OkeeGuy

well i took my car to that mechanic that was to calibrate my carb to my engine...
he went one size smaller on the jets and one strength different on the springs...my vacuum advance was also hooked to wrong place on the carb... :bb

ok...i dont want to sound stupid here but here goes...
he also told me that i needed a phenolic spacer and i said..."HUH?"
apparently its that thick gasket between the carb and the intake...
it keeps your carb from getting hot and purcalating (sp) the gas...
ok...so ill go down and buy one and put it on...
well...when i left there the car ran like crap! it wanted to "hog up" BAD in traffic and when taking off... :rolleyes:

so today i buy the spacer and WOW...
i can not believe the difference! it came alive!
it seemed to unleash HP galore!

i am a very happy guy... :)
and now im :steering: my azz off!
Old Towne here i come!

did the added height also help?
does that mean that if 1/3" helped, 1" would be even better?


[Modified by SIGNGUY, 8:20 PM 1/22/2004]

joeveto

I think I would have hood clearance issues, if I tried this, as my Edelbrock air cleaner is already pushing the limits.

As far as the benefits, beyond the cooling of the intake charge, I believe there is a slight ram effect, similar to having an increased intake runner length.

I need to find something to give me a boost like that. I'm still a little displeased with my results after the rebuild. I think my carb is off. I need to find the air to fuel ratio and adjust accordingly.

Glad to hear yours is working so well.

:cheers:

OkeeGuy

as far as clearance goes...it was only about 1/3" thick...
as far as going to 1"...if needed, i could go a tad thinner on the air cleaner filter...im running a 3" thick filter...
it ran like a scalded dog right from the giddy up, even when it was cold so i cant help but wonder if the thickness did something too...
and IF it did...would more thickness give me even more?

Wrecked82

I installed 3/8 spacers under my tbi's on my crossfire years ago and could not be happier. I never had the dreaded fuel puddling after modifying the swirl plates under the tbi's. Yet I was pilloried for doing this - even though I managed to purchase two cnc milled spacers for $25 combined. Spacers work in the right combination, in spite of what others may say.

Now, back to my submarine sandwich.

BTW, I have near 200K miles on this setup, while others have their cars in various stages of rebuild, etc., etc.

I will take my cheap modifications and get on the road rather than spend years never completing projects.

Marc80

It sounds good to me. I had heard about this but then someone told me that an even bigger heat prevention is to use an electric fuel pump and not have the fuel preheating through something attached to the engine. I am going to try it. I is a small risk.

An easy way to check to your hood to air filter clearance is to roll up a loose ball of foil and place it on the tightest spot. Drop the hood and check the flattened foil.

Ganey

No, not necessarily. An insulater is rec., some of us have been rec. all along.
Basically spacers are a matter of tuning, trying & seeing what's better for your setup & you. It is possible to estimate what spacer might help.

UKPaul

Hi Signguy,
I fitted a 1/3" spacer under my Q-jet & it made a difference (as I expected - an aluminIum(!) intake is just going to cook a carb bolted directly to it). Later I got hold of a 4 hole spacer (1st was just open) & it helped out with low end torque, nothing like you've described but an improvement nonetheless. Is yours an open spacer or a 4 hole one???
:cheers:
p.s. still haven't fitted those seats :( Pic will be sent when I get off my lazy butt I get round to doing it. So many things to do, so little time....

Yellow79

naw not neccisarily. a spacer is just another way of fine tuning your car. its a good way to make up for some lost power if you didnt hit your head/cam/intake combo on the head. as with any other engine mod it all depends on how well your other parts work together. if you hit the intake/cam/head combo on the head then you will actually hurt performance with a carb spacer. but if you were a little off ( most people are) then you can benefit from one. they can go anywhere from very very slim, under 1/3" thick to close to two inches maybe more.i would say leave it at that 1/3rd thickness, if its running well.

OkeeGuy

thanx guys!
its now running unbelievably strong...think i will leave it alone now...
hi Paul...i am running an Edlebrock spacer...its niether a 4 hole nor an open hole...its a double holer...one on the right and one on the left...
i have an Edlebrock 1406 carb and an Edlebrock Performer intake and its the spacer that Edlebrock recomends for that set up...

today we took a digital temp reading and the intake was 130* and the carb was 96*...i assume that before the carb would have been 130* as well...so...big difference there...and it shows big time! :)