Technical can a Chevy guru explain this intake?

I already looked, theres one on there that's not bid up too high, maybe I should fire up the ol' sniper program.

 

Theres a couple on there that aren't COMPLETEY INSANE (like $600-$750 uh yea, right...) that I will watch for a couple days, and theres a '64/'65 "461" Corvette intake with the septum already milled. But I think if I'm gonna do this, I want the "right" intake...

 

Lynn...
I'm sure this is more than an urban myth and I'd bet you would agree on this, like the
L79's "151" cam, GM sold more of those intakes(l79) across the counter than were installed on production line engines.
Within their design perameters; they are still hard to beat, wish you could still buy them for what they use to go for.

 

Denny, how are the odds of finding one at the big Portland swap? I am planning on going next April anyway.

 

Top one is 340 hp 327 GM #3795397 and bottom one is 350 hp 327 GM #3890490. I didn't know there were two generations of this design. You can see the differences, good to know at a swap meet. The HAMB is always great, ask a question and learn!

 

There may even be differences between these two and the '64/'65 Corvette "461" casting, I haven't looked at them all side by side.

 

'64/'65 intake, vacuum fitting in the back runner, oil fill tube angled to the left


'62/'63 340hp intake, no vacuum fitting, oil fill tube angled to the left,


And '66 intake, vacuum fitting, and oil tube angled to the right, to clear in the L-79 Chevy II, and the temp sender hole is in a different place.

So yes, all three castings are different.

 

George, I don't need to tell you the Portland swap meet has been (one of) the top meets in the country.
Since it's nearly in my back yard, as well as old h.s. buddy was on the committee for many years, the PDX swap meet has allowed me to find many of the sought after parts for my projects. The operative approach is "the early bird get's the worm".
As you'd guess; it is also quite lucrative for sellers of cars and parts.

One more thing about swap meets is regardless of auction site pricing, there is the added value of holding (the) part in your hand before paying for it. Online auctions are kinda like Forrest Gump says..."life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you're going to get".

 

Most obvious differences between the "461"(64-65) and the"490"(66-67) intakes is the orientation of both the oil fill and the thermostat housing.

 

I gotta admit, I have got some good deals on evilbay. I think the trick is to really know your prices, not to jump on over-priced crap, but when the deal is right you gotta be ready to pull the trigger. It takes some patience and self-control, but I have bought nice 9-fins for $400 on there, a brazed together '57 245hp cast iron bowl type tach drive dual point for $75, and some other good deals, especially on vintage Corvette parts. The dual point was honestly a bit of a roll of the dice, but it paid off, those things usually go for $300+. I have all the top-end stuff to visually clone a '57 270 hp 283, and including a '61 T-10, I am into all of it for less than a grand. I watch ebay pretty close, I don't buy that often, but I check for stuff every day, and bargains are there. Last big score I had on there was a set of 4 decent '55/'56 short-bar Lancer wheel covers for $78, I already had 3, I had paid around $75 EACH for the other three. The full set I bought off ebay had painted flippers, which I think put a lot of guys off, there was only one other bidder. But hell, if you want those to look really good, you ALWAYS have to suck it up and re-plate the flippers anyway!

 

I know this discussion has run off the rails a bit, but I just gotta say it...
When I hand someone a big stack of green paper for a part, I expect to get what I expect.
Just too much "slight of hand" going on for my hard earned $$$$ to take chances like we hear about pretty regularly regarding online transactions.

 

I think a big part of my comfort level with online shopping is a result of being a Canadian hot rodder in the '70s and '80s. Long before there was ebay or even an internet, I was buying lots of stuff mail-order, have been basically since I started building cars. There was lots of good stuff we just couldn't access any other way.
And there were some local companies back in the day that sold some real JUNK and got away with it, because they were the only game in town, and most guys were scared to buy stuff out of the states. Torque converters come to mind here, and I am not talking about TCS, their stuff has always been pretty good, this was long before they came along, but there was another local outfit I wont name, their stuff was just flat out junk. And if you wanted a manual valve body, your only choice locally was B&M, and you would have to order it and wait. hell you could get it way faster just ordering it yourself.
If you wanted a cam, it was pretty much Isky, Sig Erson or Crane, unless you ordered it yourself, same deal on a lot of stuff.

 

Time for a five year bump.

 

The L79 intake is a great intake. Chevy updated the intake in 67 for the Z/28 Camaro and that intake is almost a dead ringer for a C3B intake. I have 2 Z/28 style intakes on cars. I just scored this mint L79 for a smoking deal a week ago to put away for a rainy day.

Z/28 Style (notice front tall runners) This is a 69/70 style as the 67/68 units has the thermostat housing close the L79 location, it was moved in 69:


C3B Intake I have, these are closer to 67/68 Z/28 units:


L79 Intake I just scored:

 

Bump

 

This will always look cool. Still need to find a early 327 block for my intake, then a car for the motor, lol.

 

Where did this engine (L79) suck in its air for the PCV system? The rocker covers were sealed and so was the oil fill tube.

 

If you look close, under the vacuum advance, you can see the breather tube that goes from the back of the block to the air cleaner base. The PCV valve is in the oil fill tube.

 

GM was having trouble with the left side rear wheel spinning more than the right so they restricted it slightly with this intake.
Early traction control

 

Holley carb

 

I got one of those, I think. Have to mount it side ways to match the manifold holes?

 

That was not for a 3 barrel carb!

 

Why not?

 

The 3 barrel carb, the oval barrel was the secondary and the L79 manifold had the oval port was for the passenger side of a 4 barrel carb!

 

The carb base plate is oriented differently (front/back) than the intake (sideways). That carb was a 950 cfm intended originally for nascar big block engines.

 

The picture you referenced is of an Edelbrock C3B.

 

I didn't reference an Edelbrock C3B manifold, the thread was started questioning why the L79 manifold was made like it is with the oval on the passenger side and that is what I was referring to, sorry if that wasn't clear to you.

 

Thanks. I guess they still had the can in the valley and the the feed you showed me went to the underside of the air cleaner.