I'm looking for a different intake manifold for my 235 and saw that Clifford makes one for a single 2 or 4 barrel carb and it's water heated. Has anyone ever used one of these, and how does it work? Or am I better of just buying a Offenhauser dual 1 barrel carb manifold. I have some hesitation when it's cold outside since I put a split exhaust manifold on and stopped using the the heat riser that was on the stock exhaust manifold. I was checking out the Inliners website and found that you should add heat to the manifold help vaporize the fuel mixture. I'm not sure what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Jerry, in both cases you have to run steel (or stainless) lines from the thermostat housing (a 'T' at the heater outputs works fine) and back. A guy on ebay sells heat plate for 35$, it fits the stock or aftermarket manifolds (Offy, etc...). The lines connect to the heat plate and bingo!
Thanks for the info. Do you know the dudes ebay user name? That looks like what I need. Have you ever used one? Thanks again!
There ya go: Heat plate I have not tried it, I'm still in the planning stage for my 235. I have NO NEED for speed equipment in my truck, but somehow I'm drawn to a split manifold (with Smithys) and dual carbs!
I looked on ebay, and the heat plate your talking about is for Fenton headers. It runs an aluminum tube from the headers to the intake manifold. It doesn't heat it with water it just uses the exhaust heat. My split manifold doesn't have the holes for the tubing like the Fentons do. I guess I either have to drill holes in my stock split manifold and tap them, or else by a pair of Fentons, or else buy a Clifford water heated intake manifold. I'm not sure what to do. I don't need speed euipment on my 53 either, but nothing sounds like a straight six with split manifold and dual exhaust, and 2 or 3 carbs just looks killer.
Hey, Jerry, I'm not sure what direction you're going with this, but let me give you some general info. My GMC 302 has the Fenton headers, but I'm not using them for carb heat. I have a Howard 5 carb intake that was used for racing, and had no provision for heating. I sent it to Tom Langdon at Stovebolt Engineering, Utica, MI, and had a water channel welded onto the entire length of the intake. This would be similar to the water heated Offy unit you've looked at. I get hot water off of a hose outlet on the water pump, and return the water through a plug towards the back of the head. The Clifford unit could also be set up for water heat with a plate that covers the manifold heat area on the bottom of the intake. Install a couple of baffles on the top of the plate, and a couple of hose nipples on the bottom of the plate, and plumb it as I did my GMC. Be sure to use plenty of corrosion resistant anti-freeze, to avoid problems with your aluminum parts. Hope this helps. You can contact Tom Langdon by looking for his banner on the Inliners home page. Give me a shout back if I need to clarify this any more. Kinky6
JR, here is a low buck option you may want to consider. Make your own plate out of flat aluminum plate. Use the gasket for a template, just don't cut out the center. You can weld a threaded bung(for oxegen sensors) to the exhaust pipe just below the flange and pipe it up the same way you would if you had Fentons. I have 1fenton on my 51 Chevy and made the plate for the intake, pipe tapped it,got a few brass elbows with compression fittings on one end and some copper tubing now the car dosen't stumble for 10 minuites in the morning when it's cold out. Just one tube to the intake was enough to fix the cold drivability problem. You can weld the bung to the pipe yourself or a muffler shop can provide the bung and weld it on for you. Hope this helps. Billy
Is this a problem if you have a manual choke?? I'm putting Fentons on my truck, with the original intake and carb with a manual choke.......
It's got nothing to do with what type choke you have. When you put any type of headers/split manifold that dosn't bolt to the intake manifold like stock, When it's cold out the intake stays cold and the fuel mixture dosn't stay atomized which leads to drivability problems when the engine is cold. I've had the center of the intake and the carb base covered with frost even after driving 17 miles to work on a few cold mornings. Heat,weather it be exhaust or water to the manifold helps alot. IMHO I think exhaust will heat the intake faster than water for obvious reasons. mr57, I run the stock intake as well(for now) with one no name cast header and one fenton. Billy
I think I'm gonna go with the exhaust heat method. It seems that it would work better due to the fact you don't have to let the engine warm up before the water heat works. Thanks for all the info. It was a big help.
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