Fuel System: Stude V-8 Edelbrock Intake Question

[LarkTruck]

Does anyone know if Edelbrock made an aluminum 3-2 intake manifold for Studebaker V-8s, or is this one I stumbled upon a Cadillac manifold?
Jim

[SN-60]

Does anyone know if Edelbrock made an aluminum 3-2 intake manifold for Studebaker V-8s, or is this one I stumbled upon a Cadillac manifold?
Jim

Don't think they did.....must be for a Caddy.

[hawk58man]

Cadilliac 331ci. V8 were similar to Stude V8's. Cadillac came with a single 4 barrel carb, or you could order 2 4 barrels option. The carbs where a smaller cfm around 400 cfm each, the intake manifold was cast iron and heavy. As far as I know Cadillac didn't have tripower, just dual quads.. but we can still keep Dreamin! Good Luck with your quest!.. Mike..

[SN-60]

To: hawk58man,-----Actually, I believe Cadillac did offer tri-power later on for the Eldorado models (Not sure, maybe '58-'60?)

[PackardV8]

The original '49-51 331" Cad was a 2-bbl. The 4-bbl came along around '52-'53. The 2x4 and later the 3x2 were Eldorado-only equipment. AFAIK, they couldn't be ordered as an option on the standard Cads.

And yes, with a die grinder and a lot of work, the early Cad OEM and after market intakes can be bolted to a Stude V8. The port mis-match is so bad no one has yet proven it makes more net horsepower than a Stude intake.

jack vines

[sals54]

I saw a paper written up years ago about making the Caddy intake work for the Stude. The 2x4 and 3x2 are the best candidates to do it with. It required cutting the manifold between the carbs and rewelding it together to take out the "gap" that misaligns the intake ports. In other words, the Caddy manifold was shortened in order to align the ports. Looked like a pretty slick idea. An aluminum manifold, of course, would make this task much easier, but you would then need to be sure to have an experienced welder do the aluminum work to put it back together.
Still, I doubt if it would produce more horsepower, but it would look pretty cool with the 3x2 carb setup.
Then again, if its just "bling" you want, it would not be terribly difficult to make up an intake from scratch. Putting around town and showing off your triple deuce carbs would be fun, especially if they were poking out of the hood.

[PackardV8]

it would look pretty cool with the 3x2 carb setup. . . if its just "bling" you want, it would not be terribly difficult to make up an intake from scratch. Putting around town and showing off your triple deuce carbs would be fun, especially if they were poking out of the hood.

Why cut up a Cad or fab an intake? Since the Smoljan repop already exists, polish it, add the chome bonnets and bling all over town.

jack vines

[sals54]

I can dig that, Jack, does that Smoljan bring the carbs above the hood line?

[Jessie J.]

I have several of the old Caddy intakes, both the cast iron and Weiand Alumunum 2x4s, and an iron 3x2.
(collected because I also have a 390 Cadillac engine they fit)

But another Cad intake I have is an early 4 barrel that I picked up at the SASCO Swap meet about a decade ago, and what is interesting about this one is that it came already reworked to fit on a Stude V-8, and the ports showing quite minimal grinding, are a perfect match to the Stude intake gaskets (in which the port openings of course, are larger than the actual ports in factory heads)

The only thing I can figure is that this Cadillac intake must have been one from the very early 50s with ports that were considerably smaller than were used in the more popular (for converting) mid-50s dual-quad and tri-power manifolds.
It sits quite high, and with aluminum paint looks for all the world like an aftermarket aluminum Hi-Rise.
So this is something to consider if you are a low-buck Studebaker rodder, as there is almost zero demand for these old 1952-53 Caddy intakes it is not unusual to see them going for as little as $35.

Finally I will confess however, that I have never got around to installing this manifold, as I have not had a road-worthy Studebaker in years.
It is presently 27 degrees, and snowing here or I would go out and give it a try on one of my parts motors.
As soon as it warms up a bit, I'll get around to it, bring up this thread again and give you an honest assesment of what I can determine regarding actual port alignment.

[DEEPNHOCK]

I have all three out in the shop (early 2bbl, late 2bbl, and a Smoljan)...
I'll toss them on my bare engine and get you the carb base plate height measurements.
I 'think' it's a tad higher, but your question has me thinking.....
Jeff

I can dig that, Jack, does that Smoljan bring the carbs above the hood line?

[t walgamuth]

If someone is hot to know details, I have a 51 or 52 cad head in the basement of my house and the 64 studie heads in the basement of my garage. I could lug the caddy head down there and compare them. I think they are probably more alike than different. My dad said they copied the caddy in the design of the studie. He thought that perhaps even some of the crank and rod bearings were interchangible. Of course the studey used timing gears instead of the chain so they apparently wanted to improve on the quality a bit.

I believe I also have a caddy four barrel mainfold in the basement for the 52 caddy.

[SN-60]

If someone is hot to know details, I have a 51 or 52 cad head in the basement of my house and the 64 studie heads in the basement of my garage. I could lug the caddy head down there and compare them. I think they are probably more alike than different. My dad said they copied the caddy in the design of the studie. He thought that perhaps even some of the crank and rod bearings were interchangible. Of course the studey used timing gears instead of the chain so they apparently wanted to improve on the quality a bit.

I believe I also have a caddy four barrel mainfold in the basement for the 52 caddy.

Yes,....certainly not the worse engine in the world to draw ideas from. (Notice I didn't say copy!!)

[hawk58man]

Keep us in the loop on what your findings are. Appreciate your technical info on these items..

[PackardV8]

Some Stude discussions are evergreen. The Stude V8/early Cad V8 similarities and interchangeability has been covered about once every three months for the past sixty years. Back in the bad old 1970s-'90s of Dick Datson Studebaker tech books, he wrote several chapters complete with illustrations and photos to how the intake manifolds almost but not quite aligned.

Made me so nostalgic, I got out the DD books and am re-reading them for the first time in this century. No Studebaker fan should ever forget Dick Datson.

jack vines

[DEEPNHOCK]

And no Stude fan should ever disagree with him... Woe to them....

<snip> No Studebaker fan should ever forget Dick Datson.
jack vines