DeTomaso Mailing List: March 1997, Message #139
     



From: MikeLDrew@aol.com

Subject: FPP Intake, etc.

Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 01:23:18 -0500 (EST)



Capt Mike Drew

150 Westgate Dr.

San Francisco, CA  94127



Home/FAX:   (415) 334-7860



E-mail:  MikeLDrew@aol.com



Hello all,



Dan Jones #1 wrote:



>>>I've heard good things about the hi-rise dual plane intake from

FPP.  Anyone have any experience with it?





Ah.  Well, I have no first-hand experience, because my car still isn't ready

for the road, but after reading an article in Super Ford (reprinted in a POCA

newsletter) comparing intake manifolds, since the FPP manifold did so much

better than the competition, I bought one.  It was expensive, but apparently

worth it.



My car had an absolute monster motor when I bought it, mondo cam, solid

lifters, etc.  I actually wanted to build the motor down a bit, make it more

streetable, and run a hydraulic cam so I wouldn't have to dink around with

adjusting valves.



When the machine shop (in Springfield, Vermont) took my motor apart, the

bores were tapered.  Fortunately, it was an original block, so they were able

to bore it .030 over.  I didn't want to spend an awful lot of money (since

I'd already blown far too much money elsewhere on the car), so I decided to

just have them freshen the existing motor.  My open-chamber 4v heads had

already been ported and polished, fitted with Manley guide plates and roller

rockers, so they left all that stuff alone.  They replaced the stock Ford

valves with one-piece stainless steel Manley valves, actuated by a

Competition Cams cam.  The old motor used TRW forged pistons giving 10.1

compression; they replaced them with identical units sized .030 over.  New

water pump, fuel pump, etc, Pete Jackson gear drive for that cool but

not-too-loud whine (and more accurate cam timing, of course), factory GTS

exhaust, and a stock Holley 650 double-pumper.



My motor came with an Edelbrock Performer, but I elected to replace it with

the FPP intake.  As you can see from the above shopping list, my motor is far

from radical; it's basically built to early '72 specs, just with

higher-quality components.



That intake apparently just made this relatively mild motor create all sorts

of power and torque, however.  On the dyno, it pulled 300 ft/lbs of torque-at

only 2000 rpm.  The torque just kept climbing, maxxing out at 380 ft/lbs (rpm

unknown, but I think around 4500), and 389 hp at 5500 rpm through the

mufflers, all on pump gas.  I daresay that this simple intake swap was good

for perhaps 40-50 hp over the Edelbrock unit.  So based solely on the dyno

pulls, I'm a believer.  It rides a bit higher than stock and doesn't allow

use of a stock screen, but with really nice aftermarket screens available

from Pantera East, I can live with it!



My TOTAL investment in this engine, by the way, was less than $2000.  I

purchased new pistons, cam, valves, intake, and the gear drive, and the

machine shop literally built it for beer; the owner was a high-school buddy

of the guy restoring my car, and worked on my motor in his spare time over

the space of a year; my friend would bring him a case of beer down from

Canada every once in awhile.



I figure this is more than enough power while I'm learning to drive the car;

if I ever decide I want more power, I'll either go with a pumped-up Windsor

(aluminum, maybe) or a supercharged modular motor.  But that would be years

and years down the road; I suspect I'll be able to live with this motor

happily for quite some time.



If I was to do it all over again, though, I'd DEFINITELY use Aussie heads.  I

shot a whole roll of film at Larry Stock's shop of the various different

heads for use in an upcoming POCA newsletter article on the topic by PCNC

engine guru Steve Liebenow (watch for it), and learned a lot.  Once can

easily see how superior the Aussie heads are over the 2v or 4v U.S. heads.

As far as I'm concerned, they're the only way to go.  You won't find them in

any junkyards, but plenty of Ford performance vendors (and of course the

Pantera vendors) have them on the shelves, ready to go.



Anyway, the FPP intake is a Good Thing, I think.  Available directly from the

manufacturer (don't have their address) or from Dennis Quella at Pantera

Performance Center (where I got mine.)



My two cents right there...



Mike