Edelbrock Intake install on my 1969 Thunderbird

OneAmongOthers

OneAmongOthers

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Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Thunderbird Year
1969
Hey guys I am in the process of installing a new Edelbrock intake on my tbird. Okay so I got the darn old cast iron one off (boy it was frigging heavy!). Had to pull the distributor to get it off along with most of the radiator lines going to the heater core. So I drained the coolant below the intake, but as I was removing it there still was some coolant in the intake/heads that spilled into the lifter valley. Am I going to be alright? I figure I am going to dump the oil and put fresh in now before I start the car up. This won't damage anything will it? It's going to be a week or more until I can get this car back together due to work. I did pour a little oil into the lifter valley and down the rear two oil holes just in case, should I pour a little more oil in while the car sits?
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Most all of it will sink to the bottom. It will be the first to come out draining it. Personally I'd do an oil change at a quick interval, maybe 2 heat cycles to make sure all of it is out. If you are still unable to sleep you can always have an oil analysis done.
 
Dozertech said:
Most all of it will sink to the bottom. It will be the first to come out draining it. Personally I'd do an oil change at a quick interval, maybe 2 heat cycles to make sure all of it is out. If you are still unable to sleep you can always have an oil analysis done.
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Thanks for the heads up! I will make sure to get the oil changed as soon as I get everything back together. Hopefully the intake I can get back together by this weekend. Had to order some studs for my new carburetor because the old ones are stuck fast in the old cast iron intake. Though a question. One of the studs for the carburetor was hollow and had what looked like a vacuum port. This port had a hose on it which lead to the upper part of the fire wall of the car. Seems like it went into the same place the windshield wiper motor hydraulic line went. Any ideas what this might be? I'll get a picture tomorrow of it.
 
I would pour a quart of oil over everything including the channel , push rods, lifters anywhere the antifreeze went. As Dozertech said every thing will drain into the oil pan. Do an oil & filter change with the cheapest oil possible, Run it for a very long time without driving it. Do another oil change with filter and the better grade oil. Everything should be out of it by then. I would do another oil and filter change in 1000-1500 miles compared to the 2500-3000 miles until you know you're safe and everything is back to normal
 
DEVIL DOG 62 said:
I would pour a quart of oil over everything including the channel , push rods, lifters anywhere the antifreeze went. As Dozertech said every thing will drain into the oil pan. Do an oil & filter change with the cheapest oil possible, Run it for a very long time without driving it. Do another oil change with filter and the better grade oil. Everything should be out of it by then. I would do another oil and filter change in 1000-1500 miles compared to the 2500-3000 miles until you know you're safe and everything is back to normal
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okay I will do that. Right now cost is not an issue. I want to be absolutely sure. I'll dump some marvel mystery oil into the oil changes too as well.
 
New intake is in! Had to trim the cork gaskets for the block because they where too long. I dabbed some gasket maker into the spaces where the intake gasket and cork block gasket met to seal the sides. Hopefully everything is buttoned up. Gonna drop the distributor back in then start bolting things back up.
 
Coming along good! Just test fitted my new carburetor and it all fits under the hood nicely!
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Just test fitting now. This weekend I am going to put it all back together. Still need to reinstall the distributor and get some loctite for the studs for the carburetor. Then its on to getting the carb properly tuned and set up to run. Bleh... I am not liking the last part as I have never tuned a carburetor before.
 
Car is back together and took it out for a test drive. Car runs good, but I can still feel the hesitation when getting on it. I guess a carburetor adjustment is in order. Also the timing is slightly off. I had initially set to about 12 degrees BTC. After out driving and back it was more around 17 BTC. So gonna have to work on that too. Also took a vacuum reading though I hear you need to do that with an automatic car in gear with someone keeping it from rolling away on you. Was about 17 (inches of vacuum or pounds?), on the vacuum gauge and it was steady. No fluctuation. Good thing so far is no leaks! Nothing leaking out of the intake and as far as I can tell nothing leaking inside. Temperature too is much better than the old cast iron intake was. I used to hover around almost 200F. Now its more like 180ish.

Also a side note... Does a performance intake change the sound of your exhaust note? I swear it sounds different than the stock intake did.
 
OneAmongOthers said:
Car is back together and took it out for a test drive. Car runs good, but I can still feel the hesitation when getting on it. I guess a carburetor adjustment is in order. Also the timing is slightly off. I had initially set to about 12 degrees BTC. After out driving and back it was more around 17 BTC. So gonna have to work on that too. Also took a vacuum reading though I hear you need to do that with an automatic car in gear with someone keeping it from rolling away on you. Was about 17 (inches of vacuum or pounds?), on the vacuum gauge and it was steady. No fluctuation. Good thing so far is no leaks! Nothing leaking out of the intake and as far as I can tell nothing leaking inside. Temperature too is much better than the old cast iron intake was. I used to hover around almost 200F. Now its more like 180ish.

Also a side note... Does a performance intake change the sound of your exhaust note? I swear it sounds different than the stock intake did.
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Are you taking off vacuum advance off the distributor and plugging the vacuum hose before you time it. A lot of people don't do that and your timing isn't set correctly if not
 
DEVIL DOG 62 said:
Are you taking off vacuum advance off the distributor and plugging the vacuum hose before you time it. A lot of people don't do that and your timing isn't set correctly if not
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I did take off the vacuum advance, but I did not plug it. I will plug it. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I have the same hesitation on mine. Let us know if the re-timing helps.
 
jazbo said:
I have the same hesitation on mine. Let us know if the re-timing helps.
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I am not sure if the hesitation is coming from the carburetor or possibly a vacuum leak? I put a vacuum tester on the car and the needle held steady. I would think if there was a vacuum leak it would be more erratic. Also when driving the car it sounds noticeably different. Like vastly different. Almost if there is a dead cylinder sound I guess? I am not really sure. Oil pressure is fine, temperature fine. Engine runs very smoothly and isn't jumpy. I guess its just me? Does installing one of these intakes make the car sound different? I can take video of the vacuum gauge and car noise when running. Not sure how much that would help, but hey it's not like its going to hurt anything either. Also I just reinstalled the old carburetor because I am just unsure about fine tuning the new one. I am going to be taking my car to my local garage to ask them to install and adjust it. They often work on some pretty old vehicles. Some dating to the 1950's so they are pretty experienced with this stuff.
 
I replaced the carb with a rebuilt OEM one and the hesitation is still there. I haven't checked my vacuum but am ordering a gauge. With all the vac stuff on these it's kind of a must-have.
 
According to what I have read You really should have a vacuum gauge when setting the carbureator, but that what I have read. Different people say different things. Also apparently to get a proper reading you should as well have the car in gear too. That’s for setting an automatic. Manual cam just be left out of gear, but none of these tbirds came manual.
 
Tried to take the car out. Under load it’s a lot of hesitation. Sputtering, misfiring or backfiring? I don’t know. I am at a loss here so hopefully my local shop can help me out.
 
OneAmongOthers said:
Tried to take the car out. Under load it’s a lot of hesitation. Sputtering, misfiring or backfiring? I don’t know. I am at a loss here so hopefully my local shop can help me out.
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Sounds like the symptoms of still being out of time
 
Could it be the timin wasn’t set on the right cylinder and it’s firing off its mark? How can I tell if the timing not set on the right cylinder?
 
OneAmongOthers said:
Could it be the timin wasn’t set on the right cylinder and it’s firing off its mark? How can I tell if the timing not set on the right cylinder?
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Sounds like your distributor might be a tooth off when you put it back in. Take # 1 spark plug out and have someone bump the ignition switch while you have your finger over the spark plug hole. When you feel the pressure or pop of air on your finger that's TDC. Look into the hole with a light and make sure the piston is right on top. Take off your distributor cap and your rotor tip should be pointing to # 1 spark plug wire. If It's not you're about a tooth off on your distributor
 
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