quote:Originally posted by larryw:
Jeff,
If you have a Demon carb, they use a 5/16" stud. Much less likely to fatigue and fail than the 1/4" stud used by Holley and most of the others. Better: Ditch the stud and use a bolt.
Best: Take off your manifold and have a machinist mill the carb pad flat and as low as he dares. The Edelbrock is very receptive to this because the runners were designed for a level carb pad. Take a look at a Blue Thunder and you'll see what I mean.
Have the machinist remove the carb studs and re-drill the stud holes square to the new carb pad surface and helicoil them.
Find an insulating carb spacer that is: a. thin enough to ensure no contact between the air cleaner housing and your engine cover, and b. thick enough to ensure the butterfly linkages don't hit the manifold anywhere between idle and WOT.
Regarding that Hall air cleaner lid: I had my machinist mill a lip around the circumference. It dropped the lid a wee bit and it doesn't look so "thick" sitting on the air cleaner element. I do have to work the element a bit to squeeze it in as the diameter inside the lip is just about 13 13/16" vs the 14" element.
Larry,
Thanks for all of the good suggestions. And I like what your machinist did to the Hall top. I agree it is bit thick.
I think I found a great solution to the weak carb air cleaner studs typical in the aftermarket. ARP makes air cleaner studs that are rated at the equivalent of grade 8 bolts.
I have always liked the quality of ARP products and if the equivalent of a grade 8 bolt there should be no chance of failure.
Jeff