355 manifold

[VR028]

anybody here using the standard banana manifold on a 355, or even a starr manifold. just curious as to how much power it can make for a mild street driven car.
thanks

[Bring-da-Ruckus]

for street racing?

[Reaper]

There have been a few threads like this lately. Depending on your exact application it's pretty hard to go past a Torquepower intake (dual plane high or low rise for mild street applications). Bananas are great for towing boats and thats about it. Not a fan of starr either.

Reaper

[VR028]

for street racing?

No for a daily.

There have been a few threads like this lately. Depending on your exact application it's pretty hard to go past a Torquepower intake (dual plane high or low rise for mild street applications). Bananas are great for towing boats and thats about it. Not a fan of starr either.

Reaper

thanks, thats what seems to be the go everywhere u look. the cars just getting a bit old now and is most likely going to need a rebuild anyway so i figured stroke it while its there. i was just wondering if it was worth changing the manifold over for something that will only rev to about 5000 with a pretty mild cam such as a crow 4503 or a 4650? might just have to bite the bullet and change manifolds

[Reaper]

No for a daily.



thanks, thats what seems to be the go everywhere u look. the cars just getting a bit old now and is most likely going to need a rebuild anyway so i figured stroke it while its there. i was just wondering if it was worth changing the manifold over for something that will only rev to about 5000 with a pretty mild cam such as a crow 4503 or a 4650? might just have to bite the bullet and change manifolds

Bananas top out at around 4500 rpm, slightly less on the 355. I'd go tp to unlock the extra cubes myself.

Reaper

[VR028]

may aswell do things right the 1st time i suppose. is heat soak much of an issue with a carby filter just sitting on top? i was thinking of using one of those air tray things

[Cúl-Báire]

There is an interesting thread on the Banana's on another commodore forum that goes into the theory behind getting them to work well. You'll find the general consensus from builders and tuners is that they are fantastic for low down torque, but not so good for top end. Torque will make a quick and fun street car... I recommend figuring out exactly what you want and working from that, real point spending big dollars without a defined goal.

I am about to undertake a 355ci (maybe 383ci) build utilising the banana for a street driven daily, and think a combo of great torque and good power is achievable with decent compression and a cam with longer lift on the intake side, and nice tight LSA. Something not too dissimilar to the Crow 4503... Let’s face it, how often am I going to rev my car past the Banana's useful point anyways?

[VR028]

i see where your coming from, and i completely agree. im after instant response and low down torque. i know from reading everywhere that the tp dual plane is best but the thing that concerns me is having something that looks so obviously modified. which is why i considered the starr manifold.

[Brendo169]

my daily driver is a 355 with the standard bananas and i find the low down torque really good and hardly ever go past 5000rpm!
i kept them because changing the manifold shows the engine has been clearly modified!

[Boonz]

heres a bit of a comparison for you:

my ute, 355 stroker with a torque power dual plane manifold, crane 286 cam and 9.8:1 compression ratio
my mates caprice, 355 stroker, standard banana manifold, crane 284 cam and 9.5:1 compression ratio

ute makes 232 rwkw at 5700 rpm, 630(ish) nm torque at 3700rpm
caprice makes 186rwkw at 4900 rpm, 425ish nm torque at 3100rpm

[AirStrike]

heres a bit of a comparison for you:

my ute, 355 stroker with a torque power dual plane manifold, crane 286 cam and 9.8:1 compression ratio
my mates caprice, 355 stroker, standard banana manifold, crane 284 cam and 9.5:1 compression ratio

ute makes 232 rwkw at 5700 rpm, 630(ish) nm torque at 3700rpm
caprice makes 186rwkw at 4900 rpm, 425ish nm torque at 3100rpm

Wow two completely different cars with completely different setups made different power, who would of guessed!

[immortality]

check out the thread on Street Commodores about the 383 stroker with standard banana's manifold. only made a little over 400hp but made a huge amount of torque. perfect for a streeter

[Cúl-Báire]

check out the thread on Street Commodores about the 383 stroker with standard banana's manifold. only made a little over 400hp but made a huge amount of torque. perfect for a streeter

It's a real piece of work Adrian's VN is (watch the vid's in the thread), I was hoping to go for a spin in it before I undertook my build but he has gone and snapped the Eagle cranshaft that was in it.
Hopefully when he gets it back on the road I will get to see it in person.


As for the comments about TP manifold VS Banana's they are two completely different setups, the 284 likes compression (I would have thought atleast (10.0:1 in a 355) and isn't really the cam of choice for the "Bunch of Bananas" (sure does sound good though). Hell didn't GOTMYN's Seantor 220i run 196rwkw unopened with stock manifold before he went and put the Whipple on it.

[immortality]

ouch. i'd only use either a COME or Scat crank. if $$$ was no issue then CSR it would be.

i think as soon as you start fitting cams with a tighter LSA then stock you need to up the CR. with a 286 i don't think anything less then 10:1 is worthwhile. personally i'd be shooting for 10.5:1

if you want to stick with the banana's then you want a cam that is all over and done by 5000rpm max

[wez84]

ouch. i'd only use either a COME or Scat crank. if $$$ was no issue then CSR it would be.

i think as soon as you start fitting cams with a tighter LSA then stock you need to up the CR. with a 286 i don't think anything less then 10:1 is worthwhile. personally i'd be shooting for 10.5:1

if you want to stick with the banana's then you want a cam that is all over and done by 5000rpm max

When you say CSR is that crankshaft rebuilders (auscrank)

[Cúl-Báire]

Yes! CSR is Crank Shaft Rebuilders or Auscrank... They are expensive, but their work is second to none!

[wez84]

Yeah iv got one of their kits in my speeday car sure are good