Page 1 of 1

Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:49 pm
by ZGjethro
I googled for dual carbs for the 230 flathead and found some info on the Offenhauser Dual Carburetor Intake Manifolds. Has anyone here done anything like this? Driving mostly from 8000 to 10000 feet in elevation I am looking to get as much air into the engine as I can. I am looking for easy bolt on adds for some power, so no rebuilding of the motor, which is beyond me. I read about these manifolds on a hot rod site, so they are oriented to older cars.

Re: Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:52 am
by 98taco3
where are you located out of curiosity? The single barrel should be plenty of air flow i would think. I am not thinking youd see a little if any gain in performance with a 230 flat head with a different manifold. At least not in a 6k lb truck.

Re: Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:40 pm
by ZGjethro
I am in Aspen, Colorado. For the most part my truck works awesome. There are a few hills in my neighborhood which I can climb in third gear if I get a running start and can keep it floored. If I have to back off the gas at all, I have to downshift to second, which means I have to virtually stop. The downshift from fourth to third can be done at speed though. I am looking for just a little more power, so I do not have to go into second gear as often, which is for all purposes first gear. The other thing I might do is shave the head a bit, or shop around for a higher compression head. The air is so thin here that I do not think there will be too many issues. My current intake is a K&N filter on a straight pipe bolted to the carb.

Re: Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:10 pm
by MSeriesRebuild
ZGjethro wrote:I googled for dual carbs for the 230 flathead and found some info on the Offenhauser Dual Carburetor Intake Manifolds. Has anyone here done anything like this? Driving mostly from 8000 to 10000 feet in elevation I am looking to get as much air into the engine as I can. I am looking for easy bolt on adds for some power, so no rebuilding of the motor, which is beyond me. I read about these manifolds on a hot rod site, so they are oriented to older cars.
We have used offenhauser intakes, they work well. However I don't think just that alone will get you what you want. That along with some other improvements may get you just what you want. You can check out the one on the services pages on our website; we were able to get around 40 additional horsepower set up that way. We were after additional torque mainly, it worked out great and we got all the extra we expected.

Re: Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:21 pm
by ZGjethro
Thanks Charles. I saw the pictures of the dual carb equipped engine. The reality is that such a pretty setup is probably too expensive for me right now. Building has really slowed down where I live. Were there any other directions I should go in in my search for a little more power or torque? I have a stock motor with a K&N air filter and one of your Pertronix equipped distributors.

Re: Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:55 pm
by 98taco3
nice, another from colorado! I had the same issue down here on the front range. Turns out the valve train was worn out in my engine.

Re: Dual carb intake manifold for 230 flathead

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:27 am
by Chuck
If interested, check out Parts For Sale in NH.I have a new dual carb intake there.
Chuck