Gregs

Hey guys, im out cleaning the new engine getting it ready to put in, and i wanna remove that metal plate below the carby (drip plate?)
here look and tell me if i cna remove it
cause it looks stupid

357

Hell of a coincidence. I'm actually in the process of rebuilding my carb, and I'm having to deal with issues regarding that plate as well. Here's the info:

First off, it's not metal, its phenolic (basically fiberglass made with plastic instead of epoxy). Its function is to serve as a heat barrier between the intake manifold and the carb (hence the cooling passages, and input/output lines on the edge nearest the engine).

I'm pretty sure you need it there for the carb to stay cool enough to not vapor-lock.

Oh, and if you ever have to remove any gaskets stuck to it, be careful not to remove material from it as well, and don't use a chisel.

Rx7carl

Remove the whole thing? Negative, your linkage will not function, itll bind up. Yes you can cut off the drip portion and leave the part under the carb intact. But this will allow more exh heat to get to the carb, which may cause fuel in the bowls to boil. And 357 is right, its phenolic not metal. And the factory gaskets are bonded to the spacer. If you need to put in new gaskets, just put them over the factory bonded gaskets. NEVER TRY TO REMOVE THE ORIGINAL FACTORY GASKETS. You will most surely mess up the spacer. It also has another function. On the holes theres a slight restrictor. This is to kill the intake reversion wave. Bottom line on the whole spacer/drip pan is this. Unless you know what your doing, dont fool with it.

Gregs

thanks carl, ill just clean it up real good... prolly will get dirty again really quick but oh well

that intake mani is lookin pretty good so far

-greg

Rx7carl

Yea, nice and shiny.

BrianHeston

Erick1120 doesn't have that phenolic heatshield/drip plate at all on his, and has run that way on both stock and rb header, I think. Never had any problems.

Just another observation,
Brian

357

Unfortunately, I can vouch for this.

Rx7carl

Cool, same here, but I have extra heatsheilding.

Rx7carl

John64

I've never seen that before. I think i will have to look harder tommorow.

John

Rx7carl

Notes on this. Opening the spacer holes to match the carb base yields 1CFM on a stock carb. I have chopped off the drip pan/heatsheild, but I have extra heatsheilding. Theres some inside info for you guys.