Thick manifold washers - notched wanted

[gundee]

It turns out my headers and intake manifold are not the same thickness. That presents a clamping issue using the thick washers.

I was wondering if somebody has some of those thick washers modified so that just half of the washer is raised.

Otherwise I will just have to grind a set up to fit. Any good tips from others that have run into this mismatch?

Don't have a lathe or a welder so just looking for a easy way to get these manifolds clamped correctly so no leaks.

Thanks

[Captain Obvious]

So I've recently discovered that I have the same issue and was considering taking some material off my washers to compensate for the difference in thicknesses.

gundee, How far are yours off?

Is this an "accepted" fix? Anyone have pictures of said modification?

[Zed Head]

If you look closely at the yokes, and the contact points, and its shape you can see that the design is kind of self-correcting, or self-leveling.  Easiest to see on used parts.  There are two sharp contact points with the manifolds and the surface under the nut is round,  You probably want to maintain the sharp contact points to avoid putting a bending load on the stud.  Polish up the rounded surface and make sure that the stud doesn't contact the inside of the hole.  It's a very loose fit, so it can move, I assume.  A crude looking thing with some serious ingenuity in it.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Zed Head
shape contact pints - wrong

[gundee]

4 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

So I've recently discovered that I have the same issue and was considering taking some material off my washers to compensate for the difference in thicknesses.

gundee, How far are yours off?

Is this an "accepted" fix? Anyone have pictures of said modification?

Mine is enough of a mismatch that something is needed. I am getting some air leaks from the intake manifold that needs to be corrected.

Going to figure out a way to add something to 1/2 of that washer to fill the gap. I am going to look at it again today.

[Captain Obvious]

I took some quick ballpark measurements off my stuff and I'm off by about .100. Might be close enough that the original stuff would rock to take care of the misalignment. Haven't looked at it that closely yet.

So gundee, how far apart are yours? What's the two dimensions you're trying to match up?

[gundee]

Looking again this afternoon, the washers are cocked as far as they will go and still not enough to fully clamp.

Tack welding a small flat piece on the side of the washer would do it. I just need about another 1/8" or so.

[Patcon]

an 1/8th would be 0.125 if I am remembering correctly

[Captain Obvious]

Would it be easier to tack weld an 1/8 inch spacer to the head flange where the washer makes contact?

You running carbs or EFI? How thick is your intake manifold flange?

[gundee]

Its all back together now. Nice and tight and well sealed. I was making it more difficult than it was. Ended up to just grinding 1/2 of the washer down.

That was enough to get them to sit good enough. Also I found that 4 longer studs needed a couple extra washers, The nuts were tight and washers looked good 

but closer inspection showed the nuts had bottomed out to the unthreaded portion of the stud. Its really easy to overlook a problem like this as you can't see

a thing doing those bottom manifold studs. Even with a mirror. I think I had this issue even before I put the headers on.

This whole thing started because I could not get the carbs to respond to adjustments. Real bad air leak from intake after the new header install was the culprit.

These carbs have never responded this well to changes. Very happy with it now.