440 intake decision

Im ready to buy an aftermarket aluminum intake for my 440 dart! Its a street car that may see some track time but i DO want it to be as quick as possible on the street. It has stock 452 heads currently but will go aluminum soon hopefully. Ok, i REALLY want the performer RPM so bad i can taste the aluminum!!, BUT, i run a thermoquad, and by the time i take the height of the RPM intake, plus the carb adapter plate, im almost posotive it will not fit under my flat hood, and i dont want to cut my hood. I wish i knew someone close by that i could borrow the RPM intake and just mock it up on my car to be sure, but i cant see spending 300 bucks to buy the intake with the chances it will fit being so low. SO, i need to figure out which one to get that will clear the hood. Ive read that intake shoot out and still cant decide. Im guessing its between the Torker 2 and the holley street dominator,,? Any opinions are greatly appreciated. I need to decide soon as i have a lead on both the SD and torker 2 right now used.
Thanks!

I ran the Holley Street Dominator on my old 906 headed 440 and it worked good. Ran a best of 11.49 @ 116 in my 63 Sport Fury. Ron

Mopower,
I've ran the RPM and Street Dominator on my mild 440 and i can only tell you that from a "butt dyno" perspective I could not tell a difference. My engine
has Stealth heads, the larger Summit cam, and Hedman headers. Like I said...mild combo. Anyways since you're concerned about hood clearance I wouldn't
hesitate one bit on using that Street Dominator.
Britt

Use the Holley Street Dominator! I've tested it back to back against the Edelbrock Performer RPM on a mid 11 sec 440 combo in a 3700 lb car and they ran almost identical.

I had an Indy intake that wouldn't fit under the hood a few years ago. I just measured the amount it was too tall and had that much milled off at a machine shop. Cost about $75 if I remember correctly. Since I didn't have the chance to run both, I don't know what,if any, the performance penalty might have been. Or maybe cut the top flange off the adapter and have it welded to the intake after having the intake cut down till it all fits under the hood.

And I have had good luck with the Holley intake, myself.

If you have to run a spread bore and have to have a flat hood, without doing any machine work your choices are limited to
whatever manifolds already have a spread bore flange. Like a stock '70s iron thing, a Performer non-rpm, or a Street Dominator.


The Performer non-rpm is good for a huge car like a C body but I don't think you need that.

The stock iron stuff, is stock iron stuff.

That leaves the street dominator as the best overall choice.

I’ve always liked the CH4B for the street.

One of the best antiques out there !

Maybe the Holley SD is the right choice. But honestly, I don't know how anyone can make any recommendations with virtually no information regarding the motor, car, and use details.

I can assure you that there is a point that the SD will measurably under perform a dual plane intake.

And, if your're really interested in not giving up performance, I'm not sure why the use of something other than a TQ is not a consideration.

Thermoquads and quadrajet is all i know anything about.. I have no clue how a holley works. The engine is a .030 over 440, cast crank engine, stock 452 heads. Compression ratio is right at 9.4:1. MP 284/484 cam installed 4 degrees advanced. 3000 stall, stock iron intake, 3.23 gears FOR NOW..will be going to 3.55 or 3.91 in the near future.Initial timing is 18 and total 34. The thing makes crazy torque especially being in a lighter A-body, but wanting a little more up top. I will go with aluminum heads when money is saved up.

Get an SD

is that your opinion serious? You think it would be fine on the street when just cruising being a single plane and all? Didnt know if you are being serious or sarcastic because of my combo..

you have a healthy cam, some stall, a torquey motor in a lightish car and might go to a pretty steep gear...the SD makes sense. I've read that the M1 single plane is similar to the SD, maybe someone else can confirm for you...

He says he wants a street intake. That means a dual plane. Yeah it'll go flat after 5500rpm, because it's made to. Give it some gear and the dual plane of your choice and go have fun. Don't give up torque with a single plane on the street.

Had a couple of street dominators over the years on a few different cars, and never was I unhappy with performance. Them things were and are, everywhere, not because they're junk.

You've basically got the old Direct Connection 13.5 second recipe.

Before the M1 intakes were available, and before the name change to Mopar Performance....Chrysler recommended the Holley Street Dominator for this setup.

No worries, that's the one you want for how you're using the car + it will support your future plans.

Just unsure being it IS a single plane and being used on the street, but many say that the way its made that it is still good on the low end side for the street..?

performance wise you have 3 intakes that work the best and have been dynoed and track tested over and over again, Street dominator, M1 single plane and a edelbrock performer rpm. all will be within a hp or two of each other, all ran about the same quarter mile on the same car when tested back to back. now the m1 and the rpm are pretty tall. the street dominator is noticeably shorter than the others. so if you're worried about hood clearance the sd is the easy winner and keeps up performance with the other two. once you start getting more aggressive into the 650-700 hp range then you definitely want to switch intakes.

I've heard that the Street Dominator was popular with the cops in the old 440 cars. Never saw it myself but it was a popular rumor back in the 70s.

I've heard that too.

With my Performer RPM I had to use a 1/2" carb spacer instead of a 1" carb spacer like I originally wanted and a drop base air cleaner to get hood clearance on a '67 Satellite. So if the SD allows you to use a 1" carb spacer and an air cleaner that isn't drop base, maybe that gives you the performance edge?

Looking back, it does come off as possibly sarcasm, which I actually do from time to time. But I am serious. You have enough motor where an SD would be okay IMO. I personally would still prefer a dual plane, and you will give some up in the lower rpm range, but considering your constraints of TQ and flat hood, overall probably an okay choice.

cool. I went ahead and ordered the SD. I was thinking seriously about switching to a holley so i could use the performer RPM even though i know nothing about a holley., but figured i would try the SD and if not happy i could re-sell it and go the other route, but i have not heard any negatives about using the SD so will give it a try.

A wise chose, cause I don't think the performer RPM will fit under your Dart's flat hood with the RB 440.

Holley Street Dominator! Mine fits under the stock hood and does a great job.

See sig for proof.

I also have the SD. Second car I have had one on. Both with eddy heads. My current engine dynode at 554.7 hp, 545 tq. Pretty sure it may have a little more in it. I was worried about height on my 71 as it has an airgrabber hood. I didn't use the original air cleaner, but still have it. Kevin

Port the intake. Bobby (Streetwize) did mine and it picked up a .10 in the quarter.

I thought about that but the heads are not ported, so if the intake is bigger than the head ports, wont that cause interference with airflow?

I am so mad at myself i could bite a 440 in half right now! This whole intake deal, as i said, i really wanted a performer RPM but it would be too tall to fit under my flat hood and i didnt want to cut my hood. The hood WAS perfect, until today. I ended up getting the street dominator. I installed it today and i set the carb on top of the intake to make sure it would clear the hood. I lowered the hood and it hit the air cleaner stud and it put a dent in the damn hood! The dent sticks up about the size of that stud and of course it cracked the paint. Seems like every time i work on this car i screw something up. Just makes me sick!

I'm sorry to hear about your hood and understand about how these cars can torture us. Here's a picture of the hood of my 65 Corvette 30 miles after a complete 3 year frame off restoration. A acorn hit the hood and windshield so hard I ducked thinking it was going to break. I didn't even know it hit the hood since it hit the windshield so hard. I was afraid to get out and check the stainless trim thinking it might be damaged. It was only after being happy to see the trim wasn't damaged did I see the chip in the hood. My heart broke and I remember telling the gal that was with me "I guess God doesn't want me to have anything nice".