Cutting an intake

[Eggman]

If I have forty thousandths shaved off my heads how much do I have to cut off the intake?

[dwc43]

What engine? It makes a difference.

[Eggman]

Hey DWC how you been?My truck has a 1986 360 in it.The engine was built two years ago and has always had oil consumption problems.We pulled the intake and the gaskets were saturated with oil and the intake runners were coatedwith oil.We came to the assumption that the intake is not cut enough and it is sucking oil into the combustion chambers.

[cageman]

The intake was coated or the runners in the heads were coated?
I have 60 off of my heads and they fit fine, cant run the cork gaskets on the end, just use silicone.
I have seen a ratio of how much to take, just cant remember off hand.

[dwc43]

Originally Posted by Eggman

Hey DWC how you been?My truck has a 1986 360 in it.The engine was built two years ago and has always had oil consumption problems.We pulled the intake and the gaskets were saturated with oil and the intake runners were coatedwith oil.We came to the assumption that the intake is not cut enough and it is sucking oil into the combustion chambers.

Been O.K. How 'bout you? For ea. .010" removed from the heads you must remove .0095 from the intake face. With paper gaskets you can usually get away with it up to .035 without any major problems. After that you need to mill the intake. If you don't mill the intake the ports don't line up right and it cost you power and in your case oil comsumption. I run the metal gaskets with the heat block off so mine has to be pretty much spot on and I use the cork end gaskets. Big problem with using an RTV type sealer instead of the end gaskets is if you get crazy with it and put too much on it, it sqeezes out into the lifter galley. THen it ends up in the oil pan clogging a pick up tube. Not worth that chance. Always use RTV sparingly.

[rumblefish360]

Mopar says the intake surface of the head to be cut after milling. Not the intake.

[jelsr]

Like Rumble said. That way you still have heads and intake that will work on any other stock setup!

[cageman]

Maybe that is what I have, Ill have to ask my head builder. I know how much my heads are milled, but my intake was never touched.

[rumblefish360]

Well, the best thing about cutting the intake side of the head is that a swap to a different intake manifold is a no problem deal. No ned to take the intake out of a brand new box just to cut it to fit.

[Kevin Garceau]

exactly

cut the heads not the intake,

but if your in a pinch and plan on keeping it the way it is for a while it would be much simplier pulling the intake instead of the heads.

[rrunnertexas]

I have a 383 that has the same problem as described. I have oil in all my intake ports from a bad seal at the intake.

I believe when my heads were cut they did not take enough off of the intake side to compensate.

I have tried to seal the intake 4 times using different types of sealer and they all leaked after a few hunded miles. I also tried 2 different intakes and nothing changed.

I checked closely and saw that the bolt holes for the intake were not perfectly lined up with the heads, so I know there is an alignment problem. I will have to pull the heads and have a little taken off the intake surface to make it line up correctly.

[dodger1]

I get the bit about cutting the intake side of the head the appropriate amount, but what does that do to the available space for the cork end gaskets (small block)? I would think you'd run out of room there and have to use RTV, or cut that surface on the manifold. Anyone know how much tolerance there is there?

[oldguyalso]

Just did a 318 with 360 heads and had it milled .040 and .0375 on the intake surface. I'm also using the thin block off intake gasket with the cork end pieces and if went together fine. Used RTV spareingly on the corners. Hope this helps.

[Tarrbabe]

If you just cut the heads, you can use them on any engine or the intake on another engine without problems. .095 is right on for the cut.

Be back in a few days. Going to Austin. Maybe I'll see some nice Mopes there.

[Eggman]

Well we cut thirty off the sides and seventy off the flats and problem solved.And if anyone was wondering the Comp Cams xe268h is a good sounding cam that works real good, in my truck anyway.