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TR2/3/3A 56 TR3 Intake and Exhaust Manifolds

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mgedit

mgedit

Jedi Knight
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Was just working on my exhaust system. I can't get the stud that holds the two manifolds together installed. The two holes in the respective manifolds are not aligning. I've enlarged the hole in the exhaust manifold a bit to increase clearance but it is still not close to fitting. Both fit well against the head, I don't think that torquing the manifolds on to the block will align them as the surfaces are pretty much flush now. How critical are those two studs? Do I really need them? Any one else run into this problem? Any ideas or suggestions? Cheers, Mike
 
Did they fit before?
Did you have the manifold surfaces milled?
 
Got the stock manifold from a friend. Car came with a stainless header what ran too close to the starter and generator for my liking so went back to a stock setup. Other than that no changes that I'm aware of. Cheers, Mike
 
Stock exhaust manifold from another car, stock intake that was on it, right?
One of the exspurts will know better of manifold variations by year.
I would have thought that one had it's surface milled several times over the years...that will do it, too.
 
There's always something eh Mike :smile:

Cheers,
Tush
 
I don't think there has been any milling, but who know for sure.

You are right Tush ... this little bolting up project was supposed to be an easy "accomplish something" this afternoon adventure.

Cheers, Mike
 
mgedit said:
How critical are those two studs? Do I really need them?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, the connection is not critical. I've heard that it was to get a little heat into the intake (from the exhaust), but anyone running headers doesn't have it, and I've not heard of any problem attributed to the lack of the connection. It is possible that it provides a little support to the intake manifold as well, but given the geometry, I don't see it adding much.
 
My suggestion: leave them out unless you plan on driving a lot in freezing weather. Only needed to heat the intake manifold, which helps keep fuel from dropping out of the mixture and forming a puddle on the bottom of the manifold. In theory that could cause stumbling when you open the throttle suddenly, but I never noticed any problem even in below freezing weather.

I was under the impression that the exhaust manifold stayed the same, from the introduction of the TR3 until the TR4A. But I could be mistaken, or you could have a TR4A intake, I guess.

You might also double-check that something isn't hanging up and holding a manifold out slightly. IIRC the exhaust manifold sometimes fouls on the lip of the block, where it protrudes slightly beyond the face of the head, especially if the head has been milled to increase compression. I've also had problems where the locating pins would only go partway into the intake manifold holes.
 
Thanks for the input. I did not think of heat transfer as being a reason for including the studs. I was thinking more about structure. I'll double check that there are no ridges anywhere and likely just proceed without the studs. Cheers, Mike
 
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