70 2000 New Intake Without Coolant Ports

[wlfgng1970]

I was wondering if the coolant ports in the head that run into my intake manifold can be deleted.
I have a brand new intake in a box but I noticed that it has no holes for the coolant ports on the head mounting side. It does have the larger hose fittings for what look to be the heater near where the SU's mount.

Has anyone done this personally? What is the purpose of the ports from the head to the intake?

I have a pretty original 70 2000 with only 47,000 miles (documented) that hasn't run in 25-30 years. The intake is currently off while I wait for my new exhaust manifold (Original cast is cracked), so I was planning to put the brand new intake on.

[JT68]

There really isn’t a good reason to delete the passages on a street car. In the winter it warms the manifold and intake charge; in the summer it cools it (exhaust temp is way,way hotter than coolant temp).

On track cars you can get away with it because they are operating at wide open throttle most the time and for relatively short durations. The high airflow rate keeps things fairly cool.

Since street cars spend most of the time at much lower airflow, if you delete the intake cooling, everything gets much hotter in the summer which causes problems. The cars also take longer much longer to warm up in cold temps.

Overall, for street cars, it is much better to leave the intake coolant flow intact. Suggest you use the original intake.

[Gregs672000]

Mine were filled many years ago (done by a machine shop at my request) however, though I've had no known problems here in WA State weather, I agree with JT. So yes, it can be done, but unless you need to because the original is bad, I wouldn't just to run a newer part. Maybe a racer who runs SUs would want it.

[wlfgng1970]

There really isn’t a good reason to delete the passages on a street car. In the winter it warms the manifold and intake charge; in the summer it cools it (exhaust temp is way,way hotter than coolant temp).

On track cars you can get away with it because they are operating at wide open throttle most the time and for relatively short durations. The high airflow rate keeps things fairly cool.

Since street cars spend most of the time at much lower airflow, if you delete the intake cooling, everything gets much hotter in the summer which causes problems. The cars also take longer much longer to warm up in cold temps.

Overall, for street cars, it is much better to leave the intake coolant flow intact. Suggest you use the original intake.

I live in a pretty temperate yearly environment. Not too hot, not too cold. I was planning to clean and reuse the old intake and swap over the new throttle and smog plug hardware from the new intake.
But, theoretically, those only circulate water through the intake and can be deleted? I had read elsewhere that they circulate to the water pump pre-thermostat opening. Is that correct information?
In theory, as water would be held in the engine, the car should warm up quicker, not slower.
Additionally, a warmer intake charge may be more beneficial from an emissions side with complete combustion but can also be more detrimental to power.
Additionally, exhaust shielding can help lower intake temperatures from being so close to the manifold. The water flow would regulate it ~190-220°.

[wlfgng1970]

Mine were filled many years ago (done by a machine shop at my request) however, though I've had no known problems here in WA State weather, I agree with JT. So yes, it can be done, but unless you need to because the original is bad, I wouldn't just to run a newer part. Maybe a racer who runs SUs would want it.

Greg, nice to see you in Tacoma. I just got my 70 from Tacoma. My grandfather purchased the car originally in Okinawa and it was eventually brought to Edgewood.
It was his daily for a number of years until it was damaged in a parking lot in Tacoma (Top slashed and robbed).
I'm looking to get it running again and to use as a show car. It's a really beautiful example with only 47k miles.

[Gregs672000]

I don't have any before and after data to say if the intake charge is hotter or cooler post water elimination. However, I can say something about heat. I have a ceramic coated header that also has a Heat Shield Products wrap material applied to the upper half of the header (not traditional header wrap, much better and does not cause damage). I do NOT have the traditional Solex heat shielding in place as it had cracked and in general has always made intake system installation a battle. Even with the ceramic coating and the wrap my throttle bodies were still hot to the touch, so I fabricated another heat shield from a thin sheet of aluminum with an added stick-on heat shielding product applied to it that screws onto the body and fits up under the TBs/intake manifold... wow, what a difference. They barely get warm now... I was more than pleased with this result, and it is easy to remove my shield and have access to all the manifold nuts. I can't say how something like this would work for other cars as I use velocity stacks with Ram Aire foam filters and not a stock air cleaner system so I don't know how well a shield would fit otherwise, but that's my experience.
I added a pic where you can see the shield and other methods I use to bring in cooler air. Understand that I have not been shy about cutting holes or moving things, and I DO NOT have a heater in the car though I think it would be easy to route water to one without the intake manifold being in the mix. Hope this is helpful to someone.

20220502_170703_copy_1632x1224.jpg

If anyone is wondering, I now use the empty and sealed water chamber in the manifold as a manifold pressure source that's plumbed into the Microsquirt ECU for my MAP sensor. EFI wasn't even a thought when I filled the water ports but it worked out perfect many years later

[Gregs672000]

Wlfgng1970, sounds like a great car and opportunity to continue the love! Keep us posted on your progress!

[redroadster]

I do, they are illegal ,it' is to block them
What happens when evaporation takes place ?
or what else happens
Any pilot knows
One good reason to do it though ...if you have coolant loses situation , it gets low & sends super hot steam up to the carb area and will boil the carb gas, IE ,my 2.6 hemi Mitsubishi pu

[wlfgng1970]

I don't have any before and after data to say if the intake charge is hotter or cooler post water elimination. However, I can say something about heat. I have a ceramic coated header that also has a Heat Shield Products wrap material applied to the upper half of the header (not traditional header wrap, much better and does not cause damage). I do NOT have the traditional Solex heat shielding in place as it had cracked and in general has always made intake system installation a battle. Even with the ceramic coating and the wrap my throttle bodies were still hot to the touch, so I fabricated another heat shield from a thin sheet of aluminum with an added stick-on heat shielding product applied to it that screws onto the body and fits up under the TBs/intake manifold... wow, what a difference. They barely get warm now... I was more than pleased with this result, and it is easy to remove my shield and have access to all the manifold nuts. I can't say how something like this would work for other cars as I use velocity stacks with Ram Aire foam filters and not a stock air cleaner system so I don't know how well a shield would fit otherwise, but that's my experience.
I added a pic where you can see the shield and other methods I use to bring in cooler air. Understand that I have not been shy about cutting holes or moving things, and I DO NOT have a heater in the car though I think it would be easy to route water to one without the intake manifold being in the mix. Hope this is helpful to someone.
20220502_170703_copy_1632x1224.jpg
If anyone is wondering, I now use the empty and sealed water chamber in the manifold as a manifold pressure source that's plumbed into the Microsquirt ECU for my MAP sensor. EFI wasn't even a thought when I filled the water ports but it worked out perfect many years later

A lot of OEM's use that style of heat shield. Do you remember where you bought that material? That's exactly what I was planning to attach to my new header that's coming in today.

[Gregs672000]

The header warp was from Summit, specifically Heat Shield Products. The heat shield I made is aluminum and some general stick on heat shielding, probably for things like firewalls or body parts next to hot exhaust.