B4B heater hose connection...and a possibly related troubleshooting issue

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by FJM568, Apr 8, 2020.

  1. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    In the TA Performance catalog below the B4B, it says "Special Note: Heater hose connection is located at the rear of the intake."

    What would happen if you plumbed it to the threaded port next to the thermostat housing?

    Here's the deal...I've noticed on my motor(which I hooked up the heater hose to the port by the thermostat housing on my B4B, didn't see the TA special note when I installed it), when checking the exhaust manifold temp with an laser infrared thermometer, that one side of the motor is running cooler than the other side(if I recall correctly, about 100 degrees cooler on the manifold temps). At the moment, I don't recall which side that is because it was last year when I checked it. Haven't really driven the car since then.

    The car runs great otherwise. Ran a 13.5 @103 at the 2018 Nats in BG. TA 288-94 in a stock bore 71 455 in my 66 Skylark w/3.08 gears. Plugs looked good when I checked them.

    Would like to get your thoughts on this. Would like to correct the issue before I put more miles on the motor.

    Thanks!
     
  2. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    You can put it either place,..it should say "additional heater hose connection at rear"
     
  3. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    It doesn't matter one bit which port on the manifold you use for the heater. There is no circulation from side to side at the back of the intake, just at the front. The coolant passage at the back of the head is normally blocked completely by the intake. The only reason for that opening at the back of the head is to make cylinder heads interchangeable from one side of the motor to the other. There were some stock iron intakes in the late 60's that had a rear threaded opening just like the B4B. The heater control valve actually threaded into it.

    Your motor may be running leaner on one side than the other. Leaner would burn hotter. What do the plugs look like?
     
  4. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    I'd have to go take it for a decent drive and pull them, but just from what I remember, they looked the same as the other side. They weren't oily, or all carboned up. Nothing looked wrong them.

    Doesn't a dual plane intake feed 2 cyls on left side and 2 cyls on right side from one side of the carb and the other cyls from the other side of carb? i.e. 1, 7, 4, & 6 from driver's side of carb, and 2, 3, 5, & 8 from pass side of carb? If so, how could either all the driver's side cyls(or all pass side cyls be running leaner)? Not trying to argue, just asking a question, wanting to learn.

    Thanks.
     
  5. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Jim, no worries:) I in no way thought you were trying to argue. It's a good question. Back in the day, when the B4B first came out, it was common practice to stagger jet the carburetor when using that intake. I'll have to see if I can dig out some articles about that from my GSExtra collection. From what I can remember, cylinders 1, 3, and 5 tended to run lean. Had something to do with some runners being longer than the others I believe. The fix was to jet the driver's side of the Q-jet 3 sizes larger.
     
  6. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    Thanks Larry. That would be helpful and very much appreciated if you could find those articles.
     
  7. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    This is the only one I found so far,

    Buick455IntakeManifolds.jpg Buick455IntakeManifolds2.jpg
     
  8. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

  9. No Lift

    No Lift Platinum Level Contributor

    Kenne-Bell Buick News December 1981 which probably means it was in your hands in March of 1982. The October issue had some pictures from the first GS Nationals. This thing always threw me off. That manifold looks to be an early 350 intake and the runners go the opposite of BBB's. In the case of the BBB's you would richen up the driver side. As an aside I purchased an Edelbrock B4B from KB and also a couple of S4 systems and NEVER received any special jetting instructions with the parts.

    KB Buick News Stagger Jet.jpg
     
  10. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    Pulled the car out of garage, let it warm up to temp and checked the exhaust manifold temps at the ports.

    1, 3, & 5 are about 80-100 deg hotter than the rest. Most were about 350-360 and 1, 3 & 5 were 430-440ish.

    Looks like I may be trying to stagger jet my QJet.

    Would it hurt anything in the long run if I didn't rejet my carb?
     
  11. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    No, it won't hurt anything, but the leaner running cylinders will be more prone to detonation. Just be mindful of that if you like going wide open a lot.
     
  12. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    Well, looks like a rejet is in my future. Lol
     
  13. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    All the temps I got before were with the car warmed up to operating temps but just idling in the driveway. I have not checked them after a drive.

    My carb had 74 jets in it. I rejetted the driver side primary to 76 yesterday and warmed the car up to operating temps and checked exhaust temps again at idle, again without driving car. While idling, exhaust temps are lower overall, 300-320 on pass side and #7, and about 380-400 on #s 1, 3 & 5. So the temp differential between the high and low cyls is still there. It seemed to start up and and stay running better without having to baby the throttle to keep it running as much.

    So, my next question is, is this something I need to worry about at idle? Were the temps supposed to even out at idle, or is that mainly to even things out for part throttle and WOT?

    Can someone that is running a B4B with a stagger-jetted QJet get a temp gun and check what their temps are at idle?

    Thanks!
     
  14. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    At idle, you are running on the idle system, not the Mains. The idle mixture screws control the amount of air/fuel discharged, NOT the idle air/ fuel ratio. The important thing is when you drive the car, then you will be actually on the mains. If you re jetted at the track, you would probably see a difference in the time slip. You can try turning the mixture screw out on the driver's side. I wouldn't worry one bit about idle exhaust temperatures.

    What you can try is block the throttle open so the engine is running at 1500 RPM or so and then look at your temps. Get the engine running on the main nozzles.
     
    FJM568 likes this.
  15. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    Will try to do that this weekend after weather clears up. Will report back with what I find out.

    Thanks Larry.
     
  16. FJM568

    FJM568 Well-Known Member

    So I set the throttle screw so it idled at about 2k rpm after coming back from a drive. I checked the temps at the exhaust ports and it is now within about 40 degs +/-10. I think for the time being that seems close enough(plus I don't have a 77 jet, lol) Right now, my carb has a 74 on pass side and a 76 on driver's side. Before I thought I was getting a faint hint of pinging at WOT, but wasn't hearing it today. Also, before coolant temps used to creep up to around 200 with a 185 stat. Today it didn't go over 190, but it is only about 65 here today. We'll see how it does later in the summer when it's humid and in the 90s.

    Thanks for the advice and the links to the articles.
     

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