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size for carb spacer?
- Thread starter JasonZE
- Start date Oct 25, 2015
What is the deal with running a phenolic or similar spacer? I get the heat soak side and understand changing the volume of the intake changes torque etc but whats the best for a mild 383 street car. cheers..
I have fitted a hood scoop and my filter was just touching the hood so will cut the hole and will put a spacer in but see them from 1/2" to 2" so which do I run?
- #2
What is the deal with running a phenolic or similar spacer? I get the heat soak side and understand changing the volume of the intake changes torque etc but whats the best for a mild 383 street car. cheers.. A phenolic will pull heat away from your carb better than a aluminum spacer but a wood spacer will be much more efficient . Now since you didn't mention what type of spacer you're wanting or type of intake (single plane or dual plane ) I can't recommend one without more info But I can give you examples of what each spacer design and spacer height can do Open hole .... Basically an open hole will
increase plenum volume which makes more hp plus increases overall engines max rpm
I have fitted a hood scoop and my filter was just touching the hood so will cut the hole and will put a spacer in but see
them from 1/2" to 2" so which do I run?
Reduces low end torque
Spacer thickness is also a good tuning tool this can be helpful for track conditions especially on a dry slick track . Depending on thickness you can adjust your engines low end torque . So if you are wanting to slightly reduce low end torque you would go with a 1" open hole and if you want to drastically reduce low end tq then that would be a 2" open hole
Increases overall rpm .... usually a 1" spacer will add about 1k more rpm So going smaller like a 1/2" or going as big as 2" you can adjust for track conditions or weather conditions depending on where you want your useable rpm at . I've even seen some drag racers running 2" spacers on tall intakes just to get more plenum volume /rpm range
4 hole spacers ...
Increases carb signal strength
Increases air flow velocity
Enhances low rpm throttle response
Increases or decreases engines overall torque range Depending on spacer thickness
Also an engine with to small of carb or small cams ( duration / lift or specs @ .050 ) a 4 hole spacer can increase hp / tq #'s
One of the best carb spacer manufacturers which is ( Wilson manifolds ) makes some very good spacers . They're on the $$$ side but well worth it . Alot of engine builders use their spacers and Wilson Manifolds has an awesome tech dept that can help you in determining the best suggestion for a spacer
Last edited: Oct 25, 2015
- #3
A phenolic will pull heat away from your carb better than a aluminum spacer but a wood spacer will be much more efficient . what it does is reduce the amount of heat transferred from a hot intake to the carb...
a phenolic spacer doesn't pull heat away from the carb...a phenolic spacer isn't a heat sink...
- #4
a phenolic spacer doesn't pull heat away from the carb...a phenolic spacer isn't a heat sink... what it does is reduce the amount of heat transferred from a hot intake to the carb... It was 0300hrs when I was typing this on my stupid phone . Meant to say that a phenolic spacer is better than
aluminum in keeping heat from the carb !!!!!! . But the wood spacer was even better in keeping heat away from the carb
Last edited: Oct 25, 2015
- #5
. I run a 1/2" wood spacer on everything I own. The thing to remember with any spacer, every combo is different. .
Open on my race engines, 4 hole on mild street stuff.
The testing I saw proved wood was hugely better then the rest for heat transfer.
Also on N2O stuff, it's an added vent for boo boo's.
Intakes, compression, cams etc can make all the difference and only testing will show which works on that exact combo!!!!!
- #6
All this talk about spacers has me interested in trying a Wilson 2" tapered spacer . They , Wilson say up to 30 more hp and crisper throttle response by installing this spacer . Also looking at the HVC Super Sucker 2" spacer has my interest as well I'm running a 2" tall Mr Gasket aluminum spacer on top my Holley Strip Dominator intake right now and have been since 2009 and runs very well with great throttle response
- #7
Last edited: Oct 25, 2015
- #8
Thanks for the info and link i will go through it. fyi
I have a 383 approx 9.6:1 in a 79 camaro
comp xr270hr roller cam with 1.6 comp gold rockers
still running small e street heads as havnt had the time $$ to upgrade
edelbrock rpm dual plane and 750 3310 vac secondary carb no spacer and k&n xtreme filter
msd streetfire hei recurved a little
th350 3.08 rear end ran a 13.8 @105 but a converter which is on the cards will help 60ft
Really just a weekend cruiser with a bit of a spanking now and then certainly no high rpm racing so torque would be better than rpm up top.
Cheers guy's
Jason..
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