Intake manifold

Manifold Project Convert 2 barrel to 4 barrel

Carter AFB/Edelbrock clone intake manifold production This project was initiated to develop an efficient means of producing the 4 barrel intake manifold using an original 2 barrel manifold as starting material. Since so many of the 2 bbl manifolds were produced they are fairly cheap to purchase and are readily available. Rather than attempting a manual operation with its high labor costs I pursued directly the CNC automated milling process.

The process was developed during 2004-2005, and uses modern CNC equipment to produce consistent exact copies and of excellent repeatable quality. The tooling to restrain the manifold during the milling operation was manually built and then custom fit onto the milling machine.

The process involves thoroughly cleaning each manifold inside and out via roto-rooter through the exhaust crossover passages and acid dip/soak for 6-8 hours. The parts are then externally sand blasted and finish coated. Several coatings are available; powder coat in various colors, red oxide primer for normal painting and metallic ceramic coating. The primer leaves a protected surface that the customer can paint to his own tastes along with the rest of his engine. The powder coat leaves a most durable coating, however, it will rust when it burns off the exhaust crossover tubes. Finally the metallic ceramic coating is a baked on chrome looking finish which is guaranteed to not burn off the exhaust crossover tubes and presents the top of the engine in a very show worthy appearance. I have a ceramic coated manifold in daily service with 60,000 plus miles and it is still in excellent condition. Once finish is applied the manifolds are accumulated until a lot size of at least 20 units are ready to be machined. Then they go onto the mill for final machine work.

Finally, after milling, the raw surfaces are sprayed with a short-term preservative, sufficient to prevent surface rust for at least 6 months.

Manifold pricing; basic manifold with red oxide primer $85.00

Powder coated. $210.00

(I keep gloss black in stock but can obtain any color desired within approximately 2-3 weeks from receipt of order)

Metallic ceramic coated $220.00

Core Charge if you supply no usable core $40.00

Product Note: Fitting the carburetor

When using an original Studebaker Avanti AFB carb no spacer is required. However, if you use an Edelbrock clone of the AFB, there will be interference between a lever on the carb and the manifold on the drivers side

This leaves you 2 choices:

You can cut off the lever (as Studebaker did in the factory on the original Avanti)

OR

fit a 1/2 inch spacer between the carb base and the manifold to raise the carb.

One can buy a ½ inch spacer locally or I sell a MICARTA or CORIAN spacer. Either serves 2 functions:

It provides clearance for the lever, so you don’t have to cut your new Edelbrock.
It serves as an excellent heat insulator to prevent heat soak from the manifold up into the carburetor base. This aids in the prevention of vapor lock and fuel percolation after shutdown.

The insulator/spacer is far superior to an aluminum unit due to its insulating abilities. I encourage all customers to buy this with their new manifold. It just makes for a better all around product when the car goes on the road.

The spacer/insulator price is $30.00