I am coming to the end of my Mods....I need a new intake(good time as i have a small gasket leak) to match my Edelbrock Hi-Flow runners/plenum. I am also thinking of a cam/lifter kit. My heads are stock...hmmm. I have a 3:70 rear..pro magnum roller rockers 1/16
ratio. I want to keep this on the cheap side...under $5000....as somewhere down the road I will likely drop in a new motor. I just need some suggestions as i am not 2 sure where to start. THX

 

Edelbrock pretty much makes everyone elses intakes anyways so U might as well get theres. Just port it to what ever size u want it. And it will match the rest of your top end. As for cam and stuff I would call Comp Cams and talk to one of there technitians with what u got, see what they would recondmend for ya. It will give u and idea even if u dont get one of there cams.

 

A cam change is pretty worthless without a few things to go with it.

First at the least port those stock heads, get on some larger valves, new springs and threaded studs. Now based on your heads flow capabilities, get a cam that matches that.

A 6000 RPM peak cam will not reach its full power if the heads can't flow the air needed. Once a set is matched, heads and cam, then you can worry about intake. First figure out what the flow capabilities are of your plenum and runners. I believe its short runners large plenum = higher rpm capabilities.

If you can't get all that done, then figure out what your weakest point is with regards to peak rpm and air flow, then get a cam that will make peak around that rpm. Go past it and you will never make max power and will be out of the power band of that cam, go below it and same issue out of power band, not making the most of your power.

There's also the little matter of chip tuning as well else no matter the mod, very little will be accomplished for the effort.

 

see this is why I am confused. I have a custom chip...I just don't want to waste $ on this whole thing. I was told I had to match my intake to my runners/plenum and that was something I should do first.?? But will matching them now to what i have ,mean a change if i want to do the cam later? Or is porting my exisiting intake(I have a spare) good enough if i do not do the cam/lifers/heads?

 

The intake isn't as bad as a restriction as per say the runner/plenum design or the heads. siamesing the stock intake, or a mild port job can get it good enough to flow for most streetable cams. It's not the main restricting piece of the whole TPI design.

Matching an engine in my opinion starts from the block. From there you look at what rpm range you expect to be running. From that you choose a cam and a set of heads that can flow the air required at that rpm and lift that cam generates. From there you get an intake that flows that much air and rpm range and runners and plenum and if necessary the throttle body. That's my idea of building an engine, from the bottom up...

I don't have much faith in buying chips off people just by telling them you've done this and that mod, there are so many variables when an engine is put together that only when the engine is running and dynoed and tested can it be tuned accordingly to the capabilities of the engine.

Just ask gerritt and his experience with the hypertech chip lol...

 

Dude, the baseplate is the main restriction in the TPI system.

Anyways, the Accel base flows more than the Edelbrock base but it costs slightly more. I's suggest a cam in the 210/220 range with about .460" to .480" of lift. Anymore lift than that will be a waste of time with the stock heads. You should also get a looser converter if you want to see the full benefit of your upgrades.