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Best Headers, Intake Manifold, Carb set up, etc.

steve l

steve l

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Hello everyone!

I am back after 8 years. Now with an 18 year old son who is super interested in getting the restoration done, I am remotivated :)

Anyway, you can see from the pics that when I left off I had the 235 rebuilt (redone internally to a 263 - if I am getting that number right - its been a long time) and I had decided to go with the T5 for the tranny. I always had planned to just used the original header, intake manifold, carb, etc., but of course the boy wants something with a little more awesomeness. Since we are now in this together, I am willing to make modifications that will keep him interested. So we started looking at Fenton headers and intake manifolds with the dual carbs. However, before we decided to dive headfirst into that, I started reading through the forum posts and it seems that the dual carbs can be finicky. Keeping in mind that neither one of us are trained as mechanics, what would be the best option for this header/intake/carb setup? For us our main concerns are ease of installation as well as ease of being able to keeping it running well on an ongoing basis. Any suggestions as to possible setups would be greatly appreciated.

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Welcome back Steve!
8 years goes by pretty fast. Your uploaded pics didn't upload correctly.

As for a carb, it might be worth looking into EFI. While FiTech makes a reasonably economical system, their service/troubleshooting leaves a LOT to be desired.
Look at Holley perhaps?

Good luck.
 
The drawback on EFI for a Stovebolt engine is that no EFI I know of is offered for a 1 barrel intake. Most opt for a 4bbl intake with a 4bbl to 2bbl adapter. This set up is much better than a carb. Some have tried a 2bbl to 1bbl adapter which is not the best. Multi carbs are not the answer when dealing with Siamesed intake ports even though you see a lot of them in use.
Update: The Holley 550-552 1bbl efi is now available.
 
Last edited:
coilover said:
The drawback on EFI for a Stovebolt engine is that no EFI I know of is offered for a 1 barrel intake. Most opt for a 4bbl intake with a 4bbl to 2bbl adapter. This set up is much better than a carb. Some have tried a 2bbl to 1bbl adapter which is not the best. Multi carbs are not the answer when dealing with Siamesed intake ports even though you see a lot of them in use.
Click to expand...
Evan,

Thank you for your answer. Could you break that down for me in a little more non-mechanic language? With some explanation? I took some of what you said and poked around the internet and I think I have more of an understanding. Any details would be great though. This part of things is very foreign to me and I want to make sure I get it right. I realize there are many ways to do this, but I want the option that will be the most practical for the 235.

Steve
 
Steve,
In slightly more "layman's terms":
Most aftermarket EFI systems are designed for what's most popular (no sense bringing something to market that there is no demand for).

First, it was EFI replacements for 4-barrel carburetors, as most muscle cars (the bulk of the customer base for aftermarket EFI) utilized a four-barrel. These units weren't optimized for a 2-barrel intake manifold, but folks made them "work".

Not long after, the 2-barrel-carb'ed customers started to ask for EFI for their applications. The aftermarket responded, and now we have 2-barrel EFI systems. These units weren't optimized for a 1-barrel intake manifold, but again folks made them "work".

As natural progression would have it, the 1-barrel carb folks would have to wait. But... the wait is over! A quick search just now, and here is one possible solution for your quest:

Holley Sniper EFI 550-552 Holley Sniper EFI Autolite 1100 - Gold

Now, a quick read will tell you this EFI was designed as a replacement for an Autolite 1100. BUT... I'm sure in true hot-rodder fashion, it could be adapted to a stovebolt.
 
52wasp said:
Steve,
In slightly more "layman's terms":
Most aftermarket EFI systems are designed for what's most popular (no sense bringing something to market that there is no demand for).

First, it was EFI replacements for 4-barrel carburetors, as most muscle cars (the bulk of the customer base for aftermarket EFI) utilized a four-barrel. These units weren't optimized for a 2-barrel intake manifold, but folks made them "work".

Not long after, the 2-barrel-carb'ed customers started to ask for EFI for their applications. The aftermarket responded, and now we have 2-barrel EFI systems. These units weren't optimized for a 1-barrel intake manifold, but again folks made them "work".

As natural progression would have it, the 1-barrel carb folks would have to wait. But... the wait is over! A quick search just now, and here is one possible solution for your quest:

Holley Sniper EFI 550-552 Holley Sniper EFI Autolite 1100 - Gold

Now, a quick read will tell you this EFI was designed as a replacement for an Autolite 1100. BUT... I'm sure in true hot-rodder fashion, it could be adapted to a stovebolt.
Click to expand...

Mike,

Thank you for breaking this down for me. I appreciate you taking the time.

I guess I am not looking for EFI with my setup. What I would like is a better carb, intake, headers setup beyond what the original provided. Nothing so complicated that I have to provide wiring for EFI, but something that would just give it more power beyond what it originally had. What are your thoughts about this (of course I would still have to figure out a good carb to work with it as headers:

https://cliffordperformance.net/store/ols/products/42-4500wh-chevy-235-intake-manifold

Would that be a good options, or would this be better:

CHEVY 235 TWIN WEBER SYSTEM W/6=8 HEADERS

Or is this one going to be overkill? I still want to make the truck be somewhat stock, but I am doing my best to accommodate modern day driving without taking too much away from it.
 
Having had a couple of friends go the EFI route, I can't recommend it unless you pay a good shop to do it; they can be VERY particular about how they are installed and set up. I am going with a single larger carb on my build, but if I were doing two carbs I would go with the dual carter-webers available from Langdon's Stovebolt. I hear lots of great things about them on these old sixes.

http://www.langdonsstovebolt.com/st...32-36-Carburetor/p/15456403/category=18665948

Tom is a retired GM engineer who knows these motors better than anyone. Call him and he'll set you up right.
 
Mike,
This old dog learned something new; I had no idea there was a 1bbl efi unit available. Under 1k which to me is a bargain to get rid of a carb in any form. To be able to start hot or cold, idle perfect, have no acceleration dead spots, no fuel leaks, no worries about alcohol in fuel causing problems, immune to altitude changes, and several other carb problems are thrown out the window for 900 bucks---worth it.
 
If I were a relatively novice mechanic, I'd think about keeping things as stock as possible and going for displacement instead. (The old adage that there's no replacement for displacement rings true - even for sixes)

The Chevy 292 six is very torquey and the T5 would be wonderful with it. I'd leave the carb stock and put on some Clifford headers and an aluminum Offy valve cover for bling and call it a day.

I've had Chevy sixes with a Holley 390 four barrel on a Clifford intake and a cam/headers - ran like stink and made a wonderful noise, but was a PITA to keep tuned. I showed a few V8 cars my tail-lights with that set up - but I don't think that's behavior you want to encourage with an 18 year old. If it is unreliable and/or fussy, your likely to frustrate your son/daughter

BTW - that Clifford setup with dual Webers and headers that claims a '120% power increase' is nonsense. I'd be impressed if it made a 20% increase without a bunch of engine mods to increase airflow like cam, springs, etc.

Get the truck up and running on a relatively stock power train. If you want to experiment with fuel injection later, buy one of the off-the-shelf EFI kits, or DIY it with a Megasquirt. But with either EFI option, you'll always be constrained to a throttle body injection (not port injection) because of the head's Siamese intake ports
 
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