Technical Stovebolt Questions

Alright HAMBers!
I need insight! I finally got my project on the road yesterday! When I got home and popped the hood to check for leaks I noticed that my cast manifolds were starting to blue on the 2nd and 3rd exhaust ports (from front of vehicle). What would cause this? I haven’t pulled plugs yet to see if the PO had hotter plugs or anything yet. I hit them with a temp gun and got around 240-250 on the front and rear ports, but the two under the intake manifold/carb were sitting around 320-330. Water pump was at 180, upper radiator hose was 190 and lower was about 180. Any insight as to why or what is happening there? Temp gauge in the car does not work but it didn’t overheat in terms of overflow. Looking for you guys and gals to point me in the right direction! Thanks in advance!

 

What engine?

 

Uh, thread title?
OP's 235

 

Check timing?

 

All I saw was "stovebolt"...216, 235, 261...or? And on the "stovebolt site" many bring up anything inline related.

 

just busting your balls, I looked up the OP's profile and his thread posts. Found the 235 there.

 

My bad my bad it’s a 235. Kind of forgot a major detail there

 

Never seen them turn blue (manifolds, not headers, right?) and never checked the temp, but I could see them being hotter than the outside ports, since the inner ones share 2 exhaust ports each if my memory is still active.

 

BB you're hateful and you know it !

 

Isn't he though?

 

Aw come on fellas. I was just joshin around.

 

I remember on those engines there are short ferrules which are fitted into the head, that sit between the head and the manifold, but I'm not sure if they are if they are on the inlet or exhaust. Any exhaust leak at the head?

 

the rings go on the intake ports.

the shared exhaust ports would get hotter than the single ports on the ends.

Spark plug "heat range" doesn't "control" the heat...you select the heat range so the plugs don't get too hot or too cold, which depends on how the engine runs. If they're too cold, they'll foul, and if they're too hot, they'll melt. The difference is in how long the insulator is, inside. the longer it is, the less it transfers heat, so the hotter the plug runs.

What finish do you have on the manifolds, if any? they can be expected to get hot, you know...it's an engine...

 

Yes they are Williams split manifolds. I thought that might be the case, but as I said, still learning with every turn of the wrench!

 

I’ve had feedback saying I might be running to hot of a plug, but your description makes very good sense. The manifolds are cast iron Williams, so it’s the rough finish they have from casting essentially. Haha yes it is and engine, and yes, it does get hot! Smart ass! This being the first inline 6 I’ve owned and still being relatively new to owning something like this, I need to ask questions. Only way to learn and make sure my lessons aren’t hard ones!

 

I guess my biggest question is do I have to worry about the temperature difference? I’d assume that since the exhaust ports are shared that big of a difference is ok?

 

I would expect a port that is getting twice as much exhaust through it, to get hotter. Also it's near the center of the engine, so there is less cooling from the end of the engine.

But really...if you're worried about temperature, how about getting a temperature gauge working? start with the basics.

 

What you are seeing is heat blue. Does it go away when the the engine is cool?
I suspect those headers are cast steel. Cast steel is a little different than iron. Also these dual manifolds are likely a much thinner casting. The stock iron manifold was larger and was connected to the intake.....all of this acted as a heat sink.

When steel is heated....iron too, goes through a series of colors.
1st the straw colors....
2nd the blue
3rd cherry red
4th orange
5the yellow
6 th white
A blacksmith can be more accurate but you get the picture.
I have seen tube headers cherry red at night.

This could be normal for those manifolds.

Checks I would do.....
A compression test to confirm valve adjustment.
I would make sure valves are adjusted to spec. (This is to make sure the valves are not trying to burn.) out of adjustment valves will burn.....
A timing check.
Confirm that the carburetor is adjusted correctly. Heat usually means lean and that usually shows on the out board cylinders rather than the inboard.....this is assuming you are using one carburetor.
As said, it could simply be header material. I would do those checks though.....basically it's a tune up.
Also as mentioned....get a temp gauge going. A mechanical gauge is available at the box stores.

 

Just asking, would Restriction at the rest of Exhaust slow the flow down enough to overheat?

 

I actually picked up a temp gauge already and just need to get it installed. I was trying to make sure that I hadn’t burnt anything up or caused any damage as I’ve been adjust lifters and the motor need to be at operating temp to do so, which is the reason for driving a few miles. A good tune up is due this weekend to make sure all is well there, being that I don’t know if the PO made the correct adjustments. I will dive into this issue tomorrow and let you all know what I find out! Thank you guys for the insight.

 

how does it idle? cylinders running lean will be hotter and a vacuum leak in between those cylinders will lean them out.

 

It sounds normal to me. However, if the ignition timing is off it can cause excess exhaust heat. You could double check that the ignition is timed correctly and the spark plug wires not crossed but, I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

What rusty said. I had the timing back off on a 215 Pontiac six. was running on I40 at nite. I smelled the heat and power loss but engine water temp was OK. It was at nite and I pulled over at the 100 mile marker. popped the hood and the exhaust manifold was cherry red and it was barely idling. I twisted the dist to advance it and the manifold cooled off. the engine had a dist holddown was a bent piece of heavy wire. and it didn't work as it should. I replaced it with one from a 230 chevy.

 

It idles well both choked and with the choke off. Doesn’t pop or jump rpms unnaturally. I’ve checked for leaks and have yet to find anything.

 

Your profile notes the car is a Powerglide. The hydraulic lifters would probably be best if left undisturbed.

 

Retarded timing is ... amazing. Shit starts glowing fast!

 

maybe you have a bad cast?

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ifold-for-235-are-they-new-or-vintage.458810/





.

 

Now I’ve seen a few comments about whether or not this car has hydraulic lifters as opposed to solid. I thought, again from what I’ve read on some of the threads, that when the 53-54 models went full pressure that is when they got hydraulic lifters as well? I’ve also heard that 49-50 were solids, while 51-54 shares hydraulic even though the earlier models were not full pressure? Any insight to that? And no I have not had the valve cover off yet. Been trying to get it to run before I started making a lot of adjustments. Basically Check one thing off at a time.

 

I had heard that some of these casting were not fully iron, but instead a mixture of iron and steel together, making the heat color characteristics similar to that of steel. I’m going to adjust the timing hopefully today after I spend some time with Ma!

 

'50 - '62 6 cylinder Chev Powerglide cars came with hydraulics. Manual trans Chevs are mechanical until the mid - '50s when the top end oiling changed, then they are found with either.
None of post 28 is correct.
Pulling the rocker cover & making sure it's oiling might be a good idea.