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I am about to remove my manifold for some minor repairs (I cannot get the heat riser valve to move, tried for a week with the spray then hammer technique with no luck) and I was wondering what I should do to it before reinstalling. I have seen some manifolds that were painted that looked pretty good, so I need to decide if I want to go that way or just clean it well and reinstall. I am not trying to win any show awards with it, just want it to look good and protect it from any rust or corrosion in the future. So the questions are what could I do, and what should I do? Also, is there anything else that I should do/look at, while the manifold is off? I read one suggestion is to look at and if needed, repair the pivot for the carb linkage. Anything else?
Hi Lee, Others may appear with different answers, but I've never had much luck with any of the so-called manifold paints. They look ok for a while, but a rusty bucket if painted will look good for a while, too. You can paint the intake manifold part. As for the heat riser valve, I believe you'll have a much better chance of making it work once the manifold is off and you can see things better. Usually if you're patient you can get them to work again. As for the carb linkage pivot, please keep in mind the screw for it usually goes into the water jacket. At least on every 235 I've ever worked on it does. I can't think of much other than that. You'll have a bit more room to adjust your steering box with the manifold out of the way and if you need to replace the drain cock with a new one (at the rear of the engine) that will be easier. Good luck.
Oh, one other thing. When you get your heat riser valve (flapper) freed up, check to see if it needs to be straightened to fit right. I've seen a few that were bent oddly. About the only thing I could imagine was that somebody stuck something up there with the exhaust pipe removed (pipe, broomstick or something) and beat on it trying to free it.
I just went thru the same process with a frozen heat riser valve. After removing the manifold I sprayed it with pb blaster inside and out ,let it sit then repeat for a couple days. Eventually with a pair of vise grips i got it to move and then reapplied more PB blaster. Bit by bit it freed up. Basically the manifold was all coked up with black exhaust crud and required scraping and careful chiseling to remove the carbon from the passage ways. Good luck. After cleanout I ordered the spring that operates the valve. Does anyone know if the spring requires presetting the tension by winding the spring up or if it is installed straihgt without preloading? thanks all....
Thanks Jon for the paint suggestions; I may just see how it looks cleaned up well and leave it at that. I saw a tip in here a few weeks ago (I think) about how to re-bush the pivot under the carb; does anyone remember where that was? If I remember right, you drilled it out enough to fit in a brass sleeve, but I do not remember the details. My spring is still good, so if you don’t have an answer Swami for your question, I’ll see if I can find out.
Dads50, I don’t think I have an exhaust leak, but I would not be surprised if there is something small. I do not have a sandblaster, so I may be taking it to a shop and hopefully they can check it carefully for cracks or other issues. When you say decked, is that to align the ports into the same plane and flatten the faces?
Some the the skilled old-timers can do this by hand or draw file . Even a large belt sander. I chose the machine shop route since I know I had a leak You can check yours with a long straight edge. If it looks good then you'll be ok. Not much torque used on manifold bolts so having a good surface to start out with helps.
Instead of paint, I’ve been pleased with manifold dressings that are made for cast iron. More can be applied with an old toothbrush at any time to touch up areas. I think it holds up pretty good.
Here’s a picture of my 230 manifolds. Intake has Calyx manifold dressing. It’s pretty expensive for what you get. I ran out of Calyx so I decided to try Rutland Pot Belly Stove Polish on the exhaust. I like the contrast.
I also used the Rutland stove polish on the LS engine exhaust.
