[purge18]

I own a 66 LeMans with a 326. Recently bought an Intake Manifold from a 68 LeMans 4 bbl. Would this 68 fit my 326. I'm not sure what engine the 68 had but I have measured both Manifolds and both match up by length and width. Thanks for the help! Evan

[purge18]

I own a 66 LeMans with a 326. Recently bought an Intake Manifold from a 68 LeMans 4 bbl. Would this 68 fit my 326. I'm not sure what engine the 68 had but I have measured both Manifolds and both match up by length and width. Thanks for the help! Evan

[RPOST]

a 68 intake will bolt right onto a 66 engine. Rick

[RPOST]

I was going to add, you would probably want to run a really small 4bl or you could have worse performance than before. Rick

[jhfaust]

Evan...make sure you look at the various hook-ups on your new 4bbl carb (Q-Jet?)if your intake manifold came "bare" as there are are few differences to take into account from your current '66 2bbl deal...choke assembly, throttle cable bracket,the power brake (?) booster vac. line could be a bit different too, depends on the year 4bbl you end up with. Some of the non Pontiac Rochester 4bbl's have a 90 degree angle on the carb's fuel intake line and that might mean you have to adapt your 2bbl no-angle fuel line as well.(I'm assuming the intake didn't come with the original carb..)As Rick says below you should probably look out for a carb with smaller jets, no point in flooding a mild-cam, small valve 326 with more gas than it can drink...(in fact unless you REALLY just HAVE to have a 4bbl carb you might as well just leave the original 2 bbl in place...a decently tuned 326 will run along just fine and about the only time you'll see much difference with your planned 4bbl is when you jump on it at a light! The two rear throats on the Q-Jet only really open up when you hammer it, the rest of the time you'll be cruising around just on the front two..(Unless you're the kind of guy who wants to hammer it???)Anyway, that's my take on that particular swap though I'm sure others would disagree.Good luck, Jim.

[purge18]

Thanks for the advice. However my friends and I have thought up a plan that I'm going to try. Today we were going to install the 4bbl from a 68 LeMans but saw there was a major vacuum leak. We originally found out it was from the egr valve and then saw the manifold didnt even fit the engine correctly! All this work in one day only to put the 2bbl back on. My bud had a 750 cfm Holley for street performance that i bought off him and I have decided to go with an Edelbrock performer RPM with the 750 cfm. During this time I will also add a new cam and lifters. I know a 750 sounds huge for this engine but there are vacuum secondaries which can be adjusted to any RPM. Its been a long long day but at least I have learned something frome it. Always make sure everything fits before you put it on! I'm 17 and love pontiacs and know I have more to learn but this is just part of the process. Thanks for any help!

[Virginian]

If that manifold didn't fit, then either the heads it came off of have been machined, OR yours have, and the manifold was machined to match, because ALL Pontiac 326 manifolds should bolt right up. The add ons may be different, as described above, but the manifold mounting planes and bolt patterns are identical. Check the head deck heights. Usually they machine the heads on two sides, so manifold fit doesn't change, but I have seen the manifold machined to match heads only machined on one side. If yours was done that way, a new manifold isn't going to fit either.
If you are dead set on a 4 bbl., (and I sure can't fault you for that) beware the Holley 750, as it has primaries that are WAY too big for a 326. A Q-jet or clone would be better because of the smaller primaries. An AFB would be way better than the Holley. Throttle response equals velocity through the venturies, and you are not going to have ANY at low RPMs with a 326. In fact, you won't be able to really USE the Holley without a MAJOR cam, headers, and steep rear gears, AND really wind it up. I put an 850 Holley double pumper on a built up 455, and while it was a little bit quicker at the drags, you had to "launch" it just to get away from a stoplight. You had to launch it to get out of the garage. The Q-jet was MUCH more pleasant to drive on the street.
To get better performance, everything has to work together in an engine. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I hate to see you spend the bucks when I think you are going to be disappointed. Good luck, and welcome to the fold of Pontiac nuts. And keep faith, with the right set up, a 326 LeMans can be very, very quick.

[Blue '66]

Did you say the 2bbl intake has a egr valve?It sounds as if you have later '73 and up heads.Does
the(Center)heat crossover have 2 holes,1 large and
small over it,or is the port 1 size?What does it
have on center exaust ports?If it is the later heads the '68 intake won't fit without modifications,and I am not sure if the Performer
will fit either.....Eric

[jhfaust]

I was kind of wondering about the EGR valve on the two bbl as well. Those '68 heads SHOULD fit, it sounds indeed like somebody might have done a bit of machine work on them if they don't. To be honest if I were you I wouldn't spend any more money on this project until you figure out exactly what you've got already in the way of manis/carbs etc.Post the casting #'s off both of the items. By the way---I've got a '67 LeMans 2bll manifold out in the garage that I'd love to get rid of so if anyone is in the LA area and they want to come by and get it.... Would make a nice resto touch perhaps. Or a pretty decent boat anchor. Either way it's free.
JHFAUST@HOTMAIL.COM

Jim.

[purge18]

Thanks for all of the advice. Yesterday though we added a performer edelbrock intake and the 750 and i can tell an immediate difference in the way it runs. The car has vacuum secondaries which helps and i plan on headers, fuel pump and my new cam soon. You said I would need a lot bigger cam. How much? I originally had a 214/224 and returned it for a 214/214 since that other one would have been better for say a 400. the lift on the new cam is 420/443 which is made for a four barrel but I'm not sure if that is too small for the set up I have right now. You say that with the right set up a 326 can be very fast. What kind of set up would make it very fast? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Blue '66]

I think the cam is ok.It depends on the rear end ratio,if it is 2:73-3:08 you will lose low end torque,3:23 and up it should work great.

Eric

[Virginian]

Well, let me clarify, when I am talking fast, I mean quarter mile/stoplight fast. Too much people on the roads for top end anymore, in my opinion. A friend had a '66 326 and we got it into the low 13s at around 108 if memory serves. It really wasn't a joy to drive on the street, but it did surprise many a Goat, 442, Roadrunner, and Chevelle, and Torinos had no chance.
You have good lift with that cam, but I do like a longer exhaust than intake duration.
You don't say how "driveable" you want this thing to be.
If you want to really cook, I'd look at a set of heads that gets the compression in the 10.25 to 1 or higher range (may mean machining), a somewhat milder longer duration cam, but with 1.65 to one rockers (check clearances) to get over .500 lift, new valve springs, adjust the hydraulic valve lifters for zero lash, underdive the acessory belts, Hooker Headers, rework the distributor curve, K&N air filter, and a 4.10 or 4.33 limited slip rear end. That should idle so rough you can't stand a brick on edge on the fender. I know everyone is probably screaming this is a two bolt block, but a 2 bolt 326 ought to be fine up to 6500 RPM, so don't go above that, and don't miss a shift.
Coming back down to earth a little, what rear end ratio do you have at present, 2.93, 3.08, 3.23? If you go to a 3.73 or higher you will probably see a world of difference. You will get into the range where that carb can work a little a whole lot quicker. That and headers may get you where you want to be without digging into the engine, at least for awhile. Before going with the cam, I'd put headers on it. You got the goodies to get the air in, now you need to get the exhaust out. Have you reworked the distributor curve yet? You have probably lost some vacuum with that carb, so you need to change the advance springs to get some advace into the scene quicker. That's a real cheap trick. Also, if you have an automatic, get a shift kit (B&M Transpak) quick before your engine eats your transmission. Maybe a stall converter later. Good luck.

[purge18]

The car serves as a daily driver right now and I am looking into purchasing my friends truck to take the miles off of my car since it has 60k original. My intentions are to be able to take the car back to numbers matching if I ever sell it but for now I just want a quick little hot rod without doing too much to the engine. My very next step is to get better headers. How much hp do you think this will give me? I believe my rear end is just a stock 2.93 and I added a turbo 350 transmission for better daily driving and better performance. A shift kit is possibly in the future but my wallet is shrinking quick! All pontiac guys experience that once in a while. I wasnt too focused on headers since theyre the same from a 389 and get decent performance out of them. As for the stall converter I can probably hold out on that for a while but like i said right now its a daily driver and I dont need something to run 13 in the quarter just something to get me around a little quicker and show the rice rockets out there the thing to beat is a bad ass American V-8!