All I ever wanted was to be tall, good looking and have a short, fat-runnered intake manifold for my small block Ford. Somebody, somewhere has a wry sense of humor, 'cause I'm short, fat, and my Ford EFI manifold, while reasonably good-looking, is irritatingly tall.

The LS engine picture below was posted in another thread by airbrush1:
I gotta' ask, why in the world hasn't someone designed a manifold similar to this for EFI Windsor Fords???
1. Small block Fords with their 8.4" deck height are really diminutive, and with aluminum heads quite light; they fit into dang near anything.
2. Its only Achilles heel for packaging is the gangly, tall intake manifolds.
3. The Fox body Mustang made these engines/drivetrains a huge market (easy to recover R&D)
4. Other aftermarket manifolds for Fords aren't cheap; a phenolic or similar casting should be darn profitable sold in good numbers

That LS motor is longer and wider, harder to package in a little car, but look at that strut tower brace running right over the manifold. On a Ford build, you're shimming the subframe down and clipping hood bracing trying to clear the upper intake. It's also challenging to fab up a cold air intake for the Ford manifolds; that LS manifold is brilliant with the air inlet front and center. And the LS design is light; the two-piece Fords, although aluminum, are surprisingly heavy.

Because the Windsor engine is nearing the end of its life cycle, this is a seemingly great idea not ever likely to happen. But wouldn't it be a terrific product?

I know it won't help to complain but thought maybe it would make me feel better.

 

a better pic to illustrate your point

 

I think the main issue is the front mounted distributor. While at the VERY end of the game they moved to electronic ignition on the Ford Explorer 5.0, 99.9 % of 5.0's ever made had that front-and-center distributor.

As I am planning on moving to an LS-style ignition system at some point I too would love to see such a thing if it ever happens. Even a side feed one in plastic would be cool.

-Jason

 

I absolutely LOVE the cold air intake on the red car. That design makes so much sense it's scary.

If you think about it, the mandatory low, sloping nose on Corvettes probably influenced GM's intake manifold thinking way back in the early design phase. Ford's pony car as well as grocery-getters had room under the hood for the taller manifold, so no challenge for innovation.

 

switching to the LS1 yet ?

 

hehehehe

 

Totally agree, x10000

Racer in me wants to ditch nose weight. Pt cruiser had it in 2001...why has no one in aftmkt made one? Weight savings would make it worth it to me.

Did a search for one, guys are remaking them for porsche 928's. Why can't we contact someone from a mustang shop?

Jason, know anyone? I was at sema in 2011, but there were a ton of capable groups there, but a mustang guy could design it in 1/10 the time me and a Chinese guy could....

 

Links. Composit ford 302 intake.

Chev composite, why not ford? Group buy?
World Products - Products

99 composites, leak
Ford Mustang GT 99 04 4 6L Lower Pi Intake Manifold | eBay

Webers!!

Ford SB 260 289 302 Windsor Down Draft EFI Stack Intake Manifold System Complete | eBay

MorrisonOz/Ford Manifolds

Eight Stack Injection- 289 302 347 Systems

 

This makes me hot. I want I want. But will it fit under the hood?

 

It seems to me that most smiles happen with the hood closed so it's the top side that counts. So with all due respect to the wire tucker crowd and the fine folks that actually clean under their hood I would like to offer an opposing view point.

IMO it makes no difference what intake is hiding under there the best engine bay is one with a down home lived in look. Nothing says loved like a good amount of clutter and DIY handiwork:

Every part tells a story here and when you add some bits of rubber blown up from a race track, the dust from the dirt road to your favorite picnic spot and the drips from changing oil, you end up with an engine bay with far more character and interesting stories to tell than any blingy intake could offer.


Sure this is cool:

Check that comment, that's way beyond cool!

But this is the side that really matters....


If for no other reason than the only time you will ever see it is if there is a problem I say close the hood, go for a drive, and forget about what is hiding under there!

PS yes you can park me down at the end in Atlanta and pretend I'm not there!

 

Jim said "But this is the side that really matters...."

I agree, with the caveat it's the image below from a chilly Sunday drive with the wife a couple weeks ago.

 

If I don't tolerate dirt and oil on the Jeep motor and drive train, I'm sure not going to tolerate it under the hood of the roadster. It's not a bling thing for me though. Cleaning allows you to touch. Touching allows you to find issues before they leave you stranded. But then I'm the guy who checks his fluid levels and tire pressures every drive (on my non-DD's). Blame it on OCD or years of mandatory pmcs in the military.

But we've strayed from the purpose of the thread. The intake desire had nothing to do with pretty nor performance...it was about packaging for less modifications for fit. ...we LS guys are the spoiled ones that get to just worry about pretty.

 

+1 and good point!!!

 

So, what good EFI 5.0 intake will fit under a stock hood? I have the stocker from a Fox Mustang with a 3/4" spacer on it and a scoop I don't like and several pieces of the hood structure removed. I'd really like to go back to a stock hood. I like the stock appearance.

The cam will tell the gearheads its not stock.

 

Well, your stocker should fit without the spacer. I believe I remember reading that the Trick Flow 5.0L EFI street manifold was no taller than stock; check a reliable source before acting on my questionable memory.

I read in several places that the Ford Explorer 5.0L manifolds were the same height as the stock Fox body EFI manifolds. Just yesterday I read on a reputable technical site that the Explorer is 1/2" taller than the Fox body unit. Does anyone know for sure on this? I bought an early Explorer manifold and had it professionally ported; I'm going to be sad if it won't fit under the hood.

 

Webers are finicky, hard to tune, change on a second's notice and they are absolutely beautiful. Maybe I'll just get a stock hood and chop a hole in it so I can put four 48's on it.

I wonder if this would fit under my hood?

 

I built a cafe racer motorcycle from a hopped up, cammed, over-bored 750 four Honda in the early '70's. It had dual Weber carbs on an RC Engineering manifold; they stuck their lovely, polished velocity stacks 45 degrees outwards on both sides. Real eye candy, and they actually weren't bad to tune.

 

If you had that set up on the car you wouldn't want a hood hiding it!

 

I'm visualizing a a blinged-out engine bay topped with the multi-weber setup, polished, curved velocity stacks protruding through small, individual holes perfectly cut in the transparent, molded plexiglass hood...

 

You mean like...

 

I don't really think he had a clear plastic mailbox in mind...but a Hemi would be cool if it didn't screw up the weight distribution so much.

 

FWIW, the stock SN95 intake (94-95 Mustang) fits under the hood with no modifications to the intake or the hood, using the standard Monster Miata kit.
TM

 

Thats quite interesting nobody mentioned that. Hard to complain for 100 bucks.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1994-1995-Mu...1693da&vxp=mtr

So, on your Ford plastic manifold subject, I'd bet FAST or AFR would be a good place to start. AFR is building heads for Ford/LS/Mopar guys, and they would know a thing or two about what building a good manifold takes. Unfortunately one of their awesome flow guys, Tony, just started his own offshoot. He's likely far to busy for this project.

 

And the engines been dead for 15yrs. If no one made it then, why would they start now.

 

Very true. The NA miata has also been dead for 22 years...