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factory max wedge SS crossrams

Geri

Deceased, But not forgotton
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in case anyone has had the desire to just strip the paint from a factory wedge SS crossram and run it in natural aluminum, the bulletin from Chrysler back then said -don't do that. their recommendation was to either leave it painted, repaint if stripped of paint or polish it. the reason being the bare castings were just porous enough to actually bleed vacuum drop. the paint sealed them and polishing sealed the castings as well.
 
I ve seen more than a few polished/bare aluminum. The bare casting is pretty rough. I have actually bondoed them before paint.
Doug
 
th
bare aluminum is one of the fastest corroding metals.
There many bare aluminum aircraft out there that deny that. Cast aluminum corrodes much more readily, sheet alum builds a natural anti corrosive film that protects quite well. however- point well taken.
the issue from the tech bulletin was addressing the manifolds castings were very porous and paint sealed them nicely, now- where is that Hemi /mopar orange paint?
 
These manifolds are notorious for being porous so yes the paint helps to seal them up. Ive even gone as far as to paint the underside with glyptal paint to seal it.
I've made block offs for intake and carb mounts and pressurized a couple of oem max wedge intakes and 2 of the 3 leaked with only 15lbs of air applied. One leaked on the bottom and the other leaked on top. No signs of trauma where the leaks were just a little more porous in the casting.
So in order to save your sanity, I'd say paint it or at the least pressure check it and spray soapy water. If you decide to go natural finish. Also put a little sealer on the pivot stud for bell crank before installing it. Otherwise you'll probably have tunability probs and not know why.
 
th

There many bare aluminum aircraft out there that deny that. Cast aluminum corrodes much more readily, sheet alum builds a natural anti corrosive film that protects quite well. however- point well taken.
the issue from the tech bulletin was addressing the manifolds castings were very porous and paint sealed them nicely, now- where is that Hemi /mopar orange paint?
i spent many decades as a sheet metal worker. bare aluminum corrodes faster than iron; it just doesn't turn orange. polished aluminum airplanes (antiques) are pampered and all their internals are painted or anodized. aluminum is crap went left to the enviorment. it turns back to a white powder.
 
I had my 6bbl intake stripped and clearcoated. No yellowing of the clearcoat, but it came out looking more gray than aluminum.
Next time I'll probably go with a chrome powder coat.
Any porosity issues as far as you all know w/the Edelbrock Chrysler 6bbl aluminum intake?
 
had my intake powdercoated and cleared this year

20180314_105529.jpg
 
i spent many decades as a sheet metal worker. bare aluminum corrodes faster than iron; it just doesn't turn orange. polished aluminum airplanes (antiques) are pampered and all their internals are painted or anodized. aluminum is crap went left to the enviorment. it turns back to a white powder.
I am a pilot and former owner of several aircraft (All Aluminum) (haven't seen to many iron aircraft though) I'm also an FAA licenses A&P, -bare aluminum forms its own natural barrier to corrosion better than painted aluminum, yes -the zinc chromate on the inside of alum is the best protection,never seen an anodized aircraft-sounds cool) I flew early (1946. early 1947)North American NAvions which were zinc Chromated on all interior aluminum, when Ryan bought Navion from North American in 1947 they stopped the interior corrosion protection... best of all is the same coating on all exterior aluminum but hard to polish painted surfaces.
 
I had my 6bbl intake stripped and clearcoated. No yellowing of the clearcoat, but it came out looking more gray than aluminum.
Next time I'll probably go with a chrome powder coat.
Any porosity issues as far as you all know w/the Edelbrock Chrysler 6bbl aluminum intake?
the only porosity issues I'm aware of is the bulletin I got from Chrysler circa 1965. I'd like to think Edelbrock castings were/are better-
 
moving away from manifold/aluminum deterioration a bit-another lesson taught in FAA Engine overhaul/cleaning is they discourage using soap/water to clean the inside of an engine prior to assembly, unless you can guarantee 99% or better removal of all soap residue in the engine because-any soap residue inside the engine will react with hot oil and mix with the oil causing bubbles which in turn will cause oil cavitation and starving bearings of proper pressure lubrication. I will take their word for that with a grain of salt but it is certainly a consideration. when I build an engine I spray the inside with starting fluid and blow dry- that removes all soap residue. the best way -which is no longer available to city folk, (military use only) is trichlorethylene (sp) which will remove 100% of any contamination from metal. beings it is such a bio hazard it is no longer available except for military/ rocket industry use for cleaning, on the other hand if I had it I'd use it ,unlikely as it must be super heated to a vapor to clean metal and metal never introduced directly into the liquid. :::::::: heavy sigh::::::::::

I was thinking the same. Thanks.
 
My Hemi Ray Barton manifold has a green epoxy of some sort all over the entire inside of the plenum are & all of the runners I assume to keep it from deteriorating. The outside is painted Hemi orange but when I handle it i can still feel a powdery feel.

20180112_184703.jpg 20180112_184948.jpg
 
My Hemi Ray Barton manifold has a green epoxy of some sort all over the entire inside of the plenum are & all of the runners I assume to keep it from deteriorating. The outside is painted Hemi orange but when I handle it i can still feel a powdery feel.

View attachment 596358 View attachment 596359
you guys can't stop teasing about the hemi's can you? damn wish I still had one, in the
90's I had 4 426 hemi's now I have pictures of hemi's. this was my last one in my street willys. the heads on this engine I bought new in 74 they are the '65 hemi superstock replacements, but with D port exhaust duel plugs and other mods, they cost--$75.00 apiece -I almost that that was to much, there were still in the box new untouched when I built the hemi for this truck it had M/T blower pistons, brooks T/F rods, Racer brown roller cam.

willys0003.jpg
 
These manifolds are notorious for being porous so yes the paint helps to seal them up. Ive even gone as far as to paint the underside with glyptal paint to seal it.
I've made block offs for intake and carb mounts and pressurized a couple of oem max wedge intakes and 2 of the 3 leaked with only 15lbs of air applied. One leaked on the bottom and the other leaked on top. No signs of trauma where the leaks were just a little more porous in the casting.
So in order to save your sanity, I'd say paint it or at the least pressure check it and spray soapy water. If you decide to go natural finish. Also put a little sealer on the pivot stud for bell crank before installing it. Otherwise you'll probably have tunability probs and not know why.
Glyptol is a great sealer and it helps inside the block as well making oil drain back to the pan faster .
 
making a little progress on the STR-8 manifold for the 383, decided on the holleys instead of AVS carbs. one of these carbs is just for mockup.

crossram2.jpg
 
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