phenolic dual port spacers

[sidemarkers]

Trying to keep my end castings and injectors cooler. Are these spacers available?

[sideshow]

You mean Intake Manifold Gasket, Fuel Injected Type 1 (1975+), Each, 043-129-707 ?

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Intake-Man ... 29-707.htm

I'm not certain but the inlet ports on the FI heads maybe a tiny bit smaller than the carb'ed ones. Not enough to matter on stock sized runners.

[sidemarkers]

Ports are too small and unable to open up. I'm looking for solid versions.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I think there are a couple of guys with water-jet or plasma cutters. Whether they could or would it might be worth looking into.

I don't think plasma would work with phenolic but with a water jet it might. I don't remember ever working with phenolics but I did with CAD and I wouldn't think it would hard to make a tooling dataset for it.

Based on the photo it shouldn't be too hard if a pattern was supplied.

[panel]

I bet Mario can make ya some.

[petew]

I bet Mario can make ya some.

Pretty much exactly what I was thinking.

[sidemarkers]

Thanks guys! I found a company that makes phenolic insulators for many VW applications.


https://www.thegansmann.com/products/du ... insulators

[petew]

Just to clarify... how will these help in an EFI setup? It's not like we need to keep fuel bowls cool or the like.

[TJ530]

Just to clarify... how will these help in an EFI setup? It's not like we need to keep fuel bowls cool or the like.

In theory they insulate the manifold from the head, which should result in a lower intake air temperature. Lower intake air temperature, more dense air, more power. That's why most modern intake manifolds are made from fiber reinforced plastic since plastic resists heat soak much more than Al or steel.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Spacers can also be used for "tuning" by changing runner lengths and potentially some other things too.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thanks guys! I found a company that makes phenolic insulators for many VW applications.


https://www.thegansmann.com/products/du ... insulators

I looked but did not find anything for VWs. Good find if you can find what you need.

[sidemarkers]

Just to clarify... how will these help in an EFI setup? It's not like we need to keep fuel bowls cool or the like.

I can't speak for other states but in Arizona, primarily in the summer, after shutting down the engine the injectors and rails can get hot enough to boil gas. This is even more likely due to the addition of ethanol with a lower boiling point.

I have an intercooler with a fan, and am running water/methanol injection which help keep it cool while running. If I can keep the efi intake from heat soaking it'll be less intake heat to dissipate once I fire it back up while doing errands.

[sidemarkers]

Thanks guys! I found a company that makes phenolic insulators for many VW applications.


https://www.thegansmann.com/products/du ... insulators

I looked but did not find anything for VWs. Good find if you can find what you need.

Sorry, try this link. https://www.thegansmann.com/

[Clonebug]

I find it hard to believe they will make a lot of difference but go ahead and use them...if you can log it show us the differences.

The only time the intake will be hot is with the heat soak but the engine should cool fairly quickly unless you are in and out in a couple minutes.
You can't do much for the Arizona heat except move but I would wager that the instant you restart your engine the cooler air flowing through the aluminum manifolds is going to make a bigger difference.

Probably the biggest reason the OEM's went to plastic intakes is because it saves weight and it is cheaper to build. That is the only reason they change anything on a vehicle. If they can leave a washer out they will do it to save costs......think of the millions of washers they wouldn't have to pay for or install.....that's the kind of savings they work off of.

[sidemarkers]

One needs only to grab the handle of a cast iron skillet compared to the bakelite handle of a pressure cooker to experience the benefit of phenolic spacers.

Even VW used heat insulating plastic spacers in late 70s for the fuel injection bugs.

Summer heat in Arizona is something else. Although it might only be 110 degrees here, the blacktop can easily be 170 degrees, which is permeating upwards as the car sits idle on it. It's like trying to cool off by taking a refreshing dive into a 170 degree pool!