Manifold Spacers
 

Hey guys,
The other day I was tightening my accessory belt and could just feel the heat off the intake manifold. Granted I had been driving the car for a while and it was in its normal operating temperature but that intake was hot as hell.

One thing we always did on or V8 carburetor stuff was to run a spacer between the carb and the intake. The first reason was heat. There are different materials used for the spacers, the most common are aluminum, Phenolic (type of plastic), and believe or not wood. It provides a heat barrier between the two, with Phenolic being the best. With a 10 times better heat conductivity than the aluminum. The wooden ones work better than the aluminum also. Personally I can't really see the benefits of bolting an aluminum spacer to an aluminum intake to steel carb. I guess if you where running a cast iron intake then there cold be benefits.

Anyways back to the point. Has anyone tried making a spacer as a heat barrier to cool that thing down. We all know, denser air/fuel charge will make more power. And if it drops the intake temp by 15* or 100* it could help, right?

-Ryan

hmmm...well...now I feel retarded, now that I see that it reminds me that I have looked at it before. So can you tell the difference if anyone is using it?

I'm using it, but I don't have the resources to tell you exactly how effective it is. To me it's just another piece of the puzzle.

does it require longer studs/bolts? If I do get one it will be going on my 1.6

I don't think so, but not 100% sure. A call to the vendor on Monday should provide a quick answer to that question when you place your order.

I will be seeing mike from 949 today and will ask him about it.

Have a great day,
Jared

Hrmm interesting. Seems like it could be beneficial. In for some sort of results.

I have wondered myself how much of the heat comes from the head vs radiant heat from everything else.

This, it seems like the radiant heat would be less on the cold side of the engine though. An infared thermometer would give some nice before and after results. If radiant heat is a concern, you could be a baller and thermowrap your intake manifold. Then you don't even have to powder coat it. After all this. You would probably realize that you wasted money. This would be a very similar mod to the randall cowl intake. People also spend 300 dollars on these to make 2 whp. Just saying.

In my case, I noticed this yesterday at the dragstrip, I get a ton of heat soak from the radiator fans blowing air over the manifold/charge pipes. I was seeing airtemps of 60c while sitting in the staging lanes. Once I got moving though this was not an issue and the temps dropped back down to semi reasonable levels.

I could see the spacer as a kind of shield for blocking some heat from the engine block as its the hottest part of the engine bay. I don't think it would make a big difference but it's all about the little things.

949 says it drops it 40*. That could be quite a bit, but again, if the ambient temperature is where all the heat is coming from then it wouldnt really make much of a difference. But if all the intake temp, well the majority, is coming from heat soak from the head then it should be a very good thermal barrier. I will have to take a picture of the heat shields that we use on our race cars that sit between the carbs and the head. Well its a motorcycle engine, so Im sure if you have seen a motorcycle engine you will know what I am talking about. Something like that could also help out a little bit. It is all of the little things that help here and there.

What about ducting the hot air from the radiator down and away from the engine and out of the engine compartment?

The Hondata gaskets have been around for a long time. I seriously doubt any claims made about power/heat but they cost about the same as the OEM gasket, so what the hell. why not?

Think long and hard as to why an engine would use a cast iron block but an aluminum cylinder head.

The aluminum will dissipate heat much faster from the combustion chamber than a steel cylinder head will. While I agree that ambient heatsoak is always an issue with aluminum piping, just think about how much additional heat is put into the intake charge by the aluminum manifold bolted to the aluminum head.

I have one on my 1.6 , its slightly thicker but not enough to where you would need longer studs for bolting onto the head.

My intake mani will stay warm vs. hot to the touch on my friends stock 1.6 intake mani.

40* degree drop? im not sure about that but i can honestly say there is a difference.

Im running stock hood, no vents. nothing.

Its also a ebay knock off of the hondata which runs about $20 cheaper

It did nothing for my temps to the touch when I had it on my NA.

dont need longer studs for the hondata gasket on the 1.8 either.

you will not be able to reattach your IM brace though because the holes no longer line up (unless you put some spacers on the bottom of the brace)

I kinda want to try this thing out. Seems like some mixed results of how well it works or how it doesnt work. I dont have an IM brace so I wouldnt be missing out on anything, I am gonna check eBay and see what I can find

What about disconnecting the water pipes that go to the throttle body?
I feel I don't need to heat this thing because the ambient temperature in my area all the year round, also I realize that, probably, it wont be noticeable, but every little bit helps.

So long.
Ben.