Intake swap worth it on this?

[travis]

Basic stock smogger type 350 SBC, slightly bigger than stock cam, some light porting, small compression increase, already has headers. Owner insists on keeping the stock Rochester 2bbl. It's a beater farm truck...1974 C20, TH400, 3.21 gears. Owner is looking for more pulling power from idle-4000 or so.

Would an intake swap be worth the effort? I'm thinking performer type intake with a 2bbl adapter. I can pick up a used one for $100-150. But I don't know if it would gain anything in an application like this.

[BOOT]

For myself i do all type of small gain stuff but for a paying customer I wouldn't bother. Anything else at this point will just be minor stuff, sounds like he'd be happier with some valve covers n a air cleaner. It's a heavy truck, a few lbs or few hp isn't gonna impress.

[edit] In fact this is the type of scenario you brag how well it does, with so little n stock parts

[Monza355]

His best bet for an increased power in the rpm range he’s looking for is a stock 4 barrel intake and a quadrajet on top. Too bad he doesn’t want that power

[rfoll]

Basic stock smogger type 350 SBC, slightly bigger than stock cam, some light porting, small compression increase, already has headers. Owner insists on keeping the stock Rochester 2bbl. It's a beater farm truck...1974 C20, TH400, 3.21 gears. Owner is looking for more pulling power from idle-4000 or so.

Would an intake swap be worth the effort? I'm thinking performer type intake with a 2bbl adapter. I can pick up a used one for $100-150. But I don't know if it would gain anything in an application like this.

3.21 gears? I have never heard of gears that tall in a 3/4 ton truck. If he wants pulling power a gear change is in order.

[Tom68]

Sp2p or don't touch it.

[rebelrouser]

Basic stock smogger type 350 SBC, slightly bigger than stock cam, some light porting, small compression increase, already has headers. Owner insists on keeping the stock Rochester 2bbl. It's a beater farm truck...1974 C20, TH400, 3.21 gears. Owner is looking for more pulling power from idle-4000 or so.

Would an intake swap be worth the effort? I'm thinking performer type intake with a 2bbl adapter. I can pick up a used one for $100-150. But I don't know if it would gain anything in an application like this.

I know it is a lot more work than swapping an intake but advancing the camshaft a few degrees will give you more low rpm torque than any manifold swap. Used to do it for the guys that put big, tall tires on their 4 x4 trucks and then couldn't get out of their own way.

[Walter R. Malik]

Unless you are going to a single plane manifold for more top end power with the 2 barrel ... use the stock stuff.

[Tom68]

...

[Tom68]

1974. Probably got a terrible ignition timing curve costing power and taxing the cooling system.

[ProPower engines]

The 2bbl will give you more low end and the Rochester carb does work well for this application.
Putting a 4bbl intake on it will kill what GM already designed well.
Making the throttle bores in the intake slightly larger and putting a balance port between the divider wall much like an H pipe in the exhaust does works well also.
GM did make some EGR intakes that used that balance port and they seem to work better for 2bbl circle track stuff so what your doing it should be better. Or you can make the mods to the divider wall instead of locating a different intake.

[travis]

The intake is an earlier non-egr unit, but I did put a thick heat insulating spacer under the carb so it does now have a bit of crossover space. I also replaced the HEI of unknown origin that had a completely frozen advance with a old Summit HEI I had, plus put a quicker curve in it. I also replaced the heavily internally corroded carb with a rebuilt one. He's happy with it now.