I've got several of the early Olds Weiand blower intake manifolds made in the '60's, and they WON'T FIT the engine that the manifold is designed for, unless a 1/4" or so spacer plate is used on each intake flange! This is NOT a matter of the manifolds being for a low-deck block, as the low-deck manifolds for this application would be considerably narrower yet (the 371 intakes are about 1-1/4" than the 394 Olds). Simply put, these intakes are all a little short in width, yet by the same exact amount!!! Same result, just a tad short requiring about a 1/4" spacer under each flange. Two different engines have been tried, too. All these intakes have been used, so SOMEONE got them all to fit and function. I cannot imagine them being made with the idea that 1/4" inch has to be milled out of the heads or block deck! I have a friend that said something about Weiand manifolds used to require spacer plates for port nozzles, yet I have never heard of this, they weren't listed in the old '60's Weiand catalogs, and I couldn't see any in the old photos. Who can help solve this mystery????
ya don't suppose it's one of those later heads on early block deals do ya?i suppose you could make friends with somebody with a vertical mill...
There were spacers manufactured and sold for use on the Rocket engine, though I believe they were for an application like Yorg mentioned with a head swap to an earlier block. I saw a set for sale at Hershey: they were wedge shaped, so a dead flat spacer plate, kind of like the way a header flange is made, would not work for that application. These adapter plates came up on a HAMB thread a year or so ago, and someone replied who had a set.
No Yorgi, it seems that virtually all Weiand blower manifolds are "off". One of the gents I sold a manifold to is also reporting this problem, plus I once sold a Weiand 324 intake to a guy who also reported "something was not quite right". I don't know what the deal is, looks like a pair of 1/4 spacer plates is what it tkaes to get a Weiand intake to fit. That is just plain weird. I am currently looking at adapting a competition-style Kuhl or Mooneyham SBC blower intake to the 394 with spacer plates, the ports line up quite nicely. BB Mopar is also close and is an option. I should have made a choice and have one of these other intakes in my hands within 2 weeks. Also looking at taking this opportunity to raise my intake ports 1/2". The competition manifolds also have the burst panel provision and the "tented" floor.
I dug this out of my junkpile, circa mid 70's. Don't overlook early hemi blower intakes and spacer plates. Hemi intakes are easy to come by. If ya can't buy it, build it or vice versa. Make it yourself and MEN will respect you, WOMEN will adore you and WANNABEES will be baffled.
Don Wow, I got your PM-- VERY VERY COOL!! I will read it more thoroughly when I get a chance and PM you back about that. Oh, and what exactly is this manifold/spacer combo you have pictured? BB Mopar to 394?
i dont know if this pic is big enough to see.this is how much it took to get the holes to line up.nate i sent you a e-mail.let me know if you didnt get it.these spacers are close to a 1/2" thick,but im not using any gaskets soo that would probly make some differance.there actually some adaptors i bought from nate that where made for a different aplication,but work.i looked at an old weiand add in a magazine,that showed a olds with a blower.it wasnt a very good pic,and just showed mostly the front drive system.thats what it was advertising,but i didnt see any spacers,and it didnt mention anything anywhere along with the manifolds.ive been looking at pictures,and i cant see any anywhere.the part # on the intake is W0671 ,and i can tell you the ports look like there 394 size.anyone else have any ideas? eric
I have a Weiand blower manifold for the Olds that I thought I might use some day (when I could afford to have a drive built for it) and always assumed it would fit right on my 62 394. 15 or so years at the Nostalgia drags in New Jersey, I took some pix (slides) of a 34 Coupe with a 6/71 Blower on a Weiand blower manifold on a 59 Olds, and I just looked at them and can't see any spacer plates inbetween the manifold and the heads. I'll have to see if mine "fits" or would need some spacer plates.
yorg, thanks for asking.im slow i know.im still deciding what i wanted to do.lol i was thinking of just haveing one for a 64-up fitted,but it seems like it just doesnt fit as tight on the shaft.the holes just a little bigger.i also may just have a coin type one made.ill p.m. you later with some more details. eric
Blownolds - this one is on Ebay now http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33741&item=2461769570
Thanks, Mutt-- I already saw it. Even though the guy says he thinks it's a Cragar, it looks like another Weiand without the name to me. Already have a big stack that will need spacer plates. I'm going to go ahead with adapting either a SBC or a BBMopar blower intake. I think it'll be a lot slicker than it sounds. Oh, and Don Wow-- I was right, I looked at some early hemi heads again and that intake you have is not a hemi intake. It looks more like a big block Mopar wedge intake to me. Can you PM me with a couple more pics of it?
TTT for Don Wow---- Jerry, if you have any pics of the topside of that blower intake, I'd like to see them. I do indeed also think it's a BB Mopar wedge intake. Definitely not hemi.
Sounds like you have a set of heads that someone serfaced big time to up compression or clean up defects. Had same problem on same motor on high school ride.(394 in '53 Ford). As the heads are decked, the mounting surface for the intake ports actually spreads apart. Kind of like cutting the roof off a house, removing 6 in. of vertical height from the area that met the walls, and it not fitting back where it came off of.
Nope, wrong-- it's a stock virgin engine and if the heads were shaved then the bolt holes would have moved the OTHER way. I thought about the Weiand manifold having been shaved a ton, but they are ALL like that-- a full 1/4" or so short, and I've got a stack of them. And it's not a matter of them being for the 371, they aren't. Anyway, TTT again for Don Wow. I hope to have an answer soon on whether or not a modern SBC or a BB Mopar intake will adapt nicely. I'm going to try to swing by a place on Thursday hopefully. Just need to have (coff) $650-700 handy for the contemporary SBC competition intake I'm going to look at (it's got large ports, angled floor, burst panel provision, etc.). These are the ones being sold by Mike Kuhl, but I'm going over to Superchargers USA-- he also said he has some with thermostat provision. Wish me luck.
The WEIAND "WO671" blower manifolds for early Olds came in 3 variations. Most all are of the same casting but are machined differently for the different deck heights of the different year engines but all look the same. The three varariations should be be stamped for identification purposes either by a letter or number in the back of the manifold between the part number "WO671" and "WEIAND" A or 56 will denote the 303-324 manifold B or 57 will denote the 371 manifold C or 59 will denote the 394 manifold If your manifold has not been polished it should be stamped in this area. Otherwise these stampings may have been ground or polished off. I have manifolds stamped with letters or numbers but not both. WIEAND calls these manifolds their "TYPHOON" maniflolds. Hope this helps.
Surprised to see this old thread dug back up. I have since gone with an Indy Mopar 383 competition blower manifold, which will adapt perfectly with some custom-made spacers.
Thats just like they should fit "perfectly" my WO671 "C" fits perfectly on my #23 heads on my 394. Thanks Dago im glad you had good luck..... as i did. Cheers
my biggest problem is to find an intake, and if i had an intake and needed spacerplates i sure could live with that
Great thread! Blownolds -- this a really interesting peice of info here. I am thinking of eventually running a supercharger on my 371. Thanks
Stumbled upon this thread and really would like to find or adapt a blower manifold for my 394 Olds Anybody do a tech on this adaption on the mopar manifold. I did see that Hampton blowers offers Olds blower manifolds but on the pricey side.