FYI - Blue Thunder Intakes

[mbrunson427]

"imanperformance" on ebay has the medium riser 1x4 intakes available on ebay now.

Seems that Blue Thunder and this seller have some kind of deal going. It's been talked about before, but looks like he's the only one receiving the stock anymore?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Thunder-Ford-4-Barrel-Dual-Plane-427-Medium-Rise-Intake-Manifold/282848617962?hash=item41db1765ea:g:6cYAAOSwO~Vadmqe

[mn67]

His prices have gone up a bit. I got two at the end of 16 from him for mid 5's.

[plovett]

Whoa!  That is way too much money, considering you can get a Edelbrock RPM for around $300 less. 

JMO,

paulie

[Katz427]

I don't know who Iman is but he is saying "in stock". I have looked at Ford 2-4 manifolds for $700-800 used. Barry was asking $700 when he had them in stock. It is the old adage " I have one, how much you willing too pay"?

[AlanCasida]

Supply and demand I guess. I sold my new Blue Thunder 2x4 MR intake last year for $850 on the FE forum in about 30 mins. Kind of wish I kept it now!

[GJCAT427]

I was looking at getting a Blue Thunder 4 bbl for my Galaxie  and have run across this guy several times. Price is a little high, but he seems to have them. I thought of a stock med riser and they seem a little high too.

[plovett]

Supply and demand I guess. I sold my new Blue Thunder 2x4 MR intake last year for $850 on the FE forum in about 30 mins. Kind of wish I kept it now!

Sure, for a 2x4.  I don't see those prices making sense for a 1x4. 

I could see $550, maybe $600 for the 1x4.

JMO,

paulie

[scott foxwell]

He has 2 x 4 medium risers with no casting number for < $1000.00. The ones with the C7 casting number are a little more.
I've emailed him back and forth a few times and he's not making very much at all on these intakes. This is what he told me:

We were hit with this price increase from Blue Thunder upon delivery of product, with no advance warning; and told more-or-less take it or leave it. All customers that we called over the previous few days (before delivery) to get our orders aligned received the product at the previous quoted price, which means instead of making 7% on the sale we made 1.2%. It’s hard to justify any sale under 3.5% especially when fronting all capital for a major purchase such as this. Fortunately they could not satisfy the 25 pieces we had on order so we were able to maneuver ourselves into a better situation and then change the listing price. I’m sure people will still pay the higher price for this manifold, but nobody likes to get caught by surprise and feel trapped into purchasing a product. It leaves a sour taste in people‘s mouth‘s, and it’s not the way we do business.

[JamesonRacing]

Is the era of Blue Thunder FE heads past now?  I haven't seen nor heard about B/T heads in a very long while.

[wowens]

How many pieces on a guarantee buy with a big deposit does it take to get BT to make a run of intakes or heads ?

[Katz427]

I would imagine Art's biggest hurdle is getting a foundry to commit to a run. Not many left and if you are an infrequent client you usually find that you have to pay a premium or wait and wait some more to get your job expedited.

[plovett]

I can see $995  for the 2x4 BT intake.  It's a fantastic intake and there are not really any good alternatives.  I cannot see $760 for the 1x4 BT intake.  It's a really good intake, but there are many good alternatives that are much cheaper.  Edelbrock RPMs, F427's, Sidewinders, Holley Street Dominators, Edelbrock Streetmasters, etc.   

Just my opinion.  I have a 1x4 BT by the way and I like it a lot. 

paulie

[FERoadster]

Sold my new 2X4 BT intake a few months ago for $960 plus shipping. Was glad someone needed it.
Long story but traded a C7ZX Shelby intake for it plus some cash on my side. The Shelby was completed with carbs and the person who bought it from me was happy. He made a good profit on the C7ZXwhen completed.
Richard

[bill_396]

If you have a CobraJet ram air car and want to run an aftermarket intake I believe the BT is the only one that positions everything in the hole correctly, except a bit tall.

[jayb]

Nope, that's not correct.  The Blue Thunder intake positions the carb 1/8" farther back than the factory CJ manifold.  Nobody will know the difference except for the height, of course.  However, the Edelbrock Performer is an exact match for carb location, as are some other Ford intakes, like the cast iron C4 intake and the S intake.  Also, if we're not going exact, the Edelbrock Streetmaster positions the carb 1/8" further back than stock, like the Blue Thunder, and the Ford aluminum 427 medium riser intake and 428 PI intakes position it 1/4" farther back.  Given the adjustability of a shaker setup, any of these intakes can be made to work.  The Edelbrock F427 positions the carb 3/8" back, and the Edelbrock Performer RPM intake positions the carb 5/8" back from the stock locations.  Those two might pose challenges for a shaker setup but people have used them both with success.  All the measurements are in my book - Jay