Looking for help picking a combination for racing.

[mike7570]

I have had FE's since 1974 and raced them from brackets to super-gas. Now I am going to build a class car (stocker) and picking a combination with all the different FE heads and intakes is something I am struggling with. In super-gas the bigger the better and I was using a tunnel port which limited the combinations.
For stock eliminator I am building (eventually) a '67 Shelby GT-500 with a 355hp 428 single 4 barrel engine. Where I am having trouble is which intake and heads. I also have Jay's book which has led to a little more confusion. In his book he had a 428 P.I. intake, C7AE-F and I think the port dimensions are listed as 1.95x1.22 on a Ford intake list it shows them as 1.94x1.24, close enough. The same list shows the C6AE-H P.I. intake as the same port size only the one I have has ports of 2.475x1.450 ? I don't think it has been ported (see pictures)
I have 7 different head options and about 4 different intakes. I was leaning toward the Edlebrock aluminum heads but with the intake I have there will be substantial port mismatch at the heads.
does anyone have the port dimensions for the C8OE-N and C6AE-R heads? which combination do you think would work the best?
Thanks, Mike

[jayb]

That intake has definitely been port matched, probably to 428CJ heads or some other low riser head.  Going with the Edelbrock heads makes sense these days in stock eliminator, or so I am told; I'm not really all that familiar with the ins and outs of class racing.  Blair P can talk your ear off about that; maybe he will chime in here...

[mike7570]

If it's been ported I can't use it 
I'm not seeing the grinding marks? I wouldn't think it would be so sloppy the ports look like they have a waviness in the aluminum and I don't see a transition further up the port. Do you have any other C6AE-H intakes?

[turbohunter]

Is ported and port matched the same thing in the rule book?

[machoneman]

Yes, Blair I'm sure can help a ton as Jay stated.

Your decision is really dictated not by the parts you have but the parts NHRA allows for a stock eliminator build. 

[mike7570]

Bob, The hard part about picking a combination is there are 7 heads and 4 intakes. The ones that will work together the best is what I'm after but I don't have the money to try them all. I thought that most of them have been tried by someone and if I can tap that knowledge it would save me a lot of trial and error.

[Joe-JDC]

For Stock Eliminator the intake must be stock.  That intake has definitely been worked on, and not pretty, either.  There are things that can be done to an intake to increase performance, yet retain the stock appearance.  I have seen as much as 35 lbft increase on a F intake with simple changes in the manifold that are undetectable to most people's eyes.  The F intake is the better intake for Stock Eliminator purposes since its average airflow stock is better than the H.  Joe-JDC

[mike7570]

"and not pretty" that's why I wasn't sure it had been ported. All of the ported ones I have seen look nice and even and you can tell where they started and stopped.
so it's back to square one and search out an intake / head combo. I can use the F, H or C and a Shelby lettered version that I think is a copy of the F.
I guess it comes down to what deal I can find.
Anybody want to trade a heavily ported H for a stock F, LOL