I installed the Edelbrock Perofrmer intake today. After taking the stock manifold off, I saw that the center water chanels are blocked with plugs and JBWeld. Is this stock? Based on the casting, it looks like my heads are 1970. Date code is J8. Is that Oktober 8th?
Those aren't water passages, they're exhaust passages, for warming the intake manifold via the exhaust crossover passage. If those exhaust passages are blocked, and the heat riser valve disabled, don't expect the divorced choke to work properly unless you return proper exhaust flow through the crossover--because that's what heats the choke coil. 'Course, you may not have a divorced choke coil.
This was a common mod to keep the intake cooler for more performance.To make the choke operational with an iron manifold we drilled a 1/4" hole in each plug on the passenger side .
I had one of these moments this morning, when a thought shots into your head and you become paniced. I installed the new intake late last night (in a hurry). During installation I saw, that the manifold does not have an opening for water on the left rear side. I did not pay attention last night and continued installation anyway. This morning I was thinking about it and feared, that the intake is not proberly manufactured and that I will kill my engine with the water being trapped in a deadend. My biggest fear was that I have to disassemble everything again. I searched on the net for pictures of the underside of the Edelbrock, but w/o success. Finally I locked at the stock manifold, just to find out that it has no openings for water in the rear at all. What a relief!! For whatever reason the colors new/old do not match as I hoped, but I leave it for now.
While there is a coolant passage on the front and rear of each cylinder head, there is no coolant flow across the rear of the intake as there is in the front. The reason for the coolant passages on each end is so you can install the head on either side of the engine. If there was only a passage on the front of each head, then there would be a LEFT and RIGHT head.
Nothing makes your "old" engine paint look quite as bad as "NEW" engine paint right next to it. At least you have taken a bunch of weight off the front of your car, always good!
They're a dead-air space that provides some insulation between the screaming-hot exhaust crossover passage in the head, and the valve-cover-gasket area. Slows down the cooking of the gasket. BBC and others have a similar air-space above the exhaust crossover on some heads.
Learn something new every day! I had never given much thought to that fact but now I feel a little smarter
That is also the first place to burn the paint on an iron manifold too. Meaning on one without blocked exhaust crossover.
What do you guys think about the stuff which collected on the valley pan? (No, I am not talking about the valve cover gaskets )
Evidence of a leak? Bad seal at those two intake ports--vacuum leak when the engine runs, drools fuel vapor when the engine is shut off?
It is the engine front. The underside of the pan is not discoloured at all and nothing made it below the pan to the inside of the block. Backward and in the center of the V there is even more of the sludge. This is right below the PCV. My assumption now is, that there was some leak to the two intake channels whick sucked the sludge to the front and upwards. The plugs of cylinder 1&3 are blackish, which support the idea that oil or oil vapor was burned.
Your heads are dated September 8, not October. They skipped I because it looked like a 1. This is a common mistake.
