Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Do I have to use the water heated option on the Clifford intake?

I'm trying to hook up the water heated intake on my 261. Because of all the plumbing I would rather not. I live in California avg. 60*. Can't I just plug the holes and call it good or should I just hook the **** thing up? I'm running a real Weber carb...if that makes any difference.

Thanks,
Tom

Dear Tom;

Don't bother, It's not needed here.

That option is for use in area(s) where the temp is much lower or freezing etc.

Also; W/O the "plumbing" there's less chance for leaks and makes it look much neater.

Good luck, John M.......

Yo, John M.,

I like yer answers! Even though I've spent a fortune on braided lines and fittings for the oil filter and water heated intake, I ain't usin' em'.

I want to see the ENGINE and not all the plumbing. Where's Apple Valley???? Is it hot in the summer and cold in the winter???? In SSF it doesn't change...much.

Thanks,
Tom

Dear Tom;

Here (Apple Valley) the temp varies from +103 in the Summer to as low as +6 in the inter. However; these are the extremes.

You only need plug the holes in the thermostat housing/water pump, unless you run a heater. It shouldn't hurt to leave the ones in the manifold open.

If you run a 180 degree thermostat you'll be just fine even in winter.

Another note: Make sure the fuel filter is on the right side away from the exhaust too. Easy way to do this is to get a fuel pump with one built in. GM made one for the early years stock.

Good luck, John M...

John M.

Done deal! Thanks for your help. Want to buy some steel braided hoses with Aeroquip anodized fittings real cheap so you can fill up your engine bay???????????

My fuel pump has a glass bowl on top (bottom?) with a thumb screw to remove the bowl and screen for cleaning. Is that the one you're speaking of?

Much appreciation!
Tom

Tom

The intake heat is intended to reduce fuel pooling and carburator icing. Due to the fact that you live near SF and it tends to be humid there when cool, I think you need it, unless you are willing to warm up your engine well before driving or only drive sunny days. Hook it up, you will like it. It's really not hard.

I have the clifford intake on my 3oo and I put shutoff valves for the water,I figured if I shut off the hot water,the cooler charge would give me more power in summer,but I have found it runs a little better and gets better mileage with the heat on even in summer,but you can definitely run it without if you want.

Dear Tom;

That's the one.

Inline automotive engines like most others, are designed to operate @ 180 degrees "warmed up" & not cold.

If you were in a freezing climate and needed manifold heat, exhause would be the way.

JM.....

Carburator icing has nothing to do with how warmed up the engine is, although a manifold will head up by conduction somewhat eventually. Icing is most likely to happen when driving for long periods at part throttle, like on a freeway. When you go to open the throttle, the ice messes up the mixture. This is why airplanes have carb heat.

Dear 4;

That's correct; aircraft carbs are heated with a duct that runs from the headers & are air cooled engines running 3-4,000 feet above sea level.

Tom's @ sea level in San Francisco, Ca. where ice is not a factor.

JM.......

Carbs can ice up in moderate humid conditions, as 4onthefloor said, it is a function of part throttle operation chilling the carb and carb icing up. An air tank chilling when the pressure is released is similar.

I live at 400 feet above sea level in a climate that is pretty close to San Fransisco, and I have seen carb icing before. Mostly on my motorcycle, which doesn't have heated carbs, but it can happen on any engine.

Gentlemen;

We might be 'off track' here.

The question was about; Water heating the intake manifold on a water cooled 6 Cyl. engine.

When these engines(water cooled)warm up the ambient heat within the engine compartment rises also. As a direct result the carburetor heats too. An engine at +180 degrees F will have an ambient/carb temp over +70F.

Under these circumstances 'carb ice'is rarely a condition or a problem. Especialy in the San Francisco area.

Air cooled aircraft/motorcycle engines are in a different 'ball game'.

Water cooled cast iron V8s use an air duct from the Ex. manifold to the Carb. air intake to address this issue.

Here in So. California these measures are seldom needed.

JM....

J.M.;
For whatever reason I haven't been able to reply. But, it looks as though it's ok now?!?!?

As soon as I get my engine fired up, I will post a pic and show how clean the engine looks without all the plumbing (Uhhhh, since you're fairly sharp about a lotta' stuff, I may lean on you on how to download a pic???? )

I also figure that if any problems become evident I can always install the intake heat at a later date!

Once I get this done....awww heck...no sense of adding anything else to the pot, I'll just wait until I get there!!!!!

JM, you da' man!
Tom

May I jump in and ask a very related question? I've plumbed water heat to my Offenhauser intake, which has a 500 cfm Edelbrock carburetor. I put "shut off" valves on the supply and return lines, just in case I ever wanted to shut the water supply off.

As you can see by my profile I live in Georgia and the summers can be quite toasty. Still for the last year and a half since I built my engine I have always kept the hot water taps open and flowing to the bottom of the intake. The flow is non-stop. Is it possible to overheat the charge? If so, what problems could you run into?

-magic mike-

Isn't the tech tip supplied here somewhat relevant. This tip comes from someone who I think was part of the engineering at GM for inline 6's.

http://inliners.org/tech/why_you_need_heat_to_your_inlet_.htm

Gentlemen;

The 216/235/261 manifolds are the same basic l930s technology, which were made to utilize that type of carbuertor(s)world wide, back then.

Today; We all have a variety of manifolds, carbs & EFI devices to consider, relative to our needs/climate/geography and altitude etc.

This alone, should be the guiding factor(s) in creating anything and not what someone else did.

I would ask the Webmaster how to post photos and always remember the basic rule of auto mechanics.

"If It's not broke, don't fix it".

John M.....

Or that of the amateur mechanic,
"If it ain't broke, F---(mess) with it until it is."

hey snegrah...I live in SF as well....good to know there's a fellow inliner in the area.

I went the route of installing the water heated manifold stuff with a stock intake...Fentons and Holley/Webber.....on a '59 235

I was kind of sceptical of weather I needed it or not..but since I read the tech article here and a bunch of folks here swore i needed it I went ahead and installed it...against a mechanic friends advice. I haven't been able to get the throttle linkage drivable so i haven't tested it much...but I'd be curious to know what you find out.

From the driving I have done I have not been very pleased with the Holley/Webber setup and performance. I haven't tried it without heat so I don't know if that's the problem, but I will as soon as I get the @#@@##@$# throttle figured out.

Let me know what you find though.