Phenolic Carb Spacers

[tibZ]

Hi Guys, I'm thinking of re-producing the Phenolic material spacers between the carbs and the manifolds. Mine have several cracks near the water holes, I'm sure they will leak if I put them back on as they are.I asked Bruce at ZTherapy when I ordered my rebuild kit for my carbs if he sold them and he said no one does. He recommended filling the water holes with epoxy because I really don't need water going into the carbs. Since I have access to a CNC Milling machine I was thinking of machining up a few sets and see if there is any interest. Several factors would come into play.

#1 If I could use a less expensive material than phenolic I could charge less. Any suggestions?

#2 How many versions were there between 70-72? Mine are 15MM thick, was there a thinner version?

#3 Water holes, are they needed or just leave them as blanks?

#4 How strong is the interest?

#5 How much to charge for a pair? Any idea what they go for now if you could find a brand new set?

[hls30.com]

I1) would think you could make a simple mold and cast them in epoxy or urethane resin pretty inexpensively-even if make two sets of molds-one with passages and one without. I know they could be cast out of a "firm" silicone. Maybe even a simple impervious Ceramic casting-permanent, extremely durable, and cheap!

2) I think there were two versions-the same thickness... but I can't pull up my parts software at the moment to check.

3) Offer them both ways-making a second mold for such a simple part is not difficult.

4) Good question, as with most 240Z specific parts it is a shrinking market...

5) It depends, enough to make it worth your while, and not so much as to attract someone else to jump in.

Will

Edited March 7, 2009 by hls30.com

[palmettoz]

Hi Guys, I'm thinking of re-producing the Phenolic material spacers between the carbs and the manifolds. Mine have several cracks near the water holes, I'm sure they will leak if I put them back on as they are.I asked Bruce at ZTherapy when I ordered my rebuild kit for my carbs if he sold them and he said no one does. He recommended filling the water holes with epoxy because I really don't need water going into the carbs. Since I have access to a CNC Milling machine I was thinking of machining up a few sets and see if there is any interest. Several factors would come into play.

#1 If I could use a less expensive material than phenolic I could charge less. Any suggestions?

#2 How many versions were there between 70-72? Mine are 15MM thick, was there a thinner version?

#3 Water holes, are they needed or just leave them as blanks?

#4 How strong is the interest?

#5 How much to charge for a pair? Any idea what they go for now if you could find a brand new set?

Hello-

I am new to this website and this is my first post on a forum here. I made some spacers for my Mikuni manifold with a water jet cutter out of UMHW and then started selling them on Ebay for 15.00 each. This material is fuel and oil resistant and good for temps up to 280 F. I could cut you some if you send me either dimensions or a spacer to work with. Check out my auction and let me know what you think:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=220373252400

Scott

[hls30.com]

Scott,

Welcome to the club, and thanks for the great info and the effort!

Will

[psdenno]

Since the carb insulator gasket from an Austin Healey is a direct replacement for the gaskets on a Z, is there also a AH insulator block that would work?

Dennis

[Arne]

Since the carb insulator gasket from an Austin Healey is a direct replacement for the gaskets on a Z, is there also a AH insulator block that would work?

Dennis

That might work for the four-screw carbs and matching manifold that did not pass coolant through the insulators. But I seriously doubt that any of the British cars had insulators with water passages in them, or if they did, the passages probably wouldn't match.

[Bruce Palmer]

The 4 screw insulators were not nearly as delicate as the 3 screw insulators so I'd say there would be more need for the 3 screw because so many have cracked from the water holes to the outside.

[beandip]

I have question as long as we are on this subject. Is there a problem if you use a four screw spacer on a three screw manifold? Will this block the coolant from travel on through the manifold since it is not circulating through the carbs?

Gary

[tibZ]

Thanks for the feedback. Can I assume the only difference between the 3 screw and the 4 screw is the water holes? If that is the case i could leave them as blanks and leave it up to the user to decide whether to add the water holes, it would be as simple as marking the holes with the gasket and drilling them out i would think.

Scott, welcome to the site, and what exactly is UMHW?

never mind i found it...UHMW (Ultra-High Molecular Weight) Polyethylene

That could be an option, do you know off hand what it cost per sq/ft?

Mike

Edited March 7, 2009 by tibZ

[Bruce Palmer]

Mike, the profile of the 4 screw insulator is the same on all 4 sides. The 3 screw insulator profile between the bottom 2 bolts on the manifold drops down to allow room for the water holes.

[Bruce Palmer]

I have question as long as we are on this subject. Is there a problem if you use a four screw spacer on a three screw manifold? Will this block the coolant from travel on through the manifold since it is not circulating through the carbs?

Gary

Gary,

Maybe we can enlist the aid of someone with a 3 screw manifold half lying around. If somone has one and wouldn't mind helping with this "Watch Mr. Wizard" experiment, plug the holes into the carb base and blow into the water inlet or outlet hole and see if air comes out the hole on the other side.

[tibZ]

Thanks Bruce, maybe I'll make up a few sets of each and take it from there.

I'll look into that water experiment this weekend too.

Mike