Carter Stainless spacer

[petelempert]

Looking to replace the metal stainless spacer between the carb and the intake on my 63 with a Carter. I ordered one from a guy in Pennsylvania I think about four years ago, but I no longer have his info. Can anybody help with his contact information or any other source? Also, I am fuzzy on details of the installation secret...it's like a sandwich, but I can't remember the order. From the bottom up, is it:

1. intake, spacer, gasket, then carb?

2. intake, gasket, spacer, then carb?

3. intake, gasket, spacer, gasket, then carb?

Seems like the third option is too many gaskets...but I just can't remember. I think the function of the whole thing is to heat the bottom of the carb which makes me think the answer is number two. Can anybody set me straight? Thx PRL

[Jim Cannon]

The shop manual says use your option #2. That puts metal directly up against metal base of carb for maximum heat transfer (to improve cold weather driveability and to prevent carburetor ice -- two things I don't worry much about here in Houston).

I use your option #3 to ensure no vacuum leak at the carb base anywhere.

CARS has this spacer, as does Classic Buicks.

[petelempert]

Thanks Jim. I pulled my carb last night and was surprised to see corrosion on the spacer I now have which couldn't be more than 5 years old. Each end of the crescent had some minor crumbling and corrosion. Anyway, I've got option #3 now and was thinking maybe I had too much gasket going on. Like you, the icing problem is not too severe here in Dallas so I'll go with #3 again...the overachiever anti-vacuum leak version. Thx PRL

[Jim Cannon]

If you have that much burn on your spacer in 5 years, you probably have a partial restriction on one side of your exhaust system (look at the "heat riser valve" for example) pushing too much hot exhaust up through the intake manifold. This is bad. It will cause your engine to run hot, boil the fuel in the carb bowl when you shut down, and promote engine knock on hard acceleration.

The nailhead was designed to have a well-balanced exhaust system side to side. The muffler mounted in the back between the two pipes helps give that balance. A stuck heat riser valve or a partially plugged resonator on one side of the car, relative to the other side, will give an imbalance that pushes way too much exhaust through the manifold.

I plugged both little passages on the top of my manifold with lead plugs. I no longer have any heat applied to the base of the carb. (But I still use the stainless steel spacer.) The hot exhaust can still go through the hot spot at the base of the intake manifold, just not up to the carb base itself.

[petelempert]

I will look at the heat riser valve. I am running duals with a fairly open glass pack combination and am pretty confident they are clear. No knocking or high temp. I was really surprised last night when I came across the corrosion. It's not huge, but it's there. I've been battling fuel issues (junk in gas tank that has been hell on carburation...causing bad idle, too rich, backfire and a host of other maladies) for the last year and then the car sat for a long time, so the whole system is sort of funky right now. I ordered the new spacer today. We'll see. Thx PRL

[RivNut]

The guys over on the Yahoo Nailhead site who are really into this engine are doing what Jim recommends. Sealing off the crossover at the carb flange still lets some heat to the base of the carb. Sealing off the passage on the head makes for some poor running carbs. There's not much heat but enough when you seal it off at the carb flange.

Ed