Bad Air Pump Valve?

[Richie G]

Yes had those and just got done with everything.  Wasn't as bad as i expected.  Drained the coolant and luckily enough no spills from the back tube or the thermostat to deal with.  Then i disconnected the choke, gas lines and pulled the entire intake and set of carbs off all at once.  The old gasket surprisingly for only 2500 miles came apart in quite a few pieces making a mess and what i noticed is some of the paint the PO had used on the block started flaking.  I saw some particles sitting on the intake ports so hopefully nothing went in there.  I did my best to gently clean those out.  One thing that I'm not sure if its "normal" or an oh boy is looking inside these ports they sure are dirty.  the exhaust ports look like the inside of a chimney and the intake look like they have a bit of sludge on them.  As a reminder, this all started when i replaced the plugs and found them dry sooted to heck.  That led me to believe things were not right and now I'm seeing the inside of these ports kind of confirms at a minimum i need to start over on balancing and tuning these carbs.  I've never done that before so may need some help if things dont go well 🙂 before i did all this the engine ran really well from what it felt like ion the garage.  idle was real clean at 800rpm, car came to temp nicely, pulling the throttle seemed like it was very responsive, but seeing those plugs like that just really spooked me.  someone said maybe its just the additive you put in to keep the gas fresh, they tend to do that but this is way more than a light coat.

Here's where I'm at and it will probably sit like this for a week or so until things arrive and i have a chance to get them ready.  the manifold will certainly need some work to get it to look decent plus i need the gasket, the booster hose, and the balance tube to show up.

I'm trying to convince myself to not go nuts becasue its very tempting to grab that rail and maybe get it polished and coated while i wait.  but again this isn't concourse this isn't concourse lol.  we'll see.

[Richie G]

Okay couple of more questions. As I was falling asleep last night I was thinking about the bolts and washers and stuff I took off the block and I started looking around because the previous owner had a bit of a mismatch of various bolt head sizes to deal with taking off the intake. So I started browsing the typical sites to see if I can find some relevant replacement Hardware and some sites seem to sell a set of studs nuts and washers others a mix and match of studs and bolts. I don't have access to the car right now but I'm trying to recall if those studs were the type that can come out or could they have been part of the block? They looked really old and I can't imagine the previous owner leaving them there when he had the engine worked and rebuilt unless they were part of the actual block. the question is should a 71 have studs for the exhaust but bolts for the fuel rail and intake like I had set up? Or should it all be studs?

[w3wilkes]

On my 12/70 built car the top row of the intake manifold, which includes the fuel rail, is all bolts. The common for the exhaust / intake are all studs. I've seen some that say they are all studs, but that's not the way they are on my car. Here's a bad picture but you can see most of the top row of bolts and the one stud in the center on the header. Just make sure you save those special washers that go on the common studs clamping the intake and exhaust, if you do headers you will still need those washers.

[Richie G]

Thanks.  Ok so at least my setup was right but i think i still need new bolts because the set on there are annoying with various head sizes from home depot lol.  So are the studs removable, I'm assuming so but I think i'll leave them for now and tackle that with the new header down the road.  I dont want to push my luck again lol.  although i just found this old pic from the PO restoral book and it looks like the studs are intact and maybe he even painted over them when he painted the block.  Either pure lazy or he couldnt get them out and left them

[KenFirch]

Your 71 may have had bolts on the top row, studs elsewhere.  Studs will save wear and tear on the aluminum head threads, and probably hold a torque better.  Studs are usually only removed if damaged.  Good thread here.

[Richie G]

Thanks.  Another question as I plan the replacement steps.  I notice the coolant tube through the intake manifold has nasty looking valves on each end.  Wehn i did some research on replacement it seems the rear one is a thermostatic valve which is different than the front typical standard adapter.  When i look at mine, i can see clear through the entire tube one end to the other.  Am I right in guessing the PO replaced the back side thermo one with some standard pipe fitting?  Any implications to this?  Should I try to source and replace it?

[Patcon]

I don't believe a replacement is available

[Richie G]

You're absolutely right no mention of one anywhere. But in doing more research looking at pictures of my E46 manifold that is out there on the web they all seem to have the same valve connected on that side but I can't see what's inside the tube. I'll just try and clean it up as best I can.

[w3wilkes]

I thought the function of the valve was to stop the water flow once the engine was up to temp. If the valve is removed then hot water will flow through the intake manifold, might contribute to vapor locking (percolation). I've seen posts somewhere in these forums about removing that water circuit completely from the Y connection on the spark plug side of the engine and plugging the thermostat connection. And also plugging the intake manifold flowthrough passages.

[Richie G]

Making progress.  A little ways to go waiting on some gaskets for the carbs and balance tube along with the brake booster hose switched to the top load rather than side valve.

I decided to get all new studs and HW for the block because the previous set was a mess of sizes.  MSA had a decent set all sized and ready to go but it did require me changing out the intake bolts to studs.  I kind of like it only because it made the mounting easier rather than having to hold it in place while i bolted it.

the exhaust manifold arrived already media blasted nicely but not such a great color so i painted it with vht.  I ended up using aluminum to try and match the intake I had already. 

then i restored and painted  the intake, polished the coolant tube and fuel rail

Coolant back in and as i wait for the gaskets I'm polishing the linkages as best i can.  i'm contemplating painting the front section of the exhaust pipe its currently a rusty looking brown.  Without a true lift might be a bit of a challenge getting it out the back but i'll see what i can do.  if its not reasonable ill leave it and deal with new pipes anyway down the road with the headers.

[Richie G]

1 minute ago, Richie G said:

Making progress.  A little ways to go waiting on some gaskets for the carbs and balance tube along with the brake booster hose switched to the top load rather than side valve.

I decided to get all new studs and HW for the block because the previous set was a mess of sizes.  MSA had a decent set all sized and ready to go but it did require me changing out the intake bolts to studs.  I kind of like it only because it made the mounting easier rather than having to hold it in place while i bolted it.

the exhaust manifold arrived already media blasted nicely but not such a great color so i painted it with vht.  I ended up using aluminum to try and match the intake I had already. 

then i restored and painted  the intake, polished the coolant tube and fuel rail

Coolant back in and as i wait for the gaskets I'm polishing the linkages as best i can.  i'm contemplating painting the front section of the exhaust pipe its currently a rusty looking brown.  Without a true lift might be a bit of a challenge getting it out the back but i'll see what i can do.  if its not reasonable ill leave it and deal with new pipes anyway down the road with the headers.

Oh duh, maybe i drop the pipe and slide it forwards with the car on rhino ramps!  that should be much less twisting and work.

[Richie G]

Chickened out on painting the pipes, when I went underneath i can see the PO has a jury rigged j bolt welded on and connected to the rear cross member.  The support bracket where the pipe meets the muffler has a broken weld from the frame.  It all seems stable but I'm not going to mess with it.  I'll repair and replace all the pipes when i go headers down the road.  added the shield