Found a dual plane intake from Blue Thunder. Are these any good compared to the edel intake? I dont know anything about it other than it's a Blue Thunder for a 428 and theres a picture of it.
Brian

 

http://carlsfordparts.com/parts_images/intakes/428%20bt.jpg
heres the pic

 

Looks similiar to the Edlebrock Performer Air-Gap Manifolds. Though Edelbrock doesn't make an Air-gap manifold for the FE's

 

Any idea how the air-gap compares to the performer rpm intake? I went tot the blue thunder web site and found that they make to intakes for the fe, which are 428 CJ H/R 4V manifold (two versions) and the 428 CJ H/R Dominator manifold I contacted the source for info and im now waiting for a reply.
Thanx
Brian

 

The guys who race FEs love that blue thunder intake. If you are thinking about putting it on your truck however, be aware that this intake is stronger in the top end, your low end will suffer when pulling weight. Unless you have a hot engine, it probably wouldn't be the best choice in a heavy truck. Although I do not speak from personal experience, the guys who have used both the ebok rpm and the BT intake place the BT as the next step up from the ebok rpm. Its a great manifold if your engine matches its capabilities.

 

I'm putting a plan together for the motor right now while I'm working on the trucks cosmetics. I have it worked out the desktop dyno right now with the rpm intake (and the rest of my goodies) as 483 horses at 5500 and 497 ft/lbs at 4500. I also plan on using a 1400 rpm stall converter with a 4.10 rear end. Does this sound like the blue thunder would work better than the rpm (im not being sarcastic, I really dont know ) even in a 70 3/4 ton? Thanks much for the info. Sorry to stretch the question out so far. I'm a total novice at this.
Brian

 

I think your stall converter is going to need to be a lot more than that. Not sure of the cam profile you are considering but has go to be pretty steep if you are planning that kind of HP. I would look very seriously at a 2500-3000 rpm stall. Most likley The power is going to be coming in no sooner than the 2500 is why I suggest such a (seemingly) higher rpm stall. Once again this is my Opinion from my little knowledge. If you do how ever end up running the lower stall let u sknow how it worked out for your application.



Scotty

 

<!-- Edited by admin -- We use and sell a lot of the Blue Thunder FE intakes, both on cars and trucks. --> Due to it's Ford designed high velocity runners, it actually works quite well in trucks with a decent engine-typically a good 390/428. It's a bit big for the 352/360's to work without some more rpm's. Makes tons of torque with cams as small as 205-210* intake. Helps to have a good set of heads with a pocket port and/or CJ valves to take advantage of it-and no, the larger CJ valves do NOT hurt low end torque on 390 and bigger engines. On the dyno, the Blue Thunder starts pulling away from the RPM at about 2000-2500rpm, depending on set up of engine. Overall, you can expect a 20+hp gain over the RPM above 5000.

I do have a customer that took a bone stock, low mileage '68 360 and did a performance valve job, mild bit of pocket porting, and the BT intake-factory cam-and it runs damn well, even at 5000+ feet. Much better than I would have suspected, but the owner knows how to tune and maximize stock componentry.

<!-- If you have questions on the Blue Thunder products, you can use the icon to e-mail me or give me a call.
Rob McQuarie
Blue Oval Performance
303-762-8298 -->

 

Since I don't know the specifics of your "goodies" I'll just assume to have some well matched components if you are going to be putting out near 500 hp/torque. A 428 of that caliber would work spankingly well with the Blue Thunder, and like Rob said, you'd have a better top end then with the rpm. The 1400 stall sounds a bit low to me too, and while a 2500 stall would probably work better with that engines power curve, it depends on what you want to do with the truck. Unless you enjoy launching hard from every stop, and blasting through the slammed civic in front of you (not that that would be a bad thing) you may have to stick with the lower converter for streetability. I was surprised to hear that this BT intake was gentle on the low end of only mildly built FEs, but then, Rob does know a heck of allot more about these things then me (he posts a bit on the other boards as well). And yea, CJ valves ARE always a good thing :P

 

Thanks for the info on the intake Rob. About how much will 1 run me? About the stall speed, I would love to have a converter that stalls at 2200 but I can always picture a great sounding motor reving at about 2500rpm and casually going 25mph down my street, a little overkill for my application. By the way my goody list includes a fresh 390, CJ428 crank, Edel heads (slightly ported), Ross 10.5:1 dished pistons, Holly 770 (or a 750), Crower connecting rods, Crower cam (302 on the intake and 312 on the exhaust), Tri-Y headers to dual 2 1/2, cool air inducted, MSD 6al ignition (still under consideration), Blue Thunder intake (newly added), hooked up to a TCI Street Fighter C6 and a Gear Vendors overdrive. And the power ratings are an estimate made by Desktop Dyno. I really hope they're that high though. And thank you again for all the info, its all very much appreciated.:-)
Brian

 

Hey on that cam is that adv duration?? what Is the Acctual cam #. I think I have been considering that cam as well. If it is the one I was looking at you are all most with out doubt going to need more stall than 1400. What I would do is since you are going to use a TCI tranny. I would talk to them. They will take into consideration everything you are planning to do, and the power output of your truck and they will give the best option for a convertor. I don't blame you though for going with a garaunteed 450 HP TCI tranny. At a little under $800 you can't beat it. Autozone or O'reilly wants $400 for a stock rebuild tranny. Could go through one of them everyday. LOL
Anyway I hope this helps.

Scotty

 

DFB2004 Thanks for sending me the E-mail. I looked up the cam you were talking about. The intake # gives a different duration than the one you listed. The # you sent is acctually the # I am considering using in my truck. The duration is 280* int. & 288* exh. & 234* & 244* @ .050". I didn't see one with the # you posted here. And, that is about as big a cam I would put in one with out doing some real serious bottom end work. Any Bigger and you may run inro clearance problems. That gross lift is what will get you there. The tranny is going to need a minimum 2000 rpm stall with that much cam. IMO.

By the way you do realize that that is a Hydrualic Roller cam, Right? Have you priced the component kit that needs to go with it? It aint cheap either. Crower's site price is $624.98. Don't get me wrong if you got the money spend it on a good setup. I just wanted to bring it to your attention. I was a little set back when I first found out how much it was. Just wanted to let you know.

As stated before make sure you contact TCI before you buy a converter and what not. They will give you the best Idea on what you need.


Rob McQ: I was wondering what kind of top end does that intake give is it about the same as the Edelbrock performer RPM? Weather it is better or not what are the advantages of using it over the RPM? Thanks for wasting your time reading my LOOOOONG post. Anyone notice I like to ramble??


Scott

 

Okay guys and gals, we have been discussing intakes for a while.....I think these are the best your FE can have. If you look at a ford CJ, P.I., or sidewinder intake, you will see the runners have a heavy taper to them. The Edelbrock Performer and RPM intakes both have constant velocity runners. Apparently Ford knew what they were doing when they designed the tapered runners. The BT intake is a slightly (1/2 inch ? ) taller updated version of an aluminum Police Interceptor intake. According to folks who have switched from an RPM to the BT, it is supposed to be worth another 20-25 hp on a 450-500hp 428. The BT intakes come in large and small port styles. The large fits the early heads, EDCs,C1&C2s,C4AE-G and CJ heads. The small fits 427MR heads and C8AE-H, C7AE-F, and D2TE-AAs. It is available in regular or dominator flange and heat risers or no heat. And yes, it is the intake I have on one of my trucks. DinosaurFan