stepping from a 165 to a 185 will often result in better power, even when holding everything else essentially the same. To compensate for the intake, use a different cam with a little more duration/lift.
the turns from the TB to the first plenum are pretty tight for high flow plus the perpendicular interesecting of two plenums with the first being an "cross roads" intersection is less than desireable in my book. If you look in mechanical engineering books on high velocity duct design, this is...
the 351 Lightining lower flows a ton compared to the 5.0 version, but the upper will choke it some on a 351. The intake will flow very close to the peak head flow as-is.
The R box and Vortec box are the best I have seen. The others don't come close. I have not done testing on them but my customers have. And, has been pointed out, on a 408 using a 75mm long runner upper with s shorter duration cam and then switching to a 90mm box and then saying the box is...
The test used the same cam, so the box was better for that cam. Change the cam specs to favor a long runner intake and use the long runner upper and you might get a flip flop again.
I've seen that methodd posted elswhere before - there are other ways of doing it accurately that are not as involved as pinning the gasket. Consider that placement is controlled by the bolt holes, front to back and top to bottom.
This is all very unlikely if you use a template that is the same size as the head ports and you use the bolt holes and intake-to-block deck surface to align the template.
If you port the stock lower HO intake well, the intake will flow right at the same numbers as the GT40 head and the intake will work well for a street engine. Use a stock Felpro intake gasket (MS93334 I think) set that is very close to the size of the head ports and use it as a template on the...
I also advised to go with aftermarket heads/intake/cam. Better long term use of the money. I do have a stock on the outside HO intake that flows 230cfm with excellent balance though - took me 60 hours to get it there. Runners are shortened internally and the cross section increased throughout.
flow testing one port should cost less than $50, for free heads, that's a small investment. If they were done by a "professional", the chambers should have been addressed as well - easy to see and check.