350 Chevy Small Block V8, Intake Manifold

A stock factory cast iron 350 intake manifold serves a purpose. That purpose would be to make good torque at very low speeds and run out of breath at 4500 RPM. When higher performance is needed with more upper RPM horsepower and airflow capability, then ditching the factory cast iron Quadrajet intake or 2 barrel manifold is required.

Along with long tube headers and a good four barrel carb, a new performance small block Chevy intake manifold ranks as one of the best performance bolt-ons you can buy for your hot small block. Speedway Motors has a wide range of choices for you to pick from. Mild to wild, we have all your 350 Chevy intake needs covered.

Let’s break this down into a little detail for you. If you are searching for a single four barrel small block Chevy intake manifold, you really need to ask yourself a few questions and be honest with your answers. Is this a street engine that will not see more than 6500 RPM? If it is, then you are going to want to shop for a dual plane style. Dual plane style intakes feature longer runners, and give better low speed torque. Our website will give you a basic RPM operating range for your Chevy 350 intake manifold, so be sure to read the details when shopping. If you are maybe bridging the gap between street and race, sometimes a dual plane, large runner, single four barrel “air gap” manifold is a great compromise between higher RPM and decent low and mid range torque. We offer these styles in Speedway brands, as well as names like Edelbrock, Weiand and Holley.

For those of you that are into nostalgia, a low rise dual quad intake might be the “look” you want for your 350 Chevy intake manifold requirements, or perhaps a three deuce or three two barrel intake fits the bill.

For the wilder side of things, a single plane, single four barrel intake usually is a bread and butter piece for above 6500 RPM operation. A great 350 Chevy intake manifold choice for higher RPM in a single plane might be the venerable Edelbrock Victor Jr. or the Speedway Motors Shootout polished high rise intake. Want to get even more wild? Why not a high rise dual quad tunnel ram poking out the hood? These big plenum, long runner intakes can make tons of torque and can really sing north of 7 grand!

Matching the correct components with your Chevy 350 intake is very important. If it’s a big tunnel ram or high RPM single plane, you are probably going to need deep gears, more cam, high flowing heads, good headers and all the rest to take advantage of the high RPM capability. When it comes to dual planes and single four barrel stuff, milder cams and lower compressions for daily driving are in order.

When it comes to other details when shopping for a small block Chevy intake manifold, don’t forget what style of intake bolt pattern you need. There are three styles: 55-86, 87-95 (known as TBI style) and 96-2001 vortec style. The early small block Chevy intakes before 1987 had six bolts per side and they were all drilled perpendicular to the cylinder head. In 1987-95, Chevy still used 6 bolts per side, but the center two bolts were at a slightly different angle, this is known as the TBI pattern. In 1996, when GM introduced the Vortec V-8, they eliminated the old style 6 bolts and went with just four bolts per side, two at the front and two at the rear. So when shopping for your 350 small block intake manifold, please be sure to know your cylinder head bolt pattern before you buy. If you have a Vortec head, then you are going to need a Vortec intake manifold, etc.

Don’t forget the other things you are going to need to install your 350 Chevy intake manifold. Intake manifold bolts, intake manifold gaskets, a distributor gasket, silicone sealer, a thermostat gasket and pipe thread sealer are necessary items to get the job done.