Heads shaved, now intake doesn't fit.

[hey-you]

I just had my heads shaved .060 and as per the MP manual .0123 must be taken off the intake mating surface which I had gotten done at the same time. I bolted my heads on this weekend, now my intake doesn't line up. It's as though it's sitting to high, almost like the machine shop didn't shave the intake side down enough.

I went back to the machine shop for suggestions. They told my that they have come across that situation quite often on big block Chryslers and the only cure is to shave my manifold down.

Is there another solution? I'm to lazy to pull my heads again as I have already bolted up my headers or should I get my intake shaved down. I know that if I shave my intake it'll be for this engine only and it won't be interchangable. Is elongating the bolt holes a mickey mouse means of repair. Anyone have any good suggestions. This is on a 69 440 with 906 heads

[cuda66]

You will have to cut the intake
Use a feeler guage and mesasure the space- top, bottom and on all for corners this will help the machine shop figure out how much to cut off....usually costs around 35 - 50$

Have fun..remember the biggest lie in the world is "Bolts right in"...sure...

[SpeedSleaze]

Was your block decked as well? Did your shop even cut the intake side? I went to a shop and mentioned the side cut and he said he didn't have the necessary equipment to cut the intake. "But it won't matter" Right. I had a fit one time when my intake bolts wouldn't line up. It was the extra thick Mr. Gaskets sitting on the intake face. Threw them out and just used the factory piece and everything went together smooth.

Enjoy!

MOPAR= Move Over, People Are Racin'

[MoJoe]

Did you figure .0123 PER every .010 shaved off the head?

So, if you took .060 off the head, you would have to take .0738 off the intake side.

If the shop only took off .0123 total, that explains the problem.

Joe

[hey-you]

SpeedSleaze. No the block was not decked, and yes the intake side was cut, it was obvious when I picked up the heads. But I'm unable to tell how much it was cut. Obviously they didn't cut it enough. I'm using the Chrysler steel intake gasket. I tried it without a gasket and it just barely fits. So I think that about approx. .020 should be cut on each side. This really makes what ever hair I have stand on end, because I really don't want to shave my intake. And like I said before I'm to lazy to pull my heads again. Oh well, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. And these guys are supposed to be running a speed shop. Maybe it's a shevve shop, oh oh.

[kingjr]

I had the same problem earlier this year when assembling my 383mag. I barely cut anything off the heads and the intake still would not fit. I did elongate the holes and it went on. In you case, with the 60thou you cut off, I'd take the intake back and have it cut, better than pullin the heads again right! <><

[BB 70 Challenger]

hey-you:

Check out if your intake manifold hits the valley pan ie. the intake gasket! Really!

I had that problem, I had to shave the underside of my intake manifold. Not much, but shaving the heads made my intake manifold sit lower towards the engine block, hence hitting the big intake gasket valley pan!!

So the problem wasn´t the wrong amount of shaving on head surfaces and after filing my intake manifold´s underside that piece is interchangable ever still.


Hope this helps, - BB 70 Challenger

[tsteiner61]

IMO, I think MoJoe has the right solution (see above).

[SubLime440]

I took .080 thousandths off my 906's... and They didn't shave enough off the intake side because " They don't normally do that for chevy heads' (This didn't make sense to me) but he only took .080 thousandths off intake side instead.... even after I told him to take .098 off the intake... Lots of cutting I know.
I shaved the Intake manifold (Performer RPM) down next... but the corners of the mainifold would hit the end of the block on the Front of motor and the back of motor and would not seat on the heads properly, so I ended up cutting about 1/2 " off each tip of the manifold and it bolted right up... What a pain. The manifold looks good too, you cant even tell I had to slice 'er up.

Have fun, good luck...

[amoparguy]

I had the same problem with my 440 when I put it back together. Both the heads and the deck were cut. Twice it developed vacuum leaks, I replaced the intake gasket each time. When it happened again I called my machinist for suggestions. I measured it as Cuda66 suggested and brought the intake bathtub with me to the machine shop. Upon closer inspection we found that there was alot of difference in how the gasket was crushed on the top compared to the bottom. When he cut the intake face he also changed the angle of the "V" slightly. When I put it back on the bolt holes lined up perfectly and I haven't had a vacuum leak since.

[hey-you]

Sorry about the confusion in my first post, I didn't explain myself properly. What I ment was that I wanted .0123 cut off the intake side for every .010 cut off the head surface. This is as per the MP manual.

Now the shop wants to charge me to cut my intake. I have to suffer by ruining my intake because some slack assed machinist was scratching his ass while shaving my heads. They said that they cut my heads as per my instructions, but I have no way of really determining how much they really cut. I can only take there word that they cut the correct amount. Now I know why the drug stores sell KY jelly

[71 scamp]

I just had that problem last month with my new edel. heads on a 340. I ended up paying $200 to have 100 thous. cut off each side of the intake to get it to drop down and bolt to the heads, expensive pain in the butt! I do not recommend drilling out the bolt holes, I use to do that but you don't really know if the ports are lined up and if you drill them too big you have problems getting it to seal.