Edelbrock 2121 intake manifold missing rear water ports?

[Lottawork]

What gives? I bought an Edelbrock 2121 (289 performer) intake manifold under guidance of Edelbrock techs. This is for my 260 engine. Just getting ready to install it and see that it does not have water ports matching the heads on my engine. It has front and mids correct, but rear ones on the intake don't exist, just metal. I also bought suggested Edelbrock gaskets, and those do have the holes for the water ports. Ugh, what gives? I'm not supposed to block off the water ports am I?

 

[mustangmike6996]

i dont believe that you can block water ports like that.. you will get hot spots and ultimately detonation..... i know most 289 intakes specify that they are NOT compatible.... did you say that the tech line said you can install that???

 

[Fast63]

You don't need the rear water ports and it's perfectly fine to block them off. Intakes only ever have the rear crossover if you want more places to put gauges or temp switches into the coolant flow. Most aftermarket intakes do not have them, in fact very few do have the rear water crossover. Of course I am speaking about 289/302's, there may be something about a 260 I don't know about.

 

[CraigMBA]

The rear crossover is unnecessary and totally redundant. The car will run fine without it.

 

[D.Hearne]

Don't sweat it, your stock intake doesn't have it either. The only reason the heads have ports at either end is to make them interchangable side to side. You can block the middle ports too, that's an exhaust crossover, it'll end up rotting thru the aluminum in time. It's there to add heat to the carb on cold starts. Good for that, bad for performance.

 

[rbohm]

i dont believe that you can block water ports like that.. you will get hot spots and ultimately detonation..... i know most 289 intakes specify that they are NOT compatible.... did you say that the tech line said you can install that???

this is quite wrong information. read on.

You don't need the rear water ports and it's perfectly fine to block them off. Intakes only ever have the rear crossover if you want more places to put gauges or temp switches into the coolant flow. Most aftermarket intakes do not have them, in fact very few do have the rear water crossover. Of course I am speaking about 289/302's, there may be something about a 260 I don't know about.

The rear crossover is unnecessary and totally redundant. The car will run fine without it.

Don't sweat it, your stock intake doesn't have it either. The only reason the heads have ports at either end is to make them interchangable side to side. You can block the middle ports too, that's an exhaust crossover, it'll end up rotting thru the aluminum in time. It's there to add heat to the carb on cold starts. Good for that, bad for performance.

like these guys stated you dont need the rear coolant crossover passage. it was there to provide a heater outlet closer to the engine so ford could save money on heater hoses.

 

[Lottawork]

Well call me a monkey's uncle, there isn't ports on the rear of the old manifold either. It just has indentitions that match the ports on the heads, but no hole/access. I guess that explains the extra gunk in that port on the head, it doesn't get washed through, just sticks there.

Thanks for all the info. Whew, that's a worry off my shoulders.

 

[htwheelz67]

some sbf mani's have them like professional products and some edelbrocks, I like it because you can add a secondary temp gauge/sensor.

 

[Rusty67]

The regular performer isn't much of an upgrade from stock according to what I've heard. As I understand it, the performer RPM is the model to get if you are going to upgrade. Any ready you didn't want the RPM ?

 

[D.Hearne]

In his case with a 260, he might be better off with the Performer. The RPM would probably only improve his topend. Course, Shelby used his "Cobra" intake with the 260's too. The RPM could be considered the modern day equivalent as it's neck and neck there with the old F4B, A321, & the C9OX.

 

[Rusty67]

I guess it would depend on his heads/cam and type of driving he enjoys then =)

 

[Lottawork]

I ended up with the performer mostly because the Edel tech recommended it. Since I have a 260 instead of a 289 I couldn't find much advice on it. I figured the 260 was small enough not to push it to hard. And too, I'm building it for my wife, so hopefully she doesn't need more top end. We got it running last weekend and it sounds and runs great though.

 

[HDTony]

Glad I found this thread!! I was just fuming when I found my new edelbrock didn't have rear ports. LOL