working on the 216 in our '52 chevy, we need to replace the carb spacer, cant find one locally (or mail order, but I havent exhausted all my options yet) can one be made of wood??? seems kinda ghetto but I want something to get us by til I can find a replacement?????
Yes. It's never going to get hot enough to hurt it. You DO need to use some fairly hard, dense wood though-something that will stay tight and not be too porous.
Solid wood is more likely to crack as it dries out. I would rather use MDF, or Plywood. Baltic Birch would be first choice. Phenolic would be ideal, should be able to get some from Mcmaster.com
In a pinch I have made spacers from plywood, (the good stuff, like what is used in cabinet building) and it works. No worries, its not going to burn, and if you let it soak in motor oil before you install. I soak in oil overnight. That makes it seal better. MDF is the better than plywood. But Plywood just looks cool to me.
Used to be able to buy wood ones. I remember an article in Car Craft where they tested spacers years ago. The wood one was one of the top performers if I remember right.
I saw this at billetproof dont know anything about it but it should answer your question of can it be done .
Go for it. even if it does not work you are out what, 5 bucks in material & a couple of hours time? If it works then you have the satisfaction of having solved a problem yourself. If it does not work then go to plan "B" whatever plan B is.
We made some wood spacers out on the salt while racing at speed week...Worked fine no problems at all...Lucky
They are available. Check with Brothers, Chevies of the 40's, etc. I actually just bought one from a local guy...paid $15 for it. I think he made a couple of extra bucks, but that's ok, I needed it, and didn't want to wait. Solved my problem. But.......I like your idea. Maybe nylon? But wood is so available. You're gonna have to use a dremel or something to cut that little slot for the idle circuit. Also use high-temp RTV to seal and fill in tiny imperfections. Be sure to thinly coat both mating surfaces, then let dry for a few minutes. You don't want to clog that slot. After you're done, check to see that idle mixture screw still works. If it doesn't, you clogged it. Rick
The carbed 5.0 SBF crowd was big into using wood spacers back in the late Nineties. I don't know why they used wood instead of aluminum spacers, but they swore by them.
think I'll give it a shot to get me by till I can order one, I am thinking we were getting a vacuum leak at the old spacer (it was literally in like four pieces and someone had to tried to "glue" it all back together with silicone)...
When I got my '54, it had a stack of gaskets 3/8" thick. I made one out of a chunk of aluminum instead.
I've heard it kicked around that using the white cutting board material is an option for homebrew adapters.
yea they actually made some pretty nice ones. my buddy had one on his small block supermodified and has since put it on his hot rod. Works great!
As long as it won't melt or leak I guess you can use just about anything . Let us know how it works for you . RetroJim
Where have you been for, well, "ever". If I've seen one, I've seen 200 carb spacers made from high quality plywood. Moroso, Barry Grant, Edelbrock, AED, Canton, and Holley all have them off the top of my head. They work fine. Don't use solid wood, use birch ply, and seal the edges with epoxy if you want to get fancy.
Makes me want to try a plywood or laminate intake. Who knows, if you looked at enough old Popular Mechanics, you might find plans for one.
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