I purchased a new Dove Tunnel Wedge intake years ago. The retailer I bought it from at Carlisle, PA told me the unit I purchased was one of just a few that he found to be acceptable, among a group of intakes he received from Dove. He said he sent 1/2 of them back.
My intake was a bear to dial in. My engine ran very lean for weeks. I changed jets, set and reset mixture screws, and couldn't adjust the carbs to correct the problem. I feared I was gonna toast some pistons.
I removed the intake and took it to an engine shop. The mechanic set it on top of a bare 427 block on a work bench at eye level. We found the problem. The intake did not seat on the heads because it was contacting the block. It was raised somewhere near .050" which prevented the intake gasket from compressing. I ground off a lot of excess metal from each intake port of the manifold, and eventually created a good match between intake, heads and block.
The hole for the distributor has never been a good match. The rubber gasket for the distributor shaft is always slightly deformed because of an alinement irregularity, and eventually leaks
oil.
I've spoken with other folks that own Dove pieces. Our stories are similar.
Would I purchase a nearly entire engine composed of pieces cast by Dove?
Instead, I'd spend my dollars at Keith Craft's shop for a wedge-head motor that will make more power, comes with a guarantee, and costs less.
This is just one ole boy's opinion.
David
Threaded Mode
