aluminum intake advantage

[390owner]

Other than weight, what is the advantage of having a aluminum dual plane intake for a 390?

[Drew Pojedinec]

If you had an Iron S intake, and an exact replica in aluminum, I don’t think there would be an advantage.

[GerryP]

Hmm.  Well, cast aluminum is shinier that cast iron, so it brightens up the engine.  Oh, and if you do something like crack a pipe fitting hole or break off a corner on the valve cover flange or something like that, it's relatively easy to weld up.  It's a weight thing, but if you buy one and it has to be shipped, it's a lot cheaper to ship than iron.  I can't think of anything else right now, but others may chime in.

[427mach1]

Are you referring to one of the Ford aluminum intake manifolds or perhaps an aftermarket manifold?

[390owner]

I was asking about an aftermarket one. I have a factory cast one now. I am having oil usage issue on my new 390 and people here said it could be the intake gasket leaking. So if there was a big advantage in an aftermarket aluminum I thought I might go aluminum

[Drew Pojedinec]

The big advantage is never having to pick up the iron one again. Worth a couple franklins to me.

[frnkeore]

All Ford aluminum manifolds are performance orientated, by that, I think they would flow a little better. 

After market manifolds are tuned for performance and depending on there design, should increase HP, in the range they where designed to work. That said, not all after market manifolds are designed properly. Do your home work first.

Usually Edelbrock  does there home work, before releasing theirs. A good example is the Victor line for single plane.

[frnkeore]

One other thing about FE manifolds (cast iron or alum). When I was a mechanic ('62-'70) the way I would do them, by myself, was pull the hood and stand between the wheel wells. You can maneuver even the cast irons (about all there was in my day) very well that way and stick the by pass hose, w/o a problem. It was much easier than having a second guy help.

It only takes about 5 min to remove the hood or replace it.

[chris401]

Other than weight, what is the advantage of having a aluminum dual plane intake for a 390?

I swapped from aluminum to cast a few months ago when it was warmer. Material for material difference I found is heat soaking the carb. Seems around the 30 minute mark I have to give my iron intake a pump or two of gas. That difference has not appeared this past month or so.

[My427stang]

Pros
- Weight
- Different designs to match (and enhance) the performance of the engine
- Lighter
- Easier to repair
- Looks (potentially)
- Cooler operation (especially if exhaust crossover blocked)

Cons
- Cost compared to having your iron in your hands
- Easy to crack and strip bolts compared to iron
- If exhaust crossover not blocked, does not like exhaust gasses as much and can oxidize and crack

In the end, your question is not really easy to answer, but consider an intake manifold another component that determines the performance range of the engine.  If you take a very good CJ iron intake off of a healthy CJ, swap it for a Performer 390, you will likely lose much more than you gain.  If you swap a 390 S code intake for an Edelbrock RPM on the same engine, you will gain significantly with the aluminum intake everywhere. 

In the end though, some dual plane intakes like the RPM and Blue Thunder Medium riser are pretty darn hard to beat on a wide range of engines.  Others, like the SP2P and some Offy intakes, don't beat anyone except in very unique applications.  Finally, a CJ iron, especially with just a little plenum work, is a real good intake, if that is your starting point, it takes some thinking to make big gains

[390owner]

Thanks for all the replies

[amdscooter]

The big advantage is never having to pick up the iron one again. Worth a couple franklins to me.

Oh gawd.. this 2x...lol.

[MeanGene]

The big advantage is never having to pick up the iron one again. Worth a couple franklins to me.

Boy howdy- last week I was looking thru the triple stacks of intakes on the shelf, Streetmasters, SDs, RPMs and such, and at the bottom of one stack, this blue thing- and realized it was an iron CJ manifold, on a shelf over 4' up- HITF did I get that 88 lb beast up there? Then remembered- 'Lil Forker. Has a 4-cylinder Continental that is about 14" long in it, is 34" wide so you can drive it through a 36" door, and lifts 1000 lbs to 7 ft. To get a relative size, the box on the forks is one I built to ship a short-tail toploader, and that's a little walk-behind rototiller next to it. If I need to move it in the shop, I don't even have to start it, I can push it around by hand. Best $500 I ever spent

[gdaddy01]

as all the women folk say , that is sooooo cute .  and handy

[KMcCullah]

I'd much rather port match an aluminum intake vs cast iron. Cuts grinding time in half.

From a drag racing stand point, any time you can drop 40lbs off the nose is a win. And picking up a few ponies with a better flowing intake is always nice too.