i have found a mostly complete but very rusty ‘65 skylark convertible. It has what appears to be a 300 with a 4 barrel carb. If I remember correctly this is a rare and desirable manifold, what do I need to look for to confirm what I think it is?
Well I believe that if that is a 300 and the 4bbl intake is cast that's it . No other choice , 1 year only and only fits that motor . Will fit other year 300's correctly with iron heads .
The 1965 iron heads aren't anything special, same as 65-67 300 and 340. The 4bbl engine does have higher compression pistons, but may not be worth saving them. The 1964 300 engine had an aluminum intake and heads, 1965 is cast iron.
The difference in the iron and aluminum parts is about 70lbs (though it sure feels like a lot more), actually a smidgen over 52lbs for both heads and 20 lbs for the intake. The ports and valves are a bit larger on the irons. It is possible to use the alloy intake with the iron heads. The iron parts are more valued in the Buick community, the alloy parts are highly sought after among sports car buffs. Jim
yeah if that's iron , looks it from what I can see , that's a good piece as long as it checks out ok . appears to be an edelbrock or carter comp series carb on there . if a 500 cfm that's a good carb . looks pretty rough though . 600's are pretty common and a little too much on a stock 300 maybe . if you can make out a part# on the carb post 'er up . lower front corner passenger side right in front of mount bolt on the "flat" . edelbrock # will be something like 1406 or 1400 etc , carter # will be four digit and probably start with a 9 and probably have an "S" suffix .