Do Speed Parts Really Perform - Price VS. Power

We tested three different TD 1-inch-thick aluminum spacers on the dual-plane intake fitted to our GM Performance Parts 502. TD spacers included: an open-style Super Holley Hiker Spacer (PN 2084); a four-hole Swirl Torque Spacer (PN 2431); and a four-hole Swirl Torque Stepped Spacer (PN 2438). Installation is simple-remove the carb, thread in the supplied longer carb studs, install the spacer plate, and then reinstall the carb.

We tested three different TD 1-inch-thick aluminum spacers on the dual-plane intake fitted

Carb Spacer Speed
Price: About $25 per spacer
How Much Faster?: 0.078 second/0.84 mph
For years, car magazines have touted carb spacers as an easy and inexpensive performance mod. A spacer serves as a heat shield to keep the carb cool and reduce the chance of vapor lock, and tall spacers can increase the intake plenum area. Some engines prefer four-hole spacers and others benefit from open spacers. Finding the best one takes some experimenting.

Back in the Apr. '96 issue, we did a carb spacer dyno test and found a notable horsepower increase on a 330hp small-block. This time we put the proof to the track, testing three different 1-inch aluminum carb spacers from TD Performance on our 502 big-block-equipped Cheap Street Chevelle. It's usually 2-inch spacers that make more of a difference, but it's often tough to fit 'em under the hood. At the track, we did back-to-back testing between the spacers and did not optimize carb jetting for any of the tests. The spacers didn't make a big difference on the 502, but remember that results will differ considerably with other combos. -John Kiewicz

Source
TD Performance Products
Dept. CC
16410 Manning Way
Cerritos, CA 90703
562/921-0404
www.tdperformance.com

Ram-Air Ramifications
Price: Around $160
How Much Faster?: 0.197 second/1.49 mph
Cramming air down the carb has long been known for making cheap power. With the cheeziest of homemade ram-air systems, we improved by 0.13 second and 1.09 mph in our Oct. '98 "Faster For Free" story. You may also remember a story called "Cruisin' with Chris" in the Oct. '98 issue-it was about Chris Squire's '63 Fairlane with a carbureted 302 and, conveniently for us, a sano cold-air setup from Air Inlet Systems. We dragged Chris and his Ford to the track to see if the stuff really worked. While we were there, we also tried a standard open-element air cleaner and then no air cleaner at all. We ran the car three times in each configuration-all on P205/55ZR15 Comp T/A ZR street radials. -Miles Cook

Chris used the 14x3-inch air box with inlets at an 80-degree angle, but Air Inlet Systems offers a myriad of configurations to fit any car. Squire integrated the setup into his Fairlane with two 4-inch snorkels getting air from ducts he cut into the radiator core support. The oval-shaped ducts (arrows) are very effective because they're far enough away from the inside headlights to ingest air right through the grille. The finished setup looks trick too-it's reminiscent of the system found on '64 Fairlane Thunderbolts.

Source
Air Inlet Systems
Dept. CC
177 Grace Ave.
Hamilton, Ontario L8H 3X1
Canada
905/549-6135
www.ramairbox.com