Club Cobra - Intake Manifolds: Blue Thunder Vs. Edelbrock RPM

Club Cobra (http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/)

- FE TALK (http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/fe-talk/)

- - Intake Manifolds: Blue Thunder Vs. Edelbrock RPM (http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/fe-talk/86349-intake-manifolds-blue-thunder-vs-edelbrock-rpm.html)

Intake Manifolds: Blue Thunder Vs. Edelbrock RPM

Running a 427 FE stroked to 482, what would be the major differences between the Edelbrock RPM manifold and a Blue Thunder FE dual plane single 4 barrel for Medium Riser heads (IM-427MR-4V)? Carb is a Holley 750 DP.

Any advantage to one over the other?

This is what I'd like to know also on a Ford Racing crate motor, M-6007-Z50Z I've been stuck between the two choices for awhile. And how about a carb choice for a street car Cobra to go with it.

Check out: www.dambest.com

Thanks!

Both will probably make about the same power, maybe the blue thunder a little more, but the blue thunder looks more period correct.

If you REALLY want a comprehensive review of the FE intakes and their performance differences as tested on one engine (compared apples to apples), go to fordfe.com and do a search on "intake comparison" or something similar. The thread author is Jay Brown, and he is without question the single authority on this particular question.

phil

Keep in mind when looking at Jay's dyno test that the results were from a fairly mild FE build. I've seen many times on the FE forum that Jay has cautioned folks that the test results mentioned above are only valid for engines in that approximate size and state of build.

I can tell you that I'm building a 482" sideoiler with Keith Craft solid roller cam and stage II heads, about 11:1 compression ratio. He guesses from past builds with this combo that it's about a 625 HP build, and I'm having it assembled locally by a guy with 30+ years of FE experience. Keith suggested the Performer RPM. Past this you've got me - it's all I know, hope it's of some help.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by philminotti (Post 828007)

His tests were on a stock stroke 428 with stock, mildly cleaned up CJ heads and much tamer cams as I recall. Those results will hold little to no value being compared to a 482, especially if the 482 has a set of stage II CNC'd heads with a stout hydraulic roller. The intake that flowed gang-busters for the 428 in Jay's test might very well fall flat on it's face at 4500 rpms on the 482. Look to Gessford, Barry R or Keth Craft for the real intake deal on the big inch strokers. As mentioned before I think the Blue Thunder (which I run) will marginally, if any, out perform the RPM. The Blue thunder is a much better clone of the original 427MR 1X4 dual plane than the RPM . The RPM will yield a better bang for the buck.

Dave

So is anyone here running a Blue Thunder?

Yes...I have the blue thunder on a 486FE

You can see pictures in my gallery. The Blue thunder intake(single 4) sits a little higher than the edelbrock performer rpm. I used a drop base air cleaner for hood clearance.

I too have some pics of mine in my gallery.

If you go with Blue Thunder make sure you "test fit" it on the engine, to include dropping in the distributor. The distributor hole in mine was bored and machined almost a 1/4" off. It took a lot of welding and remachining to make it usable again, with no help from the vendor or manufacturer. It's a great product, just make sure it's right before you start bolting it down.

Dave