Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines heated intake

I know I've been full of questions lately, but I've got another one. I'm getting ready to move to NC soon, so I've been reading up on heated intakes. While I'm reading some old discussions on the board, it hits me like a brick. All the problems listed for unheated intakes apply to my motor. I got curious the other day when I noticed what looked like condensation on the lower part of my carb. I thought this was fairly odd because I live in south Georgia and there was no condensation before I started the motor. I have stumbling at part throttle, good plugs, but sooty black exhaust.

Anyway, I want to find out exactly what I need, and how I hook it up. I have this much so far:

"I routed the hoses similar to what Jack outlined. Got an older-style thermostat housing that had pipe fittings in both sides of it. Blocked off the one on the pass. side and ran the hose from the driver's side of the housing to the hole at the front of the intake. Then ran the hose from the rear of the intake into the heater core. The other hose from the heater core runs to the normal intake position on the engine. Heater works fine this way too and the hoses fit fine without cluttering up the engine compartment too badly."

What type of hoses? I have a C10 with a 250, stock intake and 1-barrel and dual exhaust manifolds. Sorry for the extra long post, I'm just kinda excited that this might solve my problems. Thanks for the help. John.

The reason you have condensation is the cooling effect of fuel being sucked through the intake. Fuel condenses and atomizes there for it's like an old swamp cooler. If you don't know what a swamp cooler is, get a dictionary.

RapRap
1940 Chevy Coupe

raprap-There is no listing in the dictionary for a swamp cooler. Thanks for the info though.

I know this topic has be discussed alot, and by many different people. The only problem is that I'm new to inlines and I don't know anyone who has done this before (intake heat). I see that there are two tapped holes on the intake just below the carb. What are these for? Is that where I'm supposed to plumb the heat? I don't know a whole lot, but that's why I'm going to be attending an automotive college. Any help would be great, or just another reply. John.

John,

Look no further than our "tech tips" department for a complete explanation of how intake heat can help your 250 run better. You say you are running the original carb with "dual exhaust manifolds". By that do you mean a split exhaust with the heat stove removed? If so, you need to restore the heat to the intake. You can buy a hot-water box from Stovebolt Engine Co. or find them on EBay.

The condensation on your carb is normal and just confirms that you have a cold air/fuel mixture flowing into an intake manifold that now has no way to heat up the mixture for better distribution, like the tech article mentions.

By the way: a "Swamp Cooler" was a big ugly window-mounted cannister that forced hot outside air through a wet filter element to provide a crude form of air conditioning. They can still be found at swap meets, but they don't work very well.

Jack--Thanks for the info. I started out by looking in the Tech Tips section. I have split headers on the motor from Hedman. What I need to know is how to physically set up the heat to the manifold. From what I've read in the Archives this can be done using the stock intake by running a hose from the thermostat housing to the intake, then from an outlet hole in the intake into the heater core hose. IF SO, what holes in the intake do I run the lines to, what type of lines do I use, and where would I run my temp. sensor? I have the stock intake and carb on the engine right now. Thanks for the help so far. John.

I also took a look at Stovebolt's website and found this http://www.stoveboltengineco.com/catalog/10-9999.htm

How does this hook up, and will it work for the stock intake and carb.? Thanks. John.

John,

That plate bolts to the bottom of your stock intake. It has pipe fittings as seen in the picture. The plan is to circulate water through the plate, which will transfer heat to the intake. Most common takeoff point is the driver's side of the thermostat housing that feeds the upper radiator hose. GMC's and 261s use a housing that is already drilled and tapped - or you can (Carefully) drill & tap your old one. Put a pipe fitting in there and run heater hose to fitting #1 on the new plate. Cut your heater return hose and put a "tee" fitting in it, then connect that "tee" to fitting #2 on the plate.

Your temp gauge sending unit threads into a hole in the top of the cylinder head. No need to change anything there.

You can also do this with copper tubing which actually makes a pretty clean installation. I saw a 235 done this way at the Bowling Greeen show today. The tubing was bent just right, run behind the headers and looks a lot cleaner than a bunch of black heater hose hanging off the side of the motor.

Hope this helps - maybe somebody out there can post a picture of how they did it.

Jack- Thanks. That was one of the answers I was looking for. I have a few more questions though. My thermostat housing has threaded holes on each side of it. My heater hose is run to the one on the passenger side, and my temp. sensor is run to the one on the driver's side. I don't see any problems with running a tee into the heater hose, but where in the head should I run the temp. sensor so I can use that outlet?

Also, what size copper tubing would you recommend to use? I just hate to jump into anything head-first then run into problems. Thanks again for your help. John.

Hi Big,

You can get a brand-new aluminum water outlet (the part under the thermostat) from your Chevy dealer for a '79 3/4 ton with 292 and A/C that has 3 threaded outlets in it. 2 on the drivers side and 1 on the pass. side. They aren't the cheapest, but my guess by your comment about "...where in the head should I run the temp. sensor...?" is that you don't have the hole between the #2 intake and exhaust ports. Some early heads just don't have the hole.

Actually, if you do have that hole, you could use it for the carb heat pipe instead of for the temp gauge. My experience is the water coming out of that hole is hotter due to closeness to the exhaust port, and will fool your original stock temp sender.

------------------
David
newbie #4153

Thanks Jack for setting record on the Swamp Cooler. I just wondered if the younger Inliners knew any of the old lingo. I guess turn around is fair play. When I hear some techies speak, I don't understand them either.

Hey Big, where are you located? I'm sure one of our Inliners with experiance in heated intakes could get together with you and show you the ropes!

RapRap
1940 Chevy Coupe

just a six--Thanks for the info. Mr. Langdon emailed me back with this info:

John,
Yes, our heat plate will work fine on your '68 250. Use a "T" fitting for
your temp sensor and feed the coolant to the plate with the other outlet of
the "T". The coolant from the plate can be returned to the water pump by
"T" connection into the heater return hose.

This sounds like the least amount of work to me. I also don't know whether or not my head has that hole in it. I'll have to check on that.

raprap-- Thanks also. Still got alot to learn here, but since I'm only 17 I'll have alot of time to work on it. Right now I'm in Redneck south Georgia a.k.a Valdosta, GA. It's in the southeastern part of GA in Lowndes county. Yeah, I need to find some old people who can show me how all this stuff was hooked up from the factory. Man, they would have to be really old though. J/K Thanks again guys for all of your help. I think I'll be able to work this out now. Thanks again. John.

Would 3/8" aluminum fuel line be ok to use for the heat plate? PAW has a 25ft roll of it for $15.95. I was thinking that I could eventually use some High Temp paint on it if I wanted it to blend in more. Would I be able to run a shut off valve with the metal tubing without having to run rubber hose? Thanks again guys.


[This message has been edited by bigchevy66 (edited 06-23-2003).]

Ok John, my bad, I re-read your initial post and realize you are talking about a 250 not a 235. I would go with Tom Langdon's suggestion on the Tee out of the thermo housing. If you go with hard line, 3/8" should be plenty big for the plumbing. You should be able to place a shutoff valve in there somewhere, but you benefit from intake heat just as much in hot weather, as in the cooler months.

I just drove through Valdosta today, on the way back from to FL from Bowling Green. We have any active Inliners chapter in GA with over 20 members. Most of these guys are only too happy to help out "newbies". Most of them are around Atlanta, but at least one is in Waycross, not too far from you. Contact Jimmy Wilson, chapter head, at holley2100@aol.com, he can probably hook you up with somebody closer to you.

Jack--Thanks. I talked to my dad today, and he said to stay away from the aluminum tubing because it will become brittle from the heat. What would y'all recommend? Copper or aluminum fuel line. I was just interested in the aluminum because it was fairly cheap. A store near me want $0.79 a foot for soft copper tubing that comes in a roll. Not really a bad price, just curious.

Waycross isn't that far from us, I've been there a couple different times looking at A&B junkyard. I actually got my 283 from there with double hump heads and all the acessories for $275. If y'all ever get a chance the place is well worth dropping by. Their card says they have 18 ACRES of old cars and parts. Needless to say, it's fun. Thanks again for all the help guys. I'll have to dig out my digital camera and take some pics when I'm through. Thanks again. John.

Hey Big-

You're never too old to learn something. Ask all the questions you want. I used mild steel tubing(easy to bend) and used 3/8"ID rubber hose to connect. It works great on my 292.

Do you know where Cuthbert, GA. is? I took my brother there during the 60's to college. Yeah, it's a little "red" down there. We were living in Maryland at the time and the have tere share of "Rednecks" too.
Why don't you post some photos of your project?

RapRap
1940 Chevy Coupe

raprap-Thanks. I'm going to order the heat plate today, and maybe see if I can find some tubing. I'll probably wait till I get the part in though. No, I don't know where Cuthbert is, but then again I'm not really good with cities either. I'll see if I can find my digital camera and post some pics for y'all. Thanks for all the help. John.

I made my own plate for my Offy 194-292 4 bbl intake. I had a local sheet metal shop cut 1/4" billet aluminum to the needed size. I used my grinding wheel to shape it up, then I drilled and tapped the holes for 1/4" pipe fittings.

Be sure to test your water seal for leaks before you put everything together.

BTW, Cuthbert Georgia is in the southwest corner of the state, south of Columbus. Very rural area - I think it's close to Providence Canyon - the so-called "baby Grand Canyon".

I'm 20 mins west of Atlanta, otherwise I'd show you how I put together my water heat setup.

-magic mike-

magicmike--Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'd like to meet some people from the board, but like most people I'm not able to drive four hours to hang out for a little while. Maybe once I get to NC I can meet some people from the board. I'll be living in Cornelius. It's about 8 miles (I think) south of Mooresville <~~~~ Race City USA. I can't wait to get there.

BTW, I found my digital camera and shoud be able to post some pics soon.
Thanks guys. John.

Big,there's a few of us in the Concord area and there's an Auto Fair held twice a year at the speedway and a Goodguys show in the Fall.Looking forward to meet you when you get settled here.HF

hecticblasts--Thanks, same to you and the other guys. I'm moving into my apartment on August 1st. The cool thing is school doesn't start till Aug 13, and I'll be getting paid time off from my workplace down here till Aug. 9. Hell yeah. Isn't vacation fun. Hopefully I should be working near the Concord area. Right now I'm planning on transferring to the Toys R Us up there. Yes, it's true I'm a Toys R Us kid. Looking forward to it. John.

BTW, can someone please tell me how to post a pic? Thanks.

To post a picture...read the FAQs. Select "Can I add HTML to my messages?" and then click on "UBB Codes". Yes I agree this is a pain, but we're working on an upgrade to this message board that will make it a lot easier. Just be sure to size your picture no larger than about 3"x5". Anything larger slows down loading of the whole topic.

Jack--Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to get the pics onto the board. I've got to find some of my old stuff that tells me how to resize. John.

Here's an update on the heated intake project. I got it installed today (6/27). My truck runs soooo much better now that I have it on there. The installation was a breeze, it took maybe 15 minutes. The weird thing is, I've noticed that my temp. is more consistent with it installed. Before, my motor would fluctuate between 180-210. Now, she remains constant at 200. I also took pics. so that I can share them with anyone else who wants to do this in the future. I would recommend it. I ended up using 3/8 fuel hose instead of copper tubing. It doesn't look the greatest, but it works. I was not able to plumb in a shut off valve, because I couldn't find on that would work. Thanks to everyone who shared info and opinions on this subject, y'all have been a very big help. I would also like to thank Tom Langdon at Stovebolt. I called and talked to him several times, and he was very nice and informative. I had my order within 2 days. Thanks again. John.