[DeTomaso] Mismatched Intake and Head Ports

Richard Greenblum richard at richardgreenblum.com
Sat Feb 13 12:07:23 EST 2016


Mike,

I helped William King with that motor including setting up the Webers. I met with you and William for a drink when you came to Austin.  If I recall correctly, there was no work done to port match. The formerly Holley/Blue Thunder (I believe) equipped motor went back together with the Weber setup without the need to do that.  And I don't remember William having to have a lot of resurfacing done to the heads which came on that motor. 

Richard 
Austin, TX

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 13, 2016, at 01:20, Mike Becker <mikebecker679 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>   Yes, that could be an explanation.  When I bought the car (15 or so
>   years ago), it was fitted with a Webers setup.  They may have
>   port-matched the heads to the Weber intake.
> 
>   mike
> 
> 
> 
>   From: Ken Green [mailto:kenn_green at yahoo.com]
>   Sent: Friday, February 12, 2016 11:08 PM
>   To: Mike Becker <mikebecker679 at gmail.com>; 'Mike Drew'
>   <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
>   Cc: detomaso at poca.com; David Briggs <d.briggs at cox.net>
>   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Mismatched Intake and Head Ports
> 
> 
>   Maybe the heads were ported?
> 
> 
>   Ken
>   _______________________________________________________________________
> 
>   From: Mike Becker <[1]mikebecker679 at gmail.com>
>   To: 'Mike Drew' <[2]MikeLDrew at aol.com>
>   Cc: [3]detomaso at poca.com; David Briggs <[4]d.briggs at cox.net>
>   Sent: Friday, February 12, 2016 9:27 PM
>   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Mismatched Intake and Head Ports
> 
>   ok, maybe I am nuts.  But the ports  are way bigger in the heads.
>   Almost
>   half an inch taller and quarter inch wider.
>   I've attached 2 pictures.  When you look at the picture with the gasket
>   sitting on the intake manifold, it looks good, the size matches.
>   Excuse my
>   artwork, but on the picture of the gasket on the head, I've highlighted
>   with
>   yellow the approximate area behind the gasket where there is nothing,
>   just
>   the open port.  So fair enough, along the sides, it's only about one
>   eighth
>   of an inch on each side, no big deal.  But along the top and bottom,
>   that
>   means there will be very little gasket material sandwiched between the
>   head
>   and the intake.  My fear is that the thin strip of gasket material will
>   blow
>   out again, just like the last set of gaskets.
>   mike
> 
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: Mike Drew [mailto:[5]MikeLDrew at aol.com]
>   Sent: Friday, February 12, 2016 8:42 PM
>   To: Mike Becker <[6]mikebecker679 at gmail.com>
>   Cc: <[7]detomaso at poca.com> <[8]detomaso at poca.com>
>   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Mismatched Intake and Head Ports
>   Mike,
>   You're a spaz. :)
>   Boss 351 heads and standard 4V 351C heads are identical, except that
>   the
>   Boss heads come from the factory with machining in the rocker arm mount
>   area
>   so they can accommodate adjustable rockers, because the Boss came with
>   solid
>   lifters. The rest of the head, including the intake ports were
>   absolutely
>   identical.
>   Now, it's possible that at some point somebody decked your block, which
>   lowers the heads and alters the relationship between the intake and the
>   heads. Normally the intake is machined accordingly if a bunch of
>   material is
>   taken from the block. The heads are not only lower, but also closer
>   together
>   since they move closer to the centerline of the engine as they are
>   moving
>   down. So the bottom of the intake may need to be machined to allow it
>   to fit
>   properly.
>   Could that explain the mating problem you are seeing?
>   Mike
>   Sent from my iPhone
>   On Feb 12, 2016, at 20:24, "Mike Becker" <[9]mikebecker679 at gmail.com>
>   wrote:
>> Hey Gang,
>> 
>> I've just torn down my top end on my Pantera because the intake
>> manifold gaskets were completely destroyed.  They were the so called
>> self-destructing Felpro Print-O-Seal / Print-O-Leak gaskets.  Only,
>   I
>> see now what the real problem was.  I went to fit my brand new
>> Edelbrock gaskets and there's no way they'll work! It turns out I
>   have
>> BOSS 351 heads and a Cleveland intake!  This undoubtedly contributed
>   to
>> the early demise of the old intake gaskets.  because in the
>   mismatch,
>> there are several places where there is minimal surface contact in
>> order to sandwich the gasket.  The result is that the gasket isn't
>   held
>> in place for long.  While the engine was still assembled, there were
>> places where the entire blue stripe on the gasket material was
>> completely exposed, i.e. not sandwiched between the intake and the
>> head.  See attached photos for the results.
>> 
>> So, now what do I do?
>> 
>>   - Switch to aluminum heads for a couple of grand (can't really
>   afford
>> it)
>> 
>>   - get a BOSS intake (can't seem to find one, they all look like
>> windsor intakes, except for one NOS unit for 3 grand!)
>> 
>>   - fabricate home-made gaskets
>> 
>> I saw some nice original BOSS 351 iron heads on ebay for $2500.  Are
>> they really worth that much?  If so, mine are still very fresh,
>   maybe I
>> could sell them to fund a set of Trickflow aluminum heads.
>> 
>> Somebody please help me before I blow a gasket!
>> 
>> thanks,
>> 
>> Mike Becker (San Diego)
>> 
>> 1741
>> 
>> <<...>> <<...>>
>> <passengerside.jpg>
>> <driverside.jpg>
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>   2. mailto:MikeLDrew at aol.com
>   3. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
>   4. mailto:d.briggs at cox.net
>   5. mailto:MikeLDrew at aol.com
>   6. mailto:mikebecker679 at gmail.com
>   7. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
>   8. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
>   9. mailto:mikebecker679 at gmail.com
>  10. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
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