Super six intake or 4bbl?

[Slant6Duster]

Well, i did some research on the super six intake and the 4bbl for the slant six. As far as I see the 4bbl offers more power and a better gas mileage? Yet i was also told to go with the super six, well since i didnt find much on the super six, whats the big deal with it? Whats so special, also if theres any specs anyone knows about it and the 4 bbl comparison could you please tell me what they are?

[Christopher]

I'm not sure what the differences are between the super six manifold and the standard one.I do know that the super six manifold will accept a 2bbl carb which will improve performance.I had a 79 Volare with the s/s and installed a 2bbl Holley for a 69 318 and the performance and the gas milage went way up.

[cruzerjd]

If you are running a street driven /6, then go for the Super 6 manifold and carb. An engine as small and low end torque oriented as the 225 will not need a 4 barrel. I have used a Carter BBD on a the six cylinder engines I have built and have never had a problem. If you are building an all out performance machine, then a small 4 barrel would be the route to go. The best thing about a Super 6 is that you can find the manifolds in the parts yards pretty cheap. My buddy has one in his /6 aspena nd the car really moves well, and thats in a 4 door boat. You didn't specify what you are going to run it in, bit in a lighter car it could really make for a sleeper. cruzerjd

[Slant6Duster]

Well I am running it in my 74 Gold Duster, I want as much performance as possible, and it is going to be a street car. Cuz my father wants me to put on a 390cfm 4bbl, he said that will give better mileage and better performance than the super six, but I also heard that the super six intakes port are much wider and accept the much more air than a 4bbl oofenhauser or clifford iintake does.

[Tim_K]

The difference between a Super Six and an ordinary Slant Six is that the Super Six has the BBD 2 bbl. carb. You get an extra 10 hp and 10 ft. lbs. of torque from it. The 2 bbl. intakes aren't any wider in their intake ports than 1 barrel manifolds are, and even if they were, you'd still have to gasket match and port the head to see any gains from it. You should do like your dad said and install the 390 cfm 4 bbl. on a Cliford intake manifold. This will get you more power and better mileage. If you did use the 2 bbl. setup for now, they came in either cast iron or aluminum. I have an aluminum one on my /6 now. The 2 bbl. manifold advertised in the old MP Catalog is a rip off, I've seen them and the ports are NO different than what you'd find in a junkyard iron 2 bbl. intake. MP makes theirs from aluminum, but it's not worth the $150.00+ price. You could buy a 4 bbl. manifold for the same price!
Since it seems like you want to learn a lot about /6's, read the topics HEADS OR TAILS, MP2000 Catalog, and Speedy and Tim's Slant Six Page on this forum.
Also, for performance, check on what your axle ratio is. If you have 2.45, 2.76, or 2.94 gears, change them to 3.23's for instant improvement in acceleration.

[Alpha Geek]

I have build several /6s. Everything from mild to wild. I have used the "super six" and both the offy and Clifford 4bbl intakes. I have never tried the 6 x 1bbl Clifford offered but I have seen it used.
As far as I could tell the SS manifold was identical to the standard 1bbl version, except for the carb mounting pad. If you want to go for the sleeper look go with the SS intake. It would also be the budget build approach. The SS package will not much more power but... I have a trick you can use to give the package more ZIP. The stock carb for the SS is a Carter BBD 2bbl. It is almost identical to the one found on most 318s. The differences are 1. Throttle linkages and 2. CFM. The 318 are larger. The more CFM comes from the fact that the venturie are larger. The Carter BBD has 3 main castings, the air horn, the venturie/fuel bowl, and the throttle plates. Interesting fact, the parts are interchangeable. In other words KEEP the throttle plate and air horn assembly and swap the center sections. Use the rods and jets from the 318 carb. Poof more CFM, stock look and you do not have to fabricate any thing.
As for the 4bbl intakes. I found the Offy to be better than the Clifford. First the Clifford intake does not match up to the stock exhaust. It is designed to be used with their header package. You will have to fabricate a block-off plate for the stock exhaust heater stove. Second since it did not mate up to the exhaust it would ice up in the wintertime. Remember it is just hanging in space with lots of air circulation to cool it. The offy piece mates to and is designed for the stock exhaust manifold. It was also beefier and would stay warm much better, even at highway speeds.
If you decide to go with the 4bbl, a few things you should consider. Unless you have mega bucks you will have to fabricate most of your linkages. Clifford sells all the pieces but they want top dollar. If you want to spend that much just get a V8. Do not waste your money on headers or a cam. The cost/benefit ratio is very poor and they are only useful for racing.
What has worked for me?
The offy intake, good port matching, some head work, and run 2.25" custom bent exhaust. I usually swap the tranie gears for a lower set, see other posts, and drop the rear to 2.9 or 3.21 and add a posi. This will give you mega launch and reasonable economy. Remember the /6 is a long stroke engine with only 5 mains and doesn't like high RPMs. It will make gobs of low-end torque.

[CudaMike]

Another alternative is the Clifford 4 barrel intake that is water heated. That is, if you wanted to use headers and still have a heated intake.

[Tim_K]

I've been running the aluminum Super Six intake with Clifford Street Rod headers for over 4 years now. The intake does hang out in space with nothing around to heat it up, but it isn't a problem for me. The engine doesn't run very well for the first mile or 2, but once it warms up, everything is ok. In the wintertime, I use a piece of 4 inch aluminum flexible dryer duct hose for carb. heat. Hose clamp it to the first 2 header tubes, and run it right into the open end of the air cleaner. poke 1 small 2 inch hole in it near the battery for air to get in, and bend the rod in the air cleaner that goes from that vacuum can on top to that air door on the bottom of the inlet so it's always partly open. Runs great in winter like that. Without this carburetor heat system in winter, though, it totally sucks for driveability. However, as you can see, I found the way to fix that.