One of the quickest ways to increase power to your Chevy V-8 is to replace the stock intake manifold with a performance aluminum manifold. These aftermarket manifolds are relatively cheap and designed to ingest a larger volume of air. It's simple, really. More air means more power. But which manifold is for you? For us to pick one specifically would be ridiculous, especially in today's aftermarket, which is flowing (pun intended) with high-quality intake manifolds to choose from. For most street applications a dual-plane intake is the best choice. These will generally help increase your power curve from 1,500 to 6,500 rpm, which is the engine speed most performance street engines are operated. These gains won't throw the seat-of-the-pants meter to full-tilt, but you can expect to increase the engine's powerband throughout its entire power curve.
It should be said that the intake manifold must be installed properly in order to provide good engine performance. Improper installation can cause vacuum or oil leaks, binding throttle linkage, and myriad other problems. It's nothing major, but why not do it right the first time, especially when all you need are common wrenches, sockets, and screwdrivers? With the few simple tips and guidelines featured over the next several pages, you can skip the woes of a mediocre installation, have the swap completed before noon, and cruise out to the local burger joint while enjoying your newfound gains.
Prior to removing the intake...
Prior to removing the intake manifold we cranked the motor to the No. 1 cylinder's timing position before top dead center (BTDC) to serve as an easy reference during reassembly of where the distributor was installed. In our case, we cranked the engine to 8 degrees BTDC.
We started by disconnecting...
We started by disconnecting the battery's negative terminal, followed by removing the plug wires, throttle linkage, and necessary brackets and draining the coolant. We also noted that our distributor's rotor is aiming straight ahead. If you're not sure you'll be able to remember the placement of all of the brackets and linkage it's a good idea to take a few digital photos as a reminder.
So that we could closely reinstall...
So that we could closely reinstall the distributor's housing into the same position and keep the same ignition timing, we marked the housing to the intake manifold with a felt pen.
Then we loosened the distributor...
Then we loosened the distributor for removal, twisting the housing a few times.
After removing the distributor...
After removing the distributor we quickly wrapped the bottom gear with a shop towel to prevent the engine oil from dripping all over the place.
On this small-block Chevy...
On this small-block Chevy V-8 there are 12 intake-manifold bolts that needed to be removed. Keep the bolts in an out-of-the-way location during the job; the proper intake-manifold bolts are a specific length and hardness, which are not usually available at hardware stores.