elelbrock f48 289 ford question

ok ford peeps:
have a '68 289 ford & was given a edelbrock f48 intake to mount......I noticed that all 4 corners of the manifold are not supported by the head out to where the bolts go thru..... I looked at a stock 260 & it's the same deal, but has a iron manifold on it......yes I tried googling it & did a search on here..... am I in danger of cracking the ears off the manifold when this is torqued down? it looks to me like you should have some sort of thick angled washer in there....
thanks & yes I am a ford noob

 

Even the factory ford aluminum manifolds are made the same way. the torque specs on those manifolds are pretty low......use a torque wrench and you won't have any problems.


Ray

 

BTW it's an F4B. I ran one for years on my 68 Cougar...great manifold

 

Hnstray's got it right; nothing to worry about. Besides that, have you seen how thick those things are? they're not flimsy by any stretch.

 

I have a 289 that's the same way I have ran it for 16 years or so with several manifolds and it works fine.... But it always bugged me a little.

 

Start in the middle and torque bolts to 25 ft. pds. in a crisscross pattern.do this process several times till torque is constant.

 

Yep, cylhead is right...torque to 25 ft lbs per the Ford recommended torque sequence and you'll be fine.

 

There are plenty of cracked/discarded intakes because of that problem. Too much torque on the bolts.

 

What they said ^^^^^^ all good advice. The F4B is great intake, if you have the room put a open 1" thick phenolic spacer between the intake, and carb, it makes a great intake even work better.

 

One trick I have used for many years on SBFs is to use studs on the intake,the torque comes in quicker than with bolts and seems to hold torque better.I've been building SBFs for 40+ years,never cracked an intake!Depending on what you read,I have seen the torque listed at 20,22 and 25 foot pounds,I use the 22lb setting.That F4B is a great street manifold even in todays world! ROY.

 

thanks for all the good info! that was my plan, just trying not to make a noob mistake.....yes we have room & are going to run a 1" spacer......will post pics when Rod downloads them.....(hint, hint)