[NKOTB]

ASnake,
Thanks for your reply. Yes it currently has a scoop because of the current assemblies height... (see my gallery pics). Thanks again for the possibilities though...

Carnut427,
Yes, that's correct. To your point, I'm planning a trip to Southern Automotive here soon, and will work with Bill Parham to decide:
1- if there is a shorter upper assembly combo to be had, or
2- if the PI intake is optimized for the heads, or
3- if it makes more sense to optimize what i have, vs changing out the intake for a port-matched Blue thunder or Edelbrock RPM unit...

Since I'm re-painting the car anyway, I'm getting more comfortable with the idea of leaving the scoop on but just having it glassed smooth into the hood, as opposed to the current riveted appearance.

I guess the real question is how will a port-matched PI intake perform versus a port-matched BT or RD RPM intake, when mated to 427 low riser heads (2.08" intake valves, 1.64" exhaust valves & a 73-76cc chamber size)... If there's only a nominal performance difference, within reliable and coomon operating ranges, I'm thinking I'll go with the simpler and less expensive option...

My nagging thought is regarding what I've read, the BT intake is an improved version of the PI... if those improvements are really seen only in conjunction with medium rise heads, then optimizing the PI may be the smartest thing to do until I get the itch for new heads.

Thoughts?

Thanks ya'll,
David