how does a ED XR8 Sprint's intake manifold rate against the other offerings from ford? i've heard that the sprint manifold will outflow the tubular EB/EL GT manifolds if it is extrude-honed, but is it worth it?

how well would it cope with a stroker living underneath it?

not really looking for aftermarket heads/manifold atm, i'd like to see what could be done while keeping the engine looking original

Extrude honing is the s**t these days . We are looking at it for our Formula SAE car. Another option is abrasive power porting. in other words, controlled sandblasting. Look at getting the heads done, not just the manifold.

The sprint manifold is the same design as the Cobra manifold which in stock form flows just short of the tubular.

I cant understand why you'd go to the expense and hassle of building a 347 and keeping OEM heads and intake..

Look at the flow rates of RPMII manifold and AFR185 heads and compare to the OEM gear from ford.

if the idea is keep it looking as stock as posible then an extrude honed explorer or cobra would be the way to go.

but like wagin said look at how good the aftermarket stuff is

so it looks stock

even a set of GT-40X heads are ok, easy enough to hide, and surely a lil bit of porting would get all i need from them?

basically, i want the engine to look like its been in there since day 1, so edelbrock/trickflow/AFR (and others) bolt-ons are out of the question

Extrude honing both the Cobra/Sprint or explorer intake will make for a substantially better intake. 40X's flow pretty good and some porting will certainly make them capable of making power with a stroker. I remember an article about a U.S. mob that has an NC program for porting these Y or X heads and they outflow AFR185's. I think it was FoxLake...I'll see if I can find it.

Pete.

The only issue with Extrude hone is COST. Its close to the price of aftermarket inlet...Btw aftermarket heads are almost unoticable when engine is assembled.. To get GT40 type manifolds breathing reasonably well some alloy welding is required on corner of port just back from heads...The Sprint inlets are early Cobra experimntal manifolds, the EGR is not built in and has coolant through EGR where Cobra doesn't. Ford used up some left over performance parts...
Imo a Performer with std engine cover would look std enough.. Especially if signage is removed...
If you to keep iron heads so it looks original Pro-topline heads / RHS would d the job..