Restoring Rusty

[greg64]

Greg, that leak sucks! Man, I hate when crap like that happens. The new intake gasket looks a lot like the ones I used to seal up my 283, and it worked great. You should probably drain your oil, because I'm thinking coolant leaked down the valley into the pan.

Your new booster hose setup is exactly like what i did on my engine. Nice and clean, with flex hose for the whole run.

The carb bracket that loops halfway around the carb, with the spot for the throttle return springs was the style I was initially thinking of. I've seen the type that sandwiches under the carb too, but like you, I'm not crazy about the double gasket.

I'm pretty sure that the nut on the end of the fuel line is straight thread with a flare, and not the NPT you mentioned earlier. So the female fitting you need needs to accept a flare and then transition to a barb.

I know why you didn't clean and paint the distributor hold down clamp; you don't like painting in the winter! Lol. By the way, stick with the stock hold down. There are fancy pants chrome ones, but the don't have the same friction against the distributor, and are prone to slipping.

Good luck with the new gaskets!
Greg

[LSX408]

That sucks about the leak! The part # 1256 gaskets will work much better with the aluminum intake.

[Gregski]

and so the Intake Manifold Installation Part Deux begins

Step 1 - carefuly deposit the bad gasket into the trash receptacle

[greg64]

Hey, at least you didn't hang the old gaskets on your wall for "later".

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by greg64

Hey, at least you didn't hang the old gaskets on your wall for "later".

LMAO no doubt

[77 350 Shorty Wide]

Did you put a dab of sealer on the bolt threads before installing? Not all are blind threaded the ones around the coolant passages I believe are wet. Also oil has been known to weep by the bolts as well, the ones over the oil galley. On another subject I would recommend you put a pcv system on the truck, not only are they federally required on any vehicle after '69, they really are more efficient at keeping the crankcase pressure from building and it will keep the engine compartment cleaner. The blow-by (smoke) the engine makes will end up all over the engine compartment. The smoke is oil based and attracts dust just that much faster. This is just my two cents on this.

God Bless, Terry

[Jake Wade]

Greg, I agree with Terry, I recommend you put a PCV valve in one of the valve covers and leave the breather in the opposite one.

[68post]

If there is oily blow-by the last place you want it is going into the intake !!!

[Jake Wade]

Originally Posted by 68post

If there is oily blow-by the last place you want it is going into the intake !!!

If you have oily blow-by, it's time for a rebuild.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 77 350 Shorty Wide

Did you put a dab of sealer on the bolt threads before installing? God Bless, Terry

Yes sir, used this ARP stuff that I had

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 77 350 Shorty Wide

On another subject I would recommend you put a pcv system on the truck, not only are they federally required on any vehicle after '69, they really are more efficient at keeping the crankcase pressure from building and it will keep the engine compartment cleaner. The blow-by (smoke) the engine makes will end up all over the engine compartment. The smoke is oil based and attracts dust just that much faster.

Thank you Terry, I hear and respect all advice given on this forum. At this time I am on the fence on the PCV issue and this is a testing phase / setup for sure.

[Gregski]

man I can think of at least 7 things I rather be doing than scrapping this orange RTV gasket stuff off on a Saturday afternoon, what was the PO thinking? JK

and you know things are going great if the shop vac aka R2D2 is being used, no mess here people, go on, nothing to see here

[Gregski]

so I went to O'Reilly's and bought the right gasket, but they had to drive it over from Stockton so it was going to be a couple hours

fortunately when I came home a delivery truck pulled up, God Bless 'Merica it was my third throttle bracket this definitely put some wind back in my sail

even this one has about 1/16 of wiggle room where the others had about an 1/8th of an inch, but at this point I am sure you all is tired of me complaining so it will have to do (but props to the gentleman who said he makes his own, much respect)

seriously though I am not complaining I am doing this researching and sharing it so that maybe it helps some of you out too

[Gregski]

staying on the topic of carburetors, the carburetor came with four 1 1/2 inch studs

the brackets came with one stud a hair longer (about the thickness of the bracket)

well my intake manifold calls for a split down the middle gasket which just happens to be about 1/4 inch thick so I had to go out and buy four brand new 2 inch studs

again this is how the Game is played, you change one thing and it snow balls from there

[Gregski]

the old Greg was back and this filthy dirty distributor hold down bracket did not stand a chance, not on my watch

[Gregski]

tired of going to the parts house and forgetting what I came there for I decided to start making a list

[Gregski]

whilst sitting there killing time waiting on the gasket to be delivered, I took another gander at the shinny new intake manifold sitting next to me upside down, and I realized it has no rear water passages, what do you all make of that, why not?

[Gregski]

finally got the new proper gasket only difference as far as I can tell is that it seems to be made out of black rubber where as the first one was blue plastic

O'Reilly's also had that High Tack gasket glue spray stuff that AutoZone didn't so I snatched a can of it too (the intake manifold instructions suggest we use it on the cylinder heads)

I built a wall out of cardboard (being lazy and not wanting to take the valve covers off AGAIN) since the gasket spray adhesive is pink and not clear for some reason

this time I wasn't taking any chances so I put some orange RTV around the water galleys around the cylinder heads and around the intake manifold ports

followed this dudes video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wVL0cjGmdI

[Gregski]

also picked up a 3/8ths to 3/8ths union fitting and a 3/8ths to 5/16ths fuel line fitting which allowed me to tap into the stock hard fuel line and run a nice clean rubber hose 90* elbow to the swivel inlet on the carb (wish I could find a 90* swivel fitting for the Holley carb that would make it even better)

it do look good if I say so myself

someday this is where a clear inline fuel filter will live, but not today, lol

[Gregski]

correct me if I am wrong ladies and gentlemen but I measured the vacuum nipple on the carb for the vacuum advance and I came up with 3/16ths, I got the same measurement on my distributor fitting

yet when I went to O'Reilly's and Pep Boys they had the following lines

5/32

7/32

7/64

now if I use my slide ruler and protractor and convert these so that we are talking apples and apples mine would be 6/32nds so right dab smack in the middle of the first two, I am not even going to bother with the last one as it is tinnny

so I bought three feet of each of the first two lines, and just as I predicted one be too small the other too big, and when I compare them to my old lines sure as _________ mine is the size right in the middle of those two

you all feel my pain, does that sound about right?

[Gregski]

OK Greg you are killing us, did you finish the truck or what?

Yes, yes I did, and there I was poring the coolant back in when the same thing happened, the passenger side intake manifold flooded... BUT... I did not panic, my World's Greatest Dad (I have a mug to prove it) instincts kicked in and I quickly noticed the genius over here forgot to put the heater hose back on, so I quickly put it on the outlet and tightened the hose clamp, I wiped all the water that pored out and topped off the radiator.

Verdict: Intake manifold dry as a bone!

Guys I could not have done it without you all, thank you so much for your advice and encouragement, this forum Rocks !!!

[Gregski]

Then I went to start the truck, and it would not start, I figured no gasoline in the carb, that must be it.

Reached for the starter fluid on the top shelf only to realize it was all but empty... quick to the lawn mower red can canister, EMPTY

There's Ed our neighboor hey buddy can I borrow some gas, sure, here's my barely any left lawn mower red can, ... Thanks that will do

Pored that down Rusty's throat but he still would not start

Double and triple check the firing order since I took the plug wires off the distributor cap (they were on right)

Man I bet I did it again, I am notorious for putting the distributor in one tooth off, I did it on our '97 Tahoe I bet I did it here, yep sure as _______ that was it

After the distributor correction he fired right up - I did absolutely nothing to the carb, now that is Holley Performance magic ladies and gentlemen, outstanding

I set the initial timing at 13.5* BTDC at 650 RPM, I swear it sounds like the New York Philharmonic playing the sound track to a perfectly tuned Chevrolet Small Block 350 cubic inch V8

Well did you drive it?

Heck yeah I drove it, it runs soooo good.

Thank you all once again, I appreciate all the help soooo much and I am so happy, tired, dirty, but happy.

[greg64]

Greg, as I was looking at the new throttle bracket, I was thinking "that stud is too short". And what happened in the next picture... You might want to use a nylock nut or at least locktite on that one nut, to make sure it stays tight.

About the water passage in the rear of the manifold, that is the miracle of manufacturing of the SBC. The two heads are identical and interchangeable, to make manufacturing faster and cheaper. But the side effect of this (there are many) is that there are two useless water ports at the back of the engine that the intake manifold needs to block.

Going to get it running tomorrow?

[77 350 Shorty Wide]

On your question about having no rear water cross over on the intake manifold. The Chevy engineers decided a long time ago that it wasn't necessary. Then came along the new and improved lt1 series small block... I believe and someone can certainly put me straight on this, when they did they changed some things. One of the changes was a new cooling system that uses a reverse flow water pump. The new design I believe utilizes a rear cross over.


Greg64 is right about them being the same so that they can be used on either side.

Congrats on your success keep it up!

God Bless, Terry

[greg64]

I guess waiting 5 minutes gave me my answer on whether you were going to get it running. Congrats on sealing that bugger up!

About the vacuum line, I use the 5/32 stuff. You can heat an end up in boiling water to soften the rubber, and then ram it on the barb. Last thing I want is the larger line falling off or leaking. And with vacuum, there's no real "flow", so the smaller diameter doesn't change anything.