Hi, fellas.

Do any of you use a carb spacer? I was thinking of doing so to keep the fuel/air mixture cooler. I have a 351w.

I have an Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifold 2181, and an Edelbrock AVS2 Series Carburetors 1906. (650cfm)

Thank you - Thomas

 

I take it you are talking of the plastic spacers?
It's not to keep the A/F mix cooler, but I guess it could in a way?

It's to keep the carb cooler so you dont have the fuel in the carb float bowl boiling when the motor is off and you get heat soak.
The fuel boils and then you have a hot start issue because the fumes are heavier then air and are trapped under the air filter they go into the intake manifold and flood the motor.
You can tell it floods the motor because you need to hold the throttle wide open and when it dose start you get black smoke and it runs ruff till it clears out the fumes from the intake.

I even get this with my 300 six and the carb sits off to the side of the motor.
Thing is the intake is heated just like on a v8 and this heat then makes its way to the carb and boils the fuel.
If mine will not restart right away I know its flooded and to hold the pedal to the metal till it starts.

The only thing you have to watch for is air filter to hood clearance when using spacers.
Last weekend I seen a 67 Mustang fast back with a big block that ran a thick gasket under the throttle body (TB) as it was EFI.
I asked why and the EFI computer is built into the TB and the heat would cause the EFI to stop work and in turn motor to stop running.
Think it was a FiTech EFI system and was the first time I had heard of this but he said tech knows this is an issue.
He also had marks under the hood from the filter hitting it and why he could not use a spacer.

So yes I have seen it done.
Now do you go with a 4 hole or open spacer
Dave ----

 

Roger that. Thank you.

- Thomas

 

Two birds with one stone:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Trans-Dapt/969/2584/10002/-1

As OEM Ford used a spacer like that, some had the heater hoses running through them, some had the EGR on the back.

 

Well not a 4 hole and not an open either LOL

FYI
Heater hose adds heat to the carb you are trying to get away from.
EGR can also add heat but the big thing is the Alum EGR plates get holes burned thru them.
Dave ----

 

I use this (or a variation of it) on my 400, it's made of wood.

https://www.edelbrock.com/carburetor...nate-8720.html

 

Caution; If you will drive this engine during cooler weather, you will want some heat in the intake manifold. Even in the summer, no heat at all will make it cold natured for the first few minutes when you start it.

 

I wonder how true that is?
If you had the air filter snorkel working as it should how bad do you think it would be?
I know when the planets line up just right you can get icing.
I would also guess a lot depends on where you live and the weather you have.

I do heat the intake on my 300 because I do drive it in all kinds of different weather.
Dave ----

 

[QUOTE=jack6109518;20868623]Roger that. Thank you.

- Thomas


If you would put more info in your "sig" and a location in the upper right, like a lot of us do, it would be a great help. You can do that from the "userCP" button up top on the blue bar.

Thanks.

 

It's not something I heard on the internet, it's from my own experiences. I too read the hot rod articles and blogs on the internet, and the descriptions on the aftermarket intakes and carbs. I fell for the racing hype a couple of times. I am sure taking the heat away helps all out power during racing. But on a daily driver that is driven in the winter, it does not work very well.

All I can say is try like I did. You can pull it back apart and change things around if it doesn't work out.

 

From my experience with my 351W 2bbl, there have been no major driveability issues. I've blocked off the exhaust crossover passage and used the turkey pan manifold gasket. I've added a big homemade heat shield under the carb in addition to the stock phenolic spacer. I've even built an insulated shroud around the carb, with cool air tapped off the AC to keep things cool.

I do have the heated snorkel, picking warm air from the stove around the passenger side exhaust manifold. This helps prevent carb icing. It also provides a fairly steady intake air temperature to help keep the air/fuel ratio constant. I've added a remote thermometer to keep tabs on the intake air temperature. Details near the end of this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...uum-leaks.html


With a relatively cold intake manifold, the only problem I've noticed is a very slight hesitation during the first minute or two on a cold morning. I've adjusted the choke to pull off just a little slower, a minor tweak. That seems to have helped a lot. Plus I tend to wait just a little bit before leaving the driveway, which also helps. Once the engine starts to warm, I've noticed zero decrease in driveability.

My hunch is modern fuel isn't nearly as susceptible to problems with a cold manifold, unlike the stuff available back when our trucks were new and my hair was on my head, not in the shower drain.

 

Then that is the only good thing about today's fuel.
It otherwise causes more issues then good.

Also with a cool / cold manifold the fuel can drop out of the air and pool on the intake floor.
It then dribbles into the ports "flooding" the mix to be lit.
The same thing can happen if the intake & head ports are too large and the flow slow, the fuel drops out and floods the plugs.
Seen this happen with a boat. It ran vary good out on the water but as soon as you came to shore and tried to dock the motor would flood and stall.
A change to a smaller port intake fixed the stalling and was still good out on the water.
Dave ----