Another intake shootout... Weiand Action Plus is up to bat !!

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318willrun

318willrun

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Weiand Action Plus vs Holley Street Dominator vs '73 340 factory cast.....
….continuation of this thread
Holley Street Dominator vs '73 Cast intake ……

The Street Dominator gave up a solid 1 mph and a solid tenth that I couldn't get back to the factory cast TQ intake on the 318 Duster.
Now, lets see if the Action Plus can get it back.... or exceed it! No other changes to the car.
 
Eagerly awaiting. All this is with pretty stock 318 if I remember correctly!? The new guys might note be up on all the previous threads. ( RRR and myself also have poor memories!???? LOL).....
 
The Holley let down goes to show the factory piece was designed to optimize the stock cam profile and exhaust. How far off is the Action-plus to the cast intake in plenum volume? I believe both the cast TQ and the Weiand have the 340 sized ports. Did the Holley have 318 or 340 ports?
 
barbee6043 said:
Eagerly awaiting. All this is with pretty stock 318 if I remember correctly!? The new guys might note be up on all the previous threads. ( RRR and myself also have poor memories!???? LOL).....
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318 is a '76, short block is factory stock 42 yrs old. I did the heads at home (home ported and lapped valves), cam is summit. Compression is less than factory as I used .050 thick fel pro that came in gasket kit, stock exhaust manifolds, stock converter, 2.76 gears.

pishta said:
The Holley let down goes to show the factory piece was designed to optimize the stock cam profile and exhaust. How far off is the Action-plus to the cast intake in plenum volume? I believe both the cast TQ and the Weiand have the 340 sized ports. Did the Holley have 318 or 340 ports?
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In order...
  • Correct, the factory piece is hard to beat, even with decent street cams.
  • Action Plus looks a lot like the cast in plenum
  • Action Plus ports aren't as tall as factory cast, but as wide.
  • Small block street dominators have 318 size exit ports.
side notes:
  • the Holley did well, and came within a tenth and 1 mph of the cast, and we know how well the cast performs. However, this was on a 318. I would expect SD would give up more on a 360 with 360 heads.
  • People worry about the mis-matched ports of the 340 intake on 318 heads. Well, the Holley with correct port size could not match the numbers of the cast with larger ports.
  • Won't get to the strip this weekend, but hopefully next weekend.
 
People get to wrapped upin the port soize mismatch. A little on low performance engine is not a huge deal. Now go make 450+ hp and you'll stasrt to find short comings.
 
Was the DA the same during both runs? Any wind direction difference. If I run into a head wind I can lose a mph. Thanks foe posting info.
 
mderoy340 said:
Was the DA the same during both runs? Any wind direction difference. If I run into a head wind I can lose a mph. Thanks foe posting info.
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Both intakes were taken to the track more than once during the year. All times at the track were during summer where we usually have heat (mid 85 -90*) and some humidity. Was there a slight difference? I'm sure there was.
But.....
I do know the Cast intake had no problem running 14.9's at 94+ mph regardless. The Holley SD never did better than 93 mph (on some passes 92 mph) and never got into the 14's, with a best of 15.05 of all the passes (consistently running 15.1's). The SD did cut a better 60 ft by a few hundredths consistently (maybe weight?), but even so it was down by the 1/8 mile.
 
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Great info! Nothing like info that is based on results.
Too many posts are repeats of info heard or what is thought to be common knowledge.
Well done!
 
So after comparing these different manifolds' performance, I'd think that I.M. port matching with the head ports is important and could make the difference.
Good thread, thanks.
 
rumblefish360 said:
People get to wrapped upin the port soize mismatch. A little on low performance engine is not a huge deal. Now go make 450+ hp and you'll stasrt to find short comings.
Click to expand...

You're exactly right about that. On an untouched 340/360 head the factory Int's don't hinder intake tract flow, but as soon as you start whipping some air through a well designed Int port, the game drastically changes. While testing a head w/manifold on the bench, some manifolds may actually increase Int tract flow in the low lifts, then become neutral (as the valve is lifted), then the manifold starts hurting air flow. As the cyl head flows better, that dynamic happens sooner.
 
Ok, back from vacation so I could go to Friday Test-n-tune :D
The car ran a tenth slower with the Action Plus than the Holley SD, and 2 tenths slower than the factory cast. However, the water was in the air so bad it felt like you needed gills to breathe... LOL. So probably would be right in their on a better day. Anyways, this will conclude the intake shootout.
  • The take away would be this: if you have a mild small block, the factory cast will be about as good as anything else. If a person is on a strict budget, and can pick up a TQ cast intake for 20-30 bucks (even the EGR intakes from later models), that would be the way to go vs spending 150 on a 2nd hand aluminum aftermarket.
 
dirty white boy said:
did you try any kinda carb spacer??
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no, it's just bolted right on top the intake. I hope I didn't make this intake challenge incomplete by not working each to the max. But I did treat each the same, bolt and go. It's just time consuming (i'm pretty busy) and I'm about 1 hr away from the strip, I don't get down there much. But, I think the point is still valid, on a mild small block, and someone working with a strict budget, no need to look passed a cheap factory cast intake.
 
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318willrun said:
no, it's just bolted right on top the intake. I hope I didn't make this intake challenge incomplete by not working each the max. But I did treat each the same, bolt and go. It's just time consuming (i'm pretty busy) and I'm about 1 hr away from the strip, I don't get down there much. But, I think the point is still valid, on a mild small block, and someone working with a strict budget, no need to look passed a cheap factory cast intake.
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A few of us around here have been saying that for years. Inexpensive, works great.

By chance, do you have a TQ to have fun with?
 
rumblefish360 said:
A few of us around here have been saying that for years. Inexpensive, works great.

By chance, do you have a TQ to have fun with?
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No, I don't. If the cast intake would have had a TQ, it would have ran even better. I have found through the years, the factory cast/TQ combo is one of the best performers that can be used on a mild street small block, 318 - 360.
 
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