@GeorgS posted:Your assumption is correct. Street car, with stock looking engine.
I don't want to change the position of the engine, that can of worms is a bit too much for me.
What would be your recommendation for an intake manifold with 4V heads?
I already have a 1 inch dropped base plate, which was on the car when I got it. It had a cheap Summit top, which I couldn't stand. With the flat Aluminium Top, with "Pantera" on it, it hit the deck lid.
With a 1 1/2 drop base and a 3 inch filter it worked, but then bad things happened (as seen in the first post).
For me, the best performing intake with the least issues was the Edelbrock Torker. It is a little taller then the stock Ford intake but has much better off idle response.
The Blue Thunder is a copy of the Shelby intake. I used the Shelby intake and compared to the Torker was disappointing.
The Shelby has been out of production for 50 years and I can't speak to how close the Blue Thunder is to it but my impression was that it may be the best intake for a 351c with an automatic transmission.
In all cases I found that a vacuum secondary carb was a significant hindrance and wound up using a Holley 4179, 750cfm with mechanical secondaries.
That combination right there would be the issue for an automatic transmissioned car, but in my view the preferred combination for a manual transmission and a performance camshaft is the Torker.
It would be fair to state that I run a solid lifter camshaft. Then and now. In my view if you are running a hydraulic lifter camshaft, even a hydraulic roller, you are just pretending to have a high performance engine no matter who attempts to convince you otherwise. It is just not going to put you into the rpm range where the Cleveland engines out perform just about everything else.
I did run two of the Ford Motorsport "aftermarket" intakes using the A3 aluminum high port heads.
I used the tall spider single 4v and the Torker style. I found the tall spider just a waste of time for my application. That one is just intended for constant rpm use in the 7,000 rpm and above range. That is where it will show maybe 25 more hp but the A341 "Torker type" was similar to the Edelbrock for the iron 4v heads and the better choice.
I long ago (25-30 years) went to an 8 stack with the A3 heads. That is where the car is now. So single 4v intake systems for me are old news. They are just not in the same ball park as an 8 stack regardless of what you may see on Dyno Masters
You likely will run into contrasting opinions but the Pantera tends to be a unique vehicle in that the same 351C in a Mustang has different requirements in a Pantera.
What you likely are approaching building in a Pantera is something on the order of a Group 3 or Group 4 car, or something in between.
It all depends on how you intend to run the car? You can run a 7 liter version of the engine but have rpm limits of 6,000 or under or run something like what DT ran in the Comp cars way back.
It is this difficulty in conceiving exactly what you want the engine and car to be that seems to be the issue for many? YOU need to have the focus and make the determinations. As such there probably is no way to avoid making mistakes in judgement. It is all part of the game.
I do have sympathy towards that situation. It reminds me of my own mistakes.
"Do not remind me of my own failures. I have not forgotten them." - Jackson Brown.