EFI manifold and Clifford intake alignment

[dr johnny fever]

I’m in the process of swapping my stock intake and exhaust manifold on my 86 with a Clifford intake and EFI exhaust manifold. Trying to figure out how to align them on the head. Even after I put the studs in, got everything held in place and put the nuts on there’s quite a bit of play in all three to move up and down. How do I align them with the ports on the head?

Haven’t tried them yet, but I went to the hardware store and got some inch and a quarter washers to go underneath the thick ones that came with the stud kit from Clifford‘s. I was looking at the EFI manifolds and it looked like that was about the size washer that will go into the cut out.

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

Since the carbed heads do not have as many bolt bosses as an EFI head the manifolds can shift up and down - mostly down - as you mentioned. It is necessary to make two retainer clips - one for each manifold to fit under each manifold, through the rear most bottom bolt hole. That will stabilize their location.

[Dr Jay]

This is my interpretation of Frenchtown Flyer’s direction.

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

You got it!

[1986F150six]

Has anyone made these for sale [so the dimensions will be correct]?

[dr johnny fever]

That picture helps a lot, thanks Dr Jay!

Has anyone made these for sale [so the dimensions will be correct]?

This is the part I'm still confused about. Just like David is asking... seems like the intake and exhaust will move up and down and I can make a keeper, but the keeper just holds it wherever I make the keeper. Could be 1/4" below the stud/bolt, could be 1", just depends on how I make the keeper. Still not sure how I make sure the intake and exhaust ports are aligned with the ports on the head.

[bubba22349]

That picture helps a lot, thanks Dr Jay!

Has anyone made these for sale [so the dimensions will be correct]?

This is the part I'm still confused about. Just like David is asking... seems like the intake and exhaust will move up and down and I can make a keeper, but the keeper just holds it wherever I make the keeper. Could be 1/4" below the stud/bolt, could be 1", just depends on how I make the keeper. Still not sure how I make sure the intake and exhaust ports are aligned with the ports on the head.

You could try using your gasket to get the alignment measurement for the tabs by putting it on the exhaust and intake manifolds while they are off. Then also make a line around them (witness Mark) to help with the alignment. Good luck

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

You got it!

CNC,
Git on it! This question has been asked many times and anyone converting their carbed head to EFI exhaust manifolds needs two of these.

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

Has anyone made these for sale [so the dimensions will be correct]?

CNC,
Git on it! This question has been asked many times and anyone converting their carbed head to EFI exhaust manifolds needs two of these.

[SteveP]

Is this also an issue when using an Offy C intake with EFI manifolds on a carb head?
Are the flanges the same thickness? I'm currently running a Hedman header mounted with grade 8 bolts and the original domed washers. When I switch to EFI manifolds will I still be able to use them?
I don't mean to hijack the thread but this seems to be the best place for my question since it's related to the original question.

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

I recommend the clips. The flanges on my Offy are very nearly the same as the EFI exhaust manifolds. What I don't like is that the original thick washers trap very little of the meat of the Offy flange, creating a situation where the intake flange could easily crack.

[Dr Jay]

Last thought, these studs, big 1” domed washers, nuts line up the ports better than you think. I convinced myself using a cheap gasket and a whittled chunk of pine. I used the pine to make some slugs that approximated the ports and tapped them in. Laying in manifolds on the head with the slugs holding the mani in places just marked the gasket along the top line.
Torqued the manifolds down to dent the gasket for exam.
After disassembly, I was convinced that sliding all three manifolds (2 fuel injection exhausts, and my trusty Clifford) as low as they could go on the clips in this pic lined it up perfect. 1 clip bottom row last stud on each exhaust manifold. 2 clips total.
Last tip, I mark the top edge of the manifolds on to the gasket surface. If the line disappears, they are drifting and need help. They have never drifted with those clips.

[Mdixon300f100]

I bolted on the manifolds before I put the head on... Worked great if the head is off already, just a little heavier...

[sdiesel]

on my trucks i dont remember having this alignment issue. but tomorrow i pull the propane off and return the ranch truck to gas for a trip into california.

i vaguely remember having the y pipe attached to the manifolds and supporting the y pipe to hold manifolds in place...i think i remember it that way. tomorrow will tell.

[sdiesel]

ok, here is how i did this unpleasant job.

pin the front exh manifold on the stud.
attach y pipe to both manifolds. loosely, but kinda tightly too.
goop with never seize, the joint facings
support your y pipe from beneath. pivot the assembly into position lifting the tail of the y pipe until the rear manifold gets close to "on". place some lower bolts in head, or studs if you use them

place intake manifold, pin it at the rear of the head pivoting it into place , hooking it on the front dowell pin, snug it up. just kinda
If you are using the factory manifold like i had planned, then be ready to cuss and discuss a bit. i finally, due to aggrevation and time constraints, used a c manifold with a 4-1 barrel adapter. not my favorite but serviceable.


now with all in place, some grease (never sneeze) on the intake gasket so it dont tear its time to "jiggle" everything into place.

i assume i am close to the ports when the margins around each bolt hole appear to be the same on each location. by leaving the joint at the bottom of the exhasut manifold where it connects to the y pipe, loose but not tight, you can maneuver the individual manifolds as needed.

start with center studs and attach as you go out.

i always remove the fender for this job. easy to do and requires only a few minutes.
that way i can be on the level with my work.

in my case a 4x4 dually ford, the parts i used were a factory fit, which with a ford means, they all kinda fit already. so i had no funky pipe bends to fight. other than the usual ford nonsense.

[curts56]

I used colored masking tape to test/adjust the port alignment. Put one color on the head and another on the manifold, then adjust the position until they line up:

https://fordsix.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=73716

[dr johnny fever]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I ended up doing a combination of several of these. I took everything back off (which sucked because I had just gone through and torqued everything down in three passes, 20, 25, 30 pounds) then I put the Y pipe in place and lined up the intake and exhaust on the gasket and trace the outline where they should sit with a sharpie. I also had the same concern about the OEM washer is not getting a good bite because they weren’t big enough, so I put inch and a quarter washers underneath the thicker ones that came from Clifford. That looks like the size of the cut out on the EFI manifolds. Plus, I got some with a 3/8 hole to just fit the stud, that way there wasn’t a lot of slop. I figured that may help me force them to align. Seemed to work pretty good.

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

good on you.

[broncr]

Port matching is one of the myriad of of things that give one the warm fuzzies...

Lot's of work, but attention to the details adds up.

[sdiesel]

does port matching aid in any way in the lower noise register of an engines power band?
I have a 9k pound truck.
and would b curious about such efforts in my case

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

I suspect 'no' since Ford does a pretty good job of making the intake runners a skosh smaller than the head intake ports so there is no deleterious overlap. Likewise the exhaust ports are slightly smaller than the exhaust manifold runners. Even if there were some overlap intrusion it is far enough upstream and the port area is large enough compared to the bowl area so as not to be a large factor on a street car at part throttle conditions.

Now if one were to let things shift around so there is significant misalignment then you can have issues, which is why I am an advocate of using retainer clips on EFI exhaust manifolds. I've had them shift during use on carbed heads.

[sdiesel]

the retain er clip is on my list.
also perhaps studs with bushings making the stud much larger in diameter so the bushing actually makes contact with manifolds .
thus each the manifold would be centered on the mounting studs.
would this work?

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

If everything is properly aligned there is very little room for bushings.