Intake rebuild!!

[Richard]

There was a thread about redoing the plugs on the underside of the four barrel intake. Can't seem to find it. Would appreciate finding it as I am redoing my intake. Also, any advice or suggestions on what to watch out for when "cleaning" the inside of the intake. Can I use a wire brush on the inside? Would "hot tanking" be useful? How about sandblasting the outside?

Thanking anyone in advance,

 

[RobertC]

Do a search using welch...

You will get 10 - 12 threads of reading material.

Do not know about cleaning the intake manifold, but a couple of the threads probably mention it.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Depending upon the production era of the intake, it could have two, three, or five welch plugs in the underside. Replacement welch plug size is 1-1/8".

If you don't want to simply clean the item yourself using degreaser, power wire brush, and a power washer, the preferred method today is have an automotive machine shop perform a "bake and blast" operation. Sand blasting is a total waste of time and money unless you personally have a small diy sand blast set. These are really rough castings, simply wire brushing with a powerhead cleans 'em well enough.

When I paint 'em, I use plain old whatever rattlecan, nothing special. However, for all my engine paint projects I do use van sickle implement paint. No matter what paint you use on the intake, the exhaust crossover ports are going to burn off anyway over time.