FOX Intake Mani Swap! OPs.

Bawss5.0 · Feb 5, 2013

Hey guys, I'm running a Cobra GT40 upper and lower with a 1" spacer on my car now. As for my build, I have a fresh 306 rebuilt with Edelbrock Performers and an E303 cam. All other bolt ons are there exhaust, etc. I have 4.10s in the rear end. I'm doing a performance rebuild on my AODE very shortly with a 2800-3000 lock up stall converter. Right after I plan to do a Foxbody throttle body swap and instead of just going 87-93 Cobra Gt40, I wanted something more aggressive. Being that my car is only street driven and I don't care to go anywhere near 100mph, I really like the idea of MOREE torque.

Any suggestions on a good upper/lower intake setup to meet my wantss?

Also, I was looking at JEGS Cartech Box intake because my brother has this on his 5.0 (83 Fairmont T5 4.10s) and it really brought out some noticable power from when he had the GT40 Explorer on there. He didn't seem to lose any torque either. I know lots of people say that type of intake is only for boosted engines, but with the 4.10s, stall converter, and already having the gt40 lower and spacer, I think it would bring more power out of mine too.

ALSO, sorry.. Long post.. But I was looking at the Ford Motorsport Power Pipes. Anyone have one??

OPINIONS + FACTS!?
Thanks, guys/gals!

~Raymond

white95 · Feb 5, 2013

The cartech box wont be conducive to big low end torque. You'll have better results with a TFS Track heat or Edelbrock Performer RPM2. As for the cold air intake, I have a 4" AFM powerpipe with a foxbody 75mm throttle body and an Accufab 3/8 spacer/cable bracket (in the place of the EGR spacer) and a s197/card-type MAS. The pipe is the type that puts the filter into the fenderwell as well as the draw thru type meters (Pro-m or Abaco) Another option is a company called Tunable Induction.

Musturd · Feb 5, 2013

Yea a systemax is a nice choice as well

white95 · Feb 5, 2013

Indeed, I forget about those.

Musturd · Feb 5, 2013

Those are like my top 3 favs.

Bawss5.0 · Feb 5, 2013

I've heard reviews on the track heat that they're really not that good. People have said they didn't notice a difference between it and stock.. Not to mention I think that intake is absolutely hideous.. Well, I'd be content with the cartech if it doesn't hurt my torque because it didn't on my brother's, but it made a hell of a difference between it and the explorer intake he had.

Do you think the powerpipe made a big difference from a BBK CAI??

As for the Holley, haven't heard too much about that intake.

Musturd · Feb 5, 2013

Well hear this the systemax kicks ass.

Bawss5.0 · Feb 5, 2013

Better for low end torque or high end?? Do you have it on your car? I was on American Muscle and saw they have the Edelbrock Victor EFI. Heard anything on that?

Bawss5.0 · Feb 5, 2013

Nvm, says engines producing 400-550 horses, hahaha.

Musturd · Feb 5, 2013

Bawss5.0 said:
Better for low end torque or high end?? Do you have it on your car? I was on American Muscle and saw they have the Edelbrock Victor EFI. Heard anything on that?

Yea I have the systemax i feel it's good all around intake . Makes power all the way across the board

white95 · Feb 5, 2013

Well then, sounds like you already know what you want & I say go for it. Yes, BBK's CAI doesn't compare to an AFM powerpipe in any way.

Bawss5.0 · Feb 5, 2013

Yeah, well I wanted to know about the other intakes. The thing is, my brother still has stock heads, stock cam and his car frikken pulls hard.

Okay, the AFM Powerpipe.. What modifications will I need with that if I run the Fox TB setup with the box intake? Would I get a 94-95 powerpipe or a Fox one?

RichV · Feb 5, 2013

I wouldn't go by what you've heard and read, go by dyno #s and combo specs.

I ran a Fox TB with my 94 for a while, until I found a Cobra SN maifold. All you need is a Fox throtle cable and to splice 3 wires in the TPS, you can find the colors on the net. The Fox has orange/black/grn IIRC and the SN has grey wires with colored stripes. I'm sure I can find it if someone else does not have it. Then you need the intake tube to MAF, which will hit your shocktower. Maybe not with a breadbox intake, oh and I guarantee it looses torque over a stocker or a long runner intake.

Magic · Feb 5, 2013

RichV said:
I wouldn't go by what you've heard and read, go by dyno #s and combo specs.

I ran a Fox TB with my 94 for a while, until I found a Cobra SN maifold. All you need is a Fox throtle cable and to splice 3 wires in the TPS, you can find the colors on the net. The Fox has orange/black/grn IIRC and the SN has grey wires with colored stripes. I'm sure I can find it if someone else does not have it. Then you need the intake tube to MAF, which will hit your shocktower. Maybe not with a breadbox intake, oh and I guarantee it looses torque over a stocker or a long runner intake.

There used to be a write up somewhere on this site regarding the Fox TB swap. Info should be there.
If he deletes the EGR setup and buys one of those think spacers/throttle body cable bracket he should have lots of clearance between the AFM Power Pipe and the strut tower. However, Im sure an Powerpipe can be self made for a lot less money than you would pay for one from AFM.

Magic · Feb 5, 2013

Bawss5.0 said:
Yeah, well I wanted to know about the other intakes. The thing is, my brother still has stock heads, stock cam and his car frikken pulls hard.

If you want to keep the low/mid range TorQue, keep the GT40 upper/lower and get the lower ported (look up TMOSS Porting).

What size throttle body will you use? If 70mm or larger have the upper intake ported to match the throttle body size.

If changing intakes is what you want to do, then have a look at the Edelbrock RPM 2 or the original RPM. Even a regular Performer with a ported lower.

I sure the reason why your brothers Fairmont pulls hard, its a 5 speed car with 4.10s and that box intake will make more mid-high rpm horsepower, and im sure weighs a lot less than a 94+ Mustang. If he did a before and after test on a dyno, he would see where the explorer upper leaves off and where the box upper picks up power.

Bawss5.0 · Feb 6, 2013

The porting sounds interesting, but this is my DD and I can't have it sit out.. Or wait.. there is another gt40 lower in the shop.. Lol. That would mean getting rid of my intake spacer right? I'm talking to a guy right now about getting his Ford Downs Cartech Box intake. He ported the inlet and used it on a turbocharger setup. As for the EGR, I deleted all that crap when I did my 306 engine swap last month. I'm running fox headers.

As for the Fairmont, yes the weight is definately true. He has long tubes, 4.10s, cai, and the box intake. He hasn't gotten into his heads or his cam. Those are just laying around the house atm I was thinking because he had that much noticeable hp difference, that with my setup I should see some noticeable gains from the sn Cobra. With the 4.10s in my car and the 28-32 stall I'm getting on my AODE, I'd think it'd put the hp down to the ground much better than his.

Paul · Feb 7, 2013

The often-ignored Edelbrock Performer intake manifold is an excellent manifold, and at a great price. It is way cheaper than Systemax II (which is also a good manifold) and has been tested over and over and over again in dyno tests by magazines for over a decade. The Performer has produced excellent area under the curve for good performance street combinations for a long long long time, but since it's an old manifold, it's isn't "new and sexy" anymore so it's not as popular.

I would absolutely NOT use the Cartech box, TFS-R, Victor EFI, or any of the other short-runner manifolds. They might look neat, but you'll lose both power AND torque with your combo.

Paul.

white95 · Feb 7, 2013

Thank you..

ratio411 · Feb 7, 2013

Just my .02... not trying to be a smarta$$ or anything, but when people worry so much about low end torque, I think to myself 'it's not like we're towing a trailer'.
The oversquare bore/stroke of the 5.0 LOVES fast revs.

I am an old guy to most of you, and until my sons got 5.0s I was into 289/302s with carbs, and everyone around me was buying into the dual plane intakes (long runner, torque producing) while I was using single plane intakes. I let some friends talk me into the other style intakes (Edelbrock RPM specifically), they swore I would gain all this low end torque and still keep the top end. I spent the dough and tried this new (at the time) wonder intake that made for the best of both worlds. Boy was I dissappointed!

I lost throttle response, my engine revved lazy and slow, and the top end was non-existent.
I put my single plane back on and was happy for years after.

The Cartech on my son's Fairmont just screams. It is like deja-vu... and we are talking a bone stock long block. If you were to talk to anyone, they would swear stock heads and cam couldn't rev that high and fast. Now to be fair, the car is lighter and has a T5, but stock long block is stock long block. We haven't been back to the dyno, and even if it didn't gain any power at all, the throttle response and overall feel of the driving experience is MUCH more lively than with the stock GT40 upper. I used to floor this car and had time to daydream as it revved to the next shift. Now it revs so fast it will float the valves if you hesitate at all. Deja-vu... that is all I can say.

And it still can't get all it's power to the ground, just as before. We are running street tires, so all more torque will do is burn the tires just as it will now.

Just some thoughts from an old-timer.