I have never messed with one of these and am attempting to fab it up for the 70 455, auto and A/C



. I think I know why the price was right for purchase.
If you can see where the tube for the PCV is supposed to be, someone tried to screw a bolt in there. I think, if I can find the proper tube, elbow and PCV valve,
I can make it seal with some lock tight or something else possibly. Any thoughts moving forward with this is appreciated.

Also, does the A/C Delco water temp sending unit look like one for a gauge or for a light to you guys?

 

The current replacement water temp sending units typically look like yours, regardless of gauge or idiot light, with a side-slide terminal connector rather than the traditional Delphi-Packard plug in type you're familiar with. The newer version water temp sender for gauges on my '70 (350 c.i. tic-toc-tach/gauges with W-31 aluminum intake) looks like the one in your images (though yours looks like a loose-fitting crescent wrench was applied). You really can't go by appearance. You could try yours and if it doesn't work correctly, it's widely available.

 

Not exactly sure what you are referring to regarding PCV. The PCV on my '70 is in the driver's side valve cover. My 350 c.i. W-31 intake has an extra threaded hole (water jacket) that is correctly plugged with a copper-colored square head hex end bolt. Perhaps this is what you need but for a vacuum hole?

 

I'm not 100% sure but I thought the tube for the PCV was sweged in the hole on the manifold, not screwed in.

 

Since you’re dealing with a crankcase hole and the manifold is off the car, you have a world of possibilities to drill it and tap it to whatever size you want.

Unless you’re going for a factory look/approach, then you might be in something of a corner. Most of us have PCV valves in the valve covers, but it seems to me you could directly tap the crankcase from the intake manifold with the correct size hole — something big enough for a PCV sealing grommet to fit into.

I may be way off base, I’ve never worked with these W-455 manifolds. After trading in 1966 cast iron, I’ve been using Edelbrock Performers for decades. The W-455 intake adds coolness factor though.

Cheers
Chris

 

The W30 manifold had the PCV valve in the intake as seen below, and the original nipple was pressed in not threaded as I think you already know from reading your post. cfair is correct though, you can buy a reproduction rubber 90 and find a suitable size pipe thread to fit in the 90 (maybe 3/8" or 1/4"). Once you find the right size, simply re-tap the hole with the right size pipe thread and install a short threaded nipple.

 

I just measured an original PCV press-in pipe....the OD is .501. Any idea what the size of the PCV pipe hole in the intake is now? If it's close to that and still has some slight interference with the OD of the pipe you should be able to use some good epoxy to seal it all up when you put the pipe in.

 

I'd disagree with Tom about the temp gauge sensor for a 70. The general shape is right. At the top of the sensor where the nut is there should be a single male spade. Replacement GM and aftermarket senders, and later senders had like a button on top. What you have is like an older Chevy sensor. It should work, you can buy a little spade adapter from Inline. It would look more correct, I can't see how you can use it as it is now w/o butchering the harness. You can also buy a correct appearing (not exact) sender from a number of places. A deep 6 point 1/2" drive socket would have left no scars.

 

Just a quick opinionated note on epoxy/glue/sealant or whatever goop on the intake.

Intake manifolds in particular go through constant & challenging heat changes every time you use the car. It’s hard for epoxy/glue/sealant to operate well over that vast range of temperatures. My view is that the less of these chemicals you can use, the better for reliability and longevity. Ultimately they wear & can create leaks.

If you can arrange/invents/create a mechanical connection like threads and related screw with a tap & die, I’d go that way, just to not be dependent on some kind of goop whose lifespan is hard to know. Happy to be wrong, but my route would be tap & die with maybe a bit of teflon sealant. Or high temp epoxy, if you prefer.

If you guys have an opposing view about some kind of stuff that will survive and thrive under long exposure to big temperature changes, I’m all eyes & ears. I’d love to learn I’m way off base about my lack of faith in sealants.

Cheers
Chris

 

It's just pressed in on the factory manifolds. Depending on how much the hole was opened up when they tapped those threads, you may be able to install it with JB Weld or something similar. If 100% optical accuracy isn't a concern (and is probably isn't, given the known flaws in the repro intakes) you can tap it for NPT threads and use a screw in hose barb.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas. I am going to try and retap the threads to accept a hose barb similar to this, but without the 90* bend.
The hole has threads on one side, but no so much on the other, so wish me luck. The only place I was able to find the elbow was The Parts Place.
As far as the temp sending unit, it floors me why folks don't use the proper 6 point socket. This one came with the manifold.

 

You want something like this, but as short as possible. The rubber elbow normally pushes right up to the manifold surface, so the hex on the barb fitting will cause an alignment problem. Look for a short fitting without a hex, similar to the heater barb fittings.

 

Thanks Joe. I was also concerned about the alignment. The one you posted may just fit the bill.

 

I bet a lot of the factory ones leak a little.

 

For the temp sender, the button top and the blade type sender are both available replacements, and as I said are typical.
Fusick offers both types: http://www.fusickautomotiveproducts....7&pagenumber=2
OldsParts shows the button top type as "NOS" > https://www.oldsparts.com/product/no...es-gm-1513321/
And, you don't have to "butcher the harness" as claimed above to use the button top sender with an OE harness. Just change the connector to one with the side opening to accommodate the button top. (The button top sender often comes with that side-open connector.)

 

Success! Depending on the length of the elbow, I may have to trim the top of the barb, but I believe I succeeded.
Thanks for the help on this guys. Tom, thanks for the links for the sending units as well.

 

Sweet, $12.65 or something like that w/ prime and $5 off.

 

Nice clean install on the intake fitting, and great choice on the temp sender. You found one that comes with the open-side connector - no wire harness butchering.

 

When are the repro intakes sold? Do they match the original performance?

 

Took a minute but I found you one. I'm not sure why The Parts Place doesn't offer them any longer. I thought they were the ones making them.

https://www.yearone.com/Product/1964...nr#prettyPhoto

 

They are basically identical to stock manifolds. Save yourself some money and have an original steel manifold painted silver.....

 

^^^THIS. There is no difference in runner configuration between the W30 intake and an iron one. The only performance advantage is a few pounds of weight reduction. Unless you need one for optical reasons, there are a lot of better and less expensive intake options in the aftermarket.

 

Not to be a killjoy, but have you fitted this to your engine yet?
These sometimes don't fit so well.

 

I haven't, but the cool factor is what I was after. My 70 has the build sheet and is a true W-25 car. Not that it had a W intake, it was an L, cast iron unit.