[DeTomaso] Wild Crossover Cleveland Intake?

[Daniel C Jones]

> Anyone know the details on this piece?  Is it custom?

That looks like the Australian EFI intake that Mike Fielder of
Australian Muscleparts attempted to import.  I examined one for
a 350 Chevy) several years back when Mike had one on display at
the Columbus Ford Super Swap.  They appeared to be very nicely
made but Mike ending up dropping them because the manufacturer
wouldn't deliver the product.  IIRC, Mike mentioned fronting the
guy money on the 351C units and 18 months later they were still
vaporware.

At the time, the only throttle bodies were 50mm which may be on
the small side for a larger displacement or higher horsepower
engine.  Also, the manifolds were supposedly 2V port size only.
The side draft set-ups have a couple of potential drawbacks.
First, on a Cleveland, you may have to remove at least the air
cleaners (possibly the throttle bodies) to remove the valve
covers.  Second, the side draft set-ups have a relatively long
runner length which may compromise the engine's peak power.  When
I ran the simulations on my 407C, the longer runner length pumped
up the low and mid range at the expense of a lot of peak power.
YMMV but a shorter stack down draft was a better compromise for
that engine, particularly with the relatively short Pantera
4-into-1 headers.  With longer 180 headers things may be different
(never tested it so I'm not sure).  On the plus side, a side draft
can potentially clear the decklid and stock engine screen.  As I
understand it, the units were originally designed for a touring
car race series, so you'd need to check it for clearance on a
Pantera.  Since they were designed as race units, they may have
made provisions to remove valve covers without disassembly.

Dan Jones