke point though because of the comparatively shorter runners.
I also know the Victor 340 is a proven intake though not sure whether it's worth the expense over what I have. My motor makes peak power around 6,200 and peak torque is 4,900 rpm so at least right now it's not a high-revving affair. I'm not sure if the somewhat limited rpm of the combo is due to the Strip Dominator intake or some other factor like the 4" crank.
The cam is a solid flat tappet 251/259 @ .050". Heads flow 293 cfm at .550" with 1 7/8 headers so the capability to spin it higher should theoretically be there. Whether it's beneficial to rev it higher is sort of the question. And even then, would a "better" intake intake by itself allow the combo to spin faster and/or move the peak numbers higher up?
If it's reasonable to expect a perceived 10hp or more gain from switching, I'd probably be inclined to do it. Don't know if that's realistic expectation just from an intake swap especially between somewhat similar designs. The SD has the spread bore plenum opening and the Victor is a 4150. The Victor is taller overall but basically they're both single plane intakes for standard port heads and have a similar operating range, let's say 3,500 rpm-up. I don't get over 3,500 rpm on the street too often but sometimes.
I've always had a single plane on this car so I am used to it. When the car is together it does mostly get street driven but will be subject some amount of drag racing as time allows. Car is also Sniper EFI so hopefully that will help with low rpm tuning.
I'm sure there are plenty of opinions on this particular subject so let's hear 'em. Spend the money on the Victor? Maybe send the Strip Dom somewhere for real porting work? Forget about all of it and just put the thing back together?
Thanks,
- Greg
