first off.. you'll just have to wade through all the internet stuff and decide for yourself how far you want to go with time and money on this just like the rest of us. I and MANY others have cheaply plugged heat risers and EGR ports successfully(it's the internet.. maybe search around to see what others have done before listening to a couple of guys on a single site). Apparently some were not so successful with similar mod's.. and couldn't find similar results. I can only speak to what's worked for me, my families, and my cheap ass buddies over the years. As I mentioned above.. the best place to block the hot air is at the intake gaskets themselves and that metal shim can be included in premium gaskets like this.. or made out of any thinner tin that won't cause the manifold/gasket to not seat down fully. Hobby shop.. or pop can will do just fine there as the combustion gasses are not nearly as hot at that location.. and get progressively cooler as you go further away from the exhaust port itself. Some quickly searched links here(lol.. I noticed a "Mavman" posting on this one and wondered if its our own carbon fiber hooded "Mav Man" here?). And another funny thing is that almost every single trick I listed previously is also included there as well. Hmmm?.. isn't it kind of peculiar that others have used these very same mod's too?.. Actually no.. not really when you consider pretty much everyone's become a copy cat by now. The old timers had to make do with whatever they could come up with and even some of the big named racers used to stuff crossover ports with aluminum foil before they bacame rich enough to afford and learn how to melt aluminum/zinc/bronze to fill them. Which just goes to show that we all have to start somewhere. lol and here gaskets are here.. but I know there are also others(some with smaller ports too) After looking at that factory 4 hole egr spacer again.. I also just remembered that we(my low budget backyard hotrodder buddies and I) used to just turn that 4 hole egr spacer(works the same on the 2bbl models too) upside down and fill it with JB WEld(and because that passage is larger than the manifolds opening.. it can't possibly fall back down into the manifold itself even if it cracked loose(btw, never saw that happen once yet).. and the gasket also further shields it from heat.. so there's that. After more thought on this matter.. here's what I would do and just be done with it already. Cheap route. Buy the cheaper gaskets and make your own block off plates(installed on the head side of the gasket). I always use some type of sealer around that shim too.. usually gaskacinch or similar.. and glue the entire gasket to the head itself to help ensure they don't move around when locating/bolting on the intake. On a side note(I'm sure you've probably noticed by now that I have a lot of these).. even the pricier gaskets can often have insufficient sealing on the head side of the gaskets.. so using sealer is always a good idea on that "plain side". If the face has rubberized sealer rings("printoseal" or whatever) running around the various openings.. I usually just add a small amounts around the various ports only. These days I usually prefer Hylomar sealant. Then if I already had one.. I'd use the factory 4 hole spacer and slightly OVERFILL the heat riser/egr portion underneath it.. with JB Weld or another high temp steel type putty. Let it cure and run it over a full sheet of snadpaper to make sure it's flush for install. Then just use regular/cheaper 4-hole gaskets to mate it all up. Optional.. would be to use this 1/4 inch heat insulator type gasket underneath and IN CONJUNCTION WITH mod'ing that factory 4 hole spacer(it'll give you velocity but won't do much at all for carb heat reduction).. if you have the hood clearance to allow it.. but just be aware that it may be slightly larger bore than the intakes 4-hole opening. If that's the case.. I usually gasket match the intakes opening to the gasket size for best result or it can roller coaster up and down from the carbs smaller bore(IIRC.. 1-1/2" bore for the 600cfm) to the larger gasket(1-11/16 for the one linked above) and then back down to the smaller 4 holes on the intake(you should measure it.. but maybe just over 1-5/8" or so?) causing some slight flow turbulance/reversion from the bore mismatches. If you do use that 1/4" foam lsolator style gasket?.. just be damned sure you actually seal up the manifolds crossover ports to be sure that it doesn't burn out on you over time. Depending on total installed height.. you'll probably also need longer carb studs too. Pricier route. Use the premium intake gaskets with blockoffs. Use a 1" phenolic spacer(it'll come with studs). Just make sure it's better matched to the intakes 4 hole sizing of you will have similar mismatch issues as mentioned above. They(spacers) can range from 1 1/2 inches on up.. with 1 3/4 bore size being the most common. Also best for the carb's throttle bore size to be matched or slightly smaller than the spacer or gasket.. then.. that spacers/gaskets 4 holes to be matched or smaller than the manifolds 4 holes.. to be sure that the air transitions through the carb/gasket/spacer/manifold bore openings in progressively larger fashion on its way into the manifolds plenum. Any "big into little" or gasket ridges along the entire bore length will hurt flow and should be eliminated if possible. Anywho.. that's about all I got for you bud. Good luck with it all.
Wow thanks you guys. You've given me tons of excellent information. I swear this Mav sight has the best community. I seriously appreciate this. Looks like I'm going with the "just be done with it" route, as this solution provided was awesomely detailed. Woo! I'm excited and I just want to get this done.
You know, after all your putdowns of others and questioning our wisdom, you go and post this ? That is not an EGR spacer. It IS a PCV spacer.
bwahaha... "putdowns of others and questioning our wisdom"...? jesus h dude!.. get over yourself already. Like to pick at people much do you? My advice to you is.. if you can't take someone else ignoring your advice or even worse.. not completely agreeing with it as the be all/end all gospel truth?.. why put it out there on a.. PUBLIC FORUM.. in the first place? and.. silly me.. how dare I "generalize" to include all possible scenarios based on not knowing exactly what the OP has to work with. AFAIK.. the picture posted wasn't even what the man has to work with anyways.. so I'm not going to assume anything unless he specifically tells me or posts a picture himself. But as usual.. feel free to assume you know it all and have it all figured out. Carry on master and I'll surely try harder to not get in your way. EDIT: .. I just read back real quick to see what the hell you're misinterpreting again this time. I never even came close to remotely saying the picture posted was an EGR spacer as it's clearly the ported PCV type. But let me guess.. the EGR style has the large ported standoff to actually mount an EGR valve to right?(if you want?.. I can go dig in the parts bins to possibly find an old one with the standoff chopped and unburned JB WEld still intact?) Fortunately.. I've used and mod'd both designs enough to know the difference. Hell.. we used to comb the boneyards of anything.. from anything.. we could modify to work.. so I too know a bit about "improvisation". Some free and friendly advice here.... regardless of ones age knowledge often comes more quickly with an open mind and willingness to learn. Much tougher to get it when you already think you know it all. PS.. if you read back?.. the OP actually has NO spacer at this point and I pointed out a cheaper option if he wanted to mod a factory one.
Gee, I went back thru this thread and failed to find the picture of the EGR spacer you were refering to. My bad in assuming you were talking about that one. But, you are good at taking jabs at others here and it gets tiresome. You may not realize it, but it's there in your posts.
i probably should have posted these to begin with. ford aluminum intake. i was told it was off of an 85 mustang (although it has an "83" on the bottom. i dont know if that means anything). i painted it black (i used header paint), it was the regular color of cast aluminum as you guys know. in the last photo there is a dimple on that plate thing; hope thats not a bad thing.(i havent been able to find a diagram of an intake manifold so i dont really know the terms of any of the parts on the manifold)
The 83 intake was used three years-----83. 84 and 85. The plate thing on the bottomside you're referring to is the heat sheild under the exhaust passage, This keeps the engine oil away from the hot passage preventing it from cooking on the surface. Block the passage on either side and you'll not only keep the intake cooler, but you'll keep the corrosive gases from eating the intake from the inside out. You will lose some cold weather driveability, but the intake will be saved from getting cancer. I bought a 428 PI intake a few years back that siffered from this. Got it cheap too ($250, that's cheap for the 428PI intake) the exhaust passages wer eaten up bad, but fortunately it didn't get into the intake passages. I removed the cancerous parts of the passages then blocked the end ports and ran it on a 390.
I used to think that the FOMOCO intake, in question, was the same as the Edelbrock performer 289. BUT, apon further comparison of the two, I found significate difference in the size of the intake runners. I compaired the two, gasket surfaces up, and the FOMOCO intake, is much smaller than the Performer 289. From what I can tell, the Ford intake is smaller all the way in, towards the carb flange. No wander, the FOMOCO intake doesn't work well above 4,000 rpm. I guess it served it's purpose, in the mid '80's smog engines. I am not poking fun at the Ford intake, as I own one myself. I like having it around. It's a good time piece.
very interesting. i didnt know it could do that to aluminum. i live in southern california so the cold weather drivability should be too bad. except in cold mornings. seems like a more than fair trade off. haha it's all good. im not building a racecar. it was cheaper than the performer and i like the way it looks more as well
ok so. i used jb weld to plug up the hole. it got sucked in... where did it go? is it possible it bent my valve in cylinder #5 valve? cylinder #5 is no longer contributing. it has a spark and good compression, but thats it
If you have good compression, the valve is OK. Pull the spark plug, I'll bet you'll find the electrode gap is closed. But I doubt it's from the JB weld, #5 isn't the port open to the crossover passage, that'll be 6,7, 2 or 3 (don't recall which, but it's two of those four.)
thats good to hear. ill check the gap today. i used jb because i couldnt find that spacer that covered egr port anywhere. i still cant.
gap is still good and receiving spark. im gonna seal up that hole and see if there is still a problem. the electronic ignition in my dis. is also moving around. that is part of the deal
if it's nowhere to be found?.. then you spit it right out the exhaust pipe. Did you heavily roughen the surface and clean thoroughly, use any type of backer to keep it in place during the "set", and preferably use the "best case" intake manifold gasket egr blockoff plates(snipped tin or gaskets that include them)? It's also not possible to bend a valve on that cylinder since the putty would only be located between #2 and #7. If you in fact gobbled that stuff up into the chamber(HIGHLY unlikely due to blowdown pressures which then quickly changes to scavenging vacuum) and it even came close to holding the valve open far enough to bend it?.. it would've been very obvious as the engine rpm would've broken up as the valve was held open/bent.. thereby causing a noticable lope afterwards like it had been hurt(although.. there are different levels of "bent" and varying degrees of hurt relating to it). If the manifold hole is present again?(not necessarily from "burning out".. but from cracking off due to adhesion related issues).. you'll obviously have a vac leak again(which can sometimes make it seem as if it's a certian cylinder which is "weaker"). It also sounds as if you may have some distributor issues as well. How are you determining that.. "#5 isn't contributing very much"? Quickly pulling a wire under various states of idle can give you an idea from a per cylinder mixture/timing/spark standpoint.. but only a compression check will put your mind at ease as to whether or not the engine has bigger issues. Good baseline troubleshooting usually works best when beginning from the foundation up.
