Cast Iron vs. Aluminum intake manifold...

[Jezebel]

Can I replace a cast Iron Intake manifold on a Ford 302/351 W, 74 model with a Aluminum one????

Thanks,

John

[wowzer52]

check with a marine engine builder to be sure but I don't think aluminum displaces heat appropriately for closed engine room operation.

[tham57]

check with a marine engine builder to be sure but I don't think aluminum displaces heat appropriately for closed engine room operation.

I have an Edelbrock intake on my 360s with a heat dissapating shield and new Edelbrock 1409s. This set up dissapates heat better than the old cast intake man and Carter AFBs. And even after springing for all this I still get some gas smell from the beast after shutting down. Gotta be a basic Carter/Chrysler design issue. That said it is a lot better than it used to be before I went with this new setup.

[wowzer52]

If that be the case, if the gas smell gets too bad with my original 351's I may go to aluminum also when I rebuild. Right now, after a long run, the smell of gas fumes gets pretty strong so I run my blower for ten minutes or so after shut down. I heard the heat difference in aluminum over cast might make a difference but if some of you guys are using aluminum with success there is no reason I can't. thanks for the info.

[TADTOOMUCH]

One thing I have not tried yet that I just thought of would be to shut off the fuel supply to each engine and starve the carb of fuel so it won't sit there and evaporate out when I shut down the engine normally.

Right now what I do is run the blowers for about five minutes after shut down and if it still smells then I open the center hatch an put a box fan facing the bilge and pressurize the bilge and blow it all out through the vents. That works but it is a pain.

[rossjo]

They claim that you should drain your carb bowls when you have ethanol - sounds painful, but might be good for storage longer than a week or 2 ...