AIR GAP INTAKE WORTH THE MONEY?

-
CFD244

CFD244

"I LOST MY ID IN A FLOOD"
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Messages
4,180
Reaction score
5,899
Location
Northern Ontario, Canada
Hi Folks

I just watched a "Nick's Garage" episode where he built and dyno'd a mild '72 340, built to low 10's compression ratio (750 AVS), shooting for 350 to 360 HP. In the end, upgrading from a stock '72 iron intake to a new Air Gap, got him from 350 to 358 hp at around 5300 RPM. Do you guys really think that's worth the extra $$? I sure don't. Unless, of course, there is a cash purse to the winner.

Sorry Mods, this may be a "General Discussion" I'm not sure how to change it?
 
Yes it's worth it. Probably a 40 pound weight reduction. If you ever have to take it off, the lighter Intake is much easier to work with. Plus the engine will perform a lot better.
 
On a 385HP 360, using a performer intake, swapped to an rpm intake on the dyno with same 1" open spacer, and picked up 18HP over the performer+1" open spacer. No porting was done to either intake. The more power the engine makes, the more the rpm will shine.
 
Like any part, it's all relative to the rest of the build.
A higher RPM 340 or 360 with complimentary heads and cam will make it shine.
Slapping it on a stock 273 you'd probably see a decrease.
Everything in between is proportional.
 
What intake do you have NOW? The 71 and 72 340 intakes flow like a **** for a stock intake. I honestly think I would spend the money elsewhere.
 
RustyRatRod said:
What intake do you have NOW? The 71 and 72 340 intakes flow like a **** for a stock intake. I honestly think I would spend the money elsewhere.
Click to expand...
No, I'm not buying. I have a couple of "100" intakes that will work just fine. I was surprised to see that it only picked up minimal HP.
 
CFD244 said:
No, I'm not buying. I have a couple of "100" intakes that will work just fine. I was surprised to see that it only picked up minimal HP.
Click to expand...
I just watched the video (actually fast forwarded to the end). The 8 hp gained at the peak doesn't really tell us much. The graph shows that it picked up everywhere. In fact the greatest improvements were down low, on the order of 15 lb-ft at various points.
 
the 2100 intakes are very good, items, lots of 340 dusters in stock eliminator use those, lots can run in the 10 sec, range, as d /sa or e/sa class with , gasp , a T.Q. carb !!!. just food for thought.
 
You just have to decide if that's worth 350 clams. IMO, it's not. Maybe if you did it combined with other mods, it might be worth it.
 
forphorty said:
I just watched the video (actually fast forwarded to the end). The 8 hp gained at the peak doesn't really tell us much. The graph shows that it picked up everywhere. In fact the greatest improvements were down low, on the order of 15 lb-ft at various points.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Peak numbers don't tell the whole story. What'd the graphs look like? Can someone post those?
 
the air gap will flow way more air than that 340 will suck in , not enough engine to take advantage of the air gat which will feed over 500hp with a port match .
 
Do you need an air gap on a mild build no but what's good about them they work from mild to fairly wild why there so popular, if you already got decent intake especially for power level probably ain't gonna do much. If you don't have an intake it's a good choice for most street builds it's been a proven performer.
 
mopowers said:
Exactly. Peak numbers don't tell the whole story. What'd the graphs look like? Can someone post those?
Click to expand...

nick 340 dyno 001.JPG
 
forphorty said:
View attachment 1716082075
Click to expand...
It gains everywhere you'd feel it, is worth it?
Car companies seemed to be impressed with themselves when improving hp 10-30 hp over previous model.

Gains get generally harder and more expensive when trying to improve on a already decent combo.
Start with a dead stock 318 easier to make big gains than a warmed over 340.
 
Last edited:
I didn't watch the video but there are a ton of Chinese copies of the air gap... ( Not sure if he used a Chinese copy in the video) That don't preform as well as the Edelbrock air gap or fit as well... I had a stock 340 intake dropped a Edelbrock air gap on my car... I did feel the difference ( this was a on a bone stock 73 340 188 valve) low compression etc... I most certainly felt the difference in the seat of my pants... I'm also using that same intake on my stroker 340 build ( now ported ) with a hvh spacer
 
If you gain 10-15 HP and 10-15 TQ in various places in the rpm band it's a no brainer. Plus don't forget that losing 27 pounds off the nose of car is an absolute win.

Now if you want to get busy porting that iron intake you can probably level out the playing field a touch, but you'll still have 26-3/4 pound you can't get rid of.

Go get 27 pounds worth of weight and hold them with you arms extended for a while if you don't think that weigh matters. Because it can change your front to rear weight

ratio almost 1%, and that is free performance that's hard and expensive to come by most of the time.

Tom
 
Last edited:
Where else can you get 8 ponies for 350 clams and an afternoon love affair with your 340? And we are talking power that does not fade with wear. Anything else you bolt on to your car costs more.
 
273 said:
It gains everywhere you'd feel it, is worth it?
Car companies seemed to be impressed with themselves when improving hp 10-30 hp over previous model.

Gains get generally harder and more expensive when trying to improve on a already decent combo.
Start with a dead stock 318 easier to make big gains than a warmed over 340.
Click to expand...
Whether it's worth it is hard to say. $400 isn't cheap for an intake. At 300 hp , it's probably not cost effective. At 400+ hp levels it makes a lot more sense. But what would a stock intake cost if you didn't have one ? $75- $100 ? In the used market , the cost of the more desirable aluminum intakes has gone up quite a bit post Covid. As for myself , I bought a SM air gap on Black Friday for $140. I realize it is not as good as the Ed air gap. I also have an LD4B which I have owned for ages. I would like to try both and whichever seems to work the best will be good enough for me. As for the weight difference , I weighed a stock 340 intake once. It was 44 lbs. My SM is 17 lbs.
 
forphorty said:
Whether it's worth it is hard to say. $400 isn't cheap for an intake. At 300 hp , it's probably not cost effective. At 400+ hp levels it makes a lot more sense. But what would a stock intake cost if you didn't have one ? $75- $100 ? In the used market , the cost of the more desirable aluminum intakes has gone up quite a bit post Covid. As for myself , I bought a SM air gap on Black Friday for $140. I realize it is not as good as the Ed air gap. I also have an LD4B which I have owned for ages. I would like to try both and whichever seems to work the best will be good enough for me. As for the weight difference , I weighed a stock 340 intake once. It was 44 lbs. My SM is 17 lbs.
Click to expand...
I remember the days when you could pick up an iron four barrel intake for 40 bucks... This was 15yr ago But I'll be honest with you seems like they've really gone up in price haven't really seen an iron intake under a couple hundred bucks lately... Doesn't seem like people are letting them go anymore..
 
I could agree with the arguments for either way, I more than like wouldn't unless I was upgrading cam, carb or dressing up the engine with other parts etc.. It probably wouldn't just be a single mod.
 
ch1ll said:
Where else can you get 8 ponies for 350 clams and an afternoon love affair with your 340? And we are talking power that does not fade with wear. Anything else you bolt on to your car costs more.
Click to expand...
Yep. Even the cheap , low hanging headers with the center link passing through the tubes costs $250 nowadays.
 
perfacar said:
the 2100 intakes are very good, items, lots of 340 dusters in stock eliminator use those, lots can run in the 10 sec, range, as d /sa or e/sa class with , gasp , a T.Q. carb !!!. just food for thought.
Click to expand...
They run because they have to. But there is nothing “stock” about them. Well…maybe the bolt patterns…lolol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top