Has anyone compared the Merlin single plane Intake to a Dart single plane intake??
We just swapped to the Merlin and seemed to have picked up a couple of hundred rpm!!
Adjusted Jets, good plug color, seems to be the setup!! Looking for others that have done the same comparison. I didn't expect to see this difference!!

I run the same Merlin intake on my 502, pretty happy with the way it works. One Big problem with them if using in salt water- do not use the Fel-Pro gasket they reccomend! It's opening for the water passage is larger than the brass inlay on the manifold. I found out the hard way, would not be a problem in fresh/fresh water cooled. Only gasket I have found with smaller opening is the Mr Gasket and my problem occurred after 3/4 of one season of use. Let me know if you don't follow...
But you may have covered already..
just 2 cents...

I am in the process of building a 540. I will be using AFR heads. Jason from AFR recommended using a Dart intake. But, you guys are saying the Merlin has worked better for your combination.

Checkmate,
mine is a mild 502, basically just a 502/502 and I didn't compare it to anything else. Bought it after I saw the price on merc's manifold..local engine Guru (who is trusted) said it was worth 25Hp compared to merc's. $460 was much better than $1k. Have been happy except from the gasket fiasco, guy doing motors here has had 5 of them do same thing, never happy to fill motor with water..

Checkmate,
The Dart may in fact be better for the 540 than the Merlin! The Dart has bigger runners than the Merlin, better suited to Large cubes. I would be glad to sell you my Dart, it is 2years old and only has about 30hrs on it. Let me know if you are interested.

checkmate 454,which afr heads are you going to run,i am also running a 540 (procharged)and have been looking real hard at the 315cnc's as my next upgrade. I am currently running merlin vr's, i didn't study exhaust flow #'s when putting it together(it's only about 200 cfm at .600 from what i'm seeing on worlds website),i plan on sticking with my .620 lift hyd roller because it works with my headers w/no reversion. I don't want to go to huge runners with no velocity either to keep my torque up when not under boost. Just curious,looking for opinions,Smitty

articfriends,
I have ordered AFR 315 cnc heads. I should have them in about 1 month or so. But, this is a winter project, I wont have any results until next season. This motor wil not be supercharged. I will be running a 1050 Dominator.

TomR,
Thanks for the offer. But, everything on this motor is new. I started with nothing. I plan on using all new parts.

tomR,
send me an email re: the dart intake, how much? any salt water issues on that one?

kevin

[email protected]

Kevin,

I just sent you an email.

Dart is a good intake if not salt water app', don't think it has bronze inlays at all. But could be wrong again..