nhgator

My 1985 lg4 Trans Am still has the stock electronic q-jet,intake and distributer/computer.
It now has a crate 350,with hooker headers and is getting a new vacuum adv dist,new non elect. q-jet and intake,what I am looking for is a good aftermarket intake to get rid of the egr,etc. and still fit under the hood with the stock aircleaner housing.
Any recommendations are appreciated,there is only 6000 to choose from for a sb chebby motor.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

Assuming it is not wildly cammed etc., a stock, or Performer, or ZZ4 intake is all you need.

As for why you're modding for zero benefit and trying to hurt mileage while making no power over the stock parts, good question.

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

You have a TA, like me, so you have less hood clearance than a Camaro.
There is only 1 intake I know of that fits the bill, a Weiand 8000.
I call it a "baby Stealth".

I hope you are now going to use the small cap distributor.
Look at the carb mounting holes in this intake. The q-jet
uses the inner set, which moves the carb rearward about 1/4"
and if you are using the stock air cleaner you will have a problem
with #1 and #8 plug wires arcing out to the air cleaner housing
because it will be right up against them.


Also, if you are planning to remove the charcoal canister, you need
to address fuel tank venting. Simply plugging the lines will create
fuel supply problems (as fuel is pumped out, air needs to get in).

nhgator

Zero benefit is in the eyes of the beholder I guess,tired of dealing with electrical issues between the ccc dist and computer and ancient wiring.

But thanks for the snarky response,it what this site is known for,all I need is sofa to insinuate I'm an idiot also and my day will be complete

nhgator

The stock air cleaner isn't a must have,but would have been preferable to sucking in hot underhood air with a open element air cleaner,but I do have a big cap vac ad. dist so that's worth thinking about.

Thank You.

Saxondale

iTrader: (2)

If we de-jmd the message we get:

You should consider retaining the stock intake because aftermarket will not provide additional horsepower, but more so may reduce mileage.


On the other hand, if sofa chimes in it may at first glance appear to be a shun, but upon closer reading is typically a poke at himself. I've never had to de-sofa a message.

nhgator

So,a Ruggles or one of those folks q-jet,headers and working properly distributer,on top of a 350 will not make any more than the 165 hp it came with with any other intake,got it.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

I must be losing my touch. No, wait... you said insinuate.

I can understand dumping the CCC Qjet and distributor. I can even see dumping AIR injection. In 2018 I can't understand how the wiring on a thirdgen is scary. Or any reason to delete an EGR system. For that matter, the stock aluminum Q-jet intake ain't bad. The massive aftermarket 4bbl intake market is largely there for the multitude of SBCs that came with 2bbls, with another large segment existing to rid the world of cast iron intakes, or to feed massive heads in various racing applications. When you try to make it fit under the hood of a thirdgen, there just isn't much reason to invite the issues.

Stick with the stocker. If you gotstahave something nifty for your signature block, take-off ZZ4 crate motor intakes are easy enough to come by, and at least they have provisions for all the related items, that they'll be fairly close to bolting in.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

Headers are good.
A usual street 350 won't gain in streetable power from an intake manifold bigger than the Performer /stocker /ZZ3/4
Eliminating EGR will hurt mileage and gain nothing power-wise. It cools combustion. Deleting it kills mileage.

The ZZ intake accepts the factory 82-87 alt. bracket, the hole on the Performer is a bit off.

I know what the CCC Q-jet can do from putting over 200,000 miles on them. The wiring on the CCC cars is pretty simple. I did break a wire at an ign. control module that was tough to figure until I followed the service manual. Believe what you want, but a car that has step by step fixes and diagrams is easy to work with.

Do what you want, dude.

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

Yep, sucking in hot, underhood air kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

Your 350 will have more than the 165 HP that the 305 had. The biggest bottleneck is the y-pipe, but you are adding headers, so continue the upgrade by using an unrestrictive y-pipe and 3" exhaust.


The torque converter is your second bottleneck.

sonjaab

Snarky comments are nothing new around here from the OE-purists
here.................

Manic Z

iTrader: (1)

For what it's worth, I run a Weiand 8000 and a dual snorkel air cleaner and don't have any issues with the distributor clearing or the spark plug wires arching.....

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

With a full size coil-in-cap HEI and Quadrajet?

Manic Z

iTrader: (1)

Yes.

ZZ4-86TA

Here's my 1986 TA (5-speed manual) that used to have a LG4. In 1998 I swapped it with a ZZ4-350 and added SLP stainless steel headers. It has a fully functioning AIR system and E4ME Quadrajet. Just changed the secondary metering rods to richen it up for the 355 HP ZZ4. It has a full size DUI HEI (coil in cap) and I got the dual snorkel air cleaner. Hood clearance is fine. She is a bit of a sleeper.

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

Could you post a few pics of the headers showing what factory brackets and/or accessories also attach to the mounting bolts (where the spacers are)? I have the same setup, but I just removed and plugged the air injection tubes, and I need to know what attaches in those places and if I can remove any of those spacers. Thanks.


Somewhere, hiding under all those hoses and wires, is a Small Block Chevy. It sucks that you can't even see the valve covers.

ZZ4-86TA

I will try and get a couple pics this weekend.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I don't have pics, but I'll tell you, I used regular header bolts everywhere, except the factory exh man studs on the front 2 bolt holes on the driver's side. All I did was make spacers to match the thickness of the exh man flanges out of ¼" water pipe or some such. Then used the factory brackets.

I did something similar for the oil dipstick tube. Mighta just used a longer bolt and a spacer as per above, can't recall and I'm too lazy to go outside and look in the middle of a snowstorm we're enjoying here right now.

If you do away with the AIR diverter valve, you need to add one flat washer under the spacer behind the alt where it bolts to the head.

Other than that, no need to change anything.

I'm not real fond of looking at my valve covers (they're kinda ugly), and I'm pretty sure no Mustang drivers can see them through my back bumper anyway, so that doesn't bother me so much.

The comment about "zero benefit" is mostly on the money though, like it or not... The Bottleneck in these motors is somewhere else. People like to think that they can just unbolt and re-bolt the big shiny expansive pieces that you can just look down and see when you pop the hood for some reason, and make their car faster. Too bad, they're living in FANTASY LAND. The things keeping most of our cars slow ARE NOT sitting right up there on top out in the open for 8-yr-old kids to ooooh and aaaaah all over in those parking-lot "sq in of chrome" contests you see all the time. Wanna make your car faster??? HEADERS, HEADS, cam, converter, gears, traction, tires, fuel system, ... stuff you CAN'T SEE AT ALL, is what does the job. Intake manifold? waste of time, money, and effort, unless yours is fornicated. And if it is, a ZZ4 takeoff, if you can still find one, is all you need. It's an Edelbrock Performer with a bow-tie cast into it instead of Vic's name. But since it's NOT The Bottleneck, it'll carry you easily up to around the 350 - 375 HP mark, with a 350. If you're not already there, then anything more, will NOT HELP. Spending money on it will make the car faster only to the extent of of weight reduction concentrated in the vicinity of the owner's wallet.

Let the concept sink in, and enjoy.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

I had a performer RPM that I ran on a near stock 305 with a 204/214@.050 rv cam more than 10 years ago. Was a GREAT all around performing intake with the Q-Jet. Performer RPM compared to the stock intake really helped wake up the 305 and it was in a heavy fullsize van. Would have even been more noticeable in a F-car. Despite what some will say the Performer RPM still has great low rpm torque and very good throttle response off idle.

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

You mean this one, right? Not the square bore version.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Edelbrock/350/7104/10002/-1

305sbc

iTrader: (3)

+1 on all this

Ozz1967

iTrader: (4)

Is it snarky if it's a fact?

You'll gain zero performance increase going to a non cc-qjet set up.

Ozz1967

iTrader: (4)

You can swap it out with a performer intake. Anything taller will run into fitment issues. Just get the block off covers for the EGR etc.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

That would be correct. That intake is actually very similar to the cast-iron intake manifold that GM offered for the marine engines 10+ years ago.

I also ran a Weiand 7525 on the same engine setup. After having run the performer RPM for a couple of years my area started requiring a smog test on a loaded dyno. With the loaded dyno they started testing for NOx emissions. I had to switch to an intake that had an EGR. The 7525 fit the bill. I liked the way the Weiand ran even better, but it is not an intake you can easily find these days.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Any aluminum intake will do. Seriously, I would get the cheapest intake manifold you could find, and if you need it to breath more then let the porting process begin. Hell I would even open up your stock one and weld the EGR shut. Back when I was running a blow-thru carb after putting TPI on hold, I needed a 4-bbl intake. Refused to pay what some manufacturers were asking brand new, and after considering a few used ones w/varying opinions from members, I looked over at a Holley Pro-Jection (TBI 2-bbl) manifold that I had lying around (that I literally almost threw out), grabbed my die grinder, and just went at it. Drilled and tapped for the carb bolts, made an EGR blockoff, and also port matched the spread to square bore adapter (not pictured). Worked fine.

Just do whatever you need to and have fun doing it...

- Rob

turboguard

I just wanna chime in and say if your plug wires are arcing onto your air cleaner, it might be time for some new plug wires...

Ozz1967

iTrader: (4)

You'd be best off getting an performer intake, blocking off the EGR, and then running headers for more power. The intake isn't where you lose power in our motors.

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

Since the title of this is Best aftermarket intake for Quadrajet. then ignoring hood clearance, what about the Edelbrock Performer RPM Q-Jet?

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

It's not the wires. The boots for #s 1 & 8 are right up against the air cleaner itself. At least it was in my case.