Ford 302 intake manifold

[toofun]

I took the intake manifold off of my 302 ford today and noticed something weird. There are four water openings in the heads. Two in the front and two in the rear. Only problem is the manifold allows flow for the two in the front. The two in the rear are "dead headed" up against the manifold. Is this correct? It is an edelbrock torker intake manifold marked for a 289 but my motor and head are a 302. I assume the parts are interchangeable but the fact that the two rear water ports are completely blocked off with this manifold kinda threw me. Is it right and why would they not allow for flow to go through?

Mark
TOOFUN

[orange69]

this very normal in ford and chevy both the only intakes i have seen with ports at the back generly are routed to the waterneck for more cooling i have done this two times just to be safe( on blower motors) otherwise i dont think it is nesesary.

[b-man]

The factory made the heads that way so they could be interchanged from side to side on the block, this way there is no separate right and left head casting to save money.

The water crossover is at the front only so everything works fine just like the factory intended. The rear water ports are not really deadheaded because they were not supposed to flow any water at that location in the first place, just pretend they're not there.

The racers always have a different way of dealing with routing the water, but left alone it will work fine.

[My427stang]

Start at the bottom hose. Water comes from the radiator, pushed from the pump through the block to the back of the motor.

On its way to the back, the water cant come up to the heads at the front of the block because Ford head gaskets block the front, so its forced up into the heads in the rear.

Then the water cools the head by flowing forward through the heads, then into the intake, to the thermostat, and back to the radiator.

There is no need to cross across the back of the intake, all the parts that require cooling are getting it in proper order.

Now, some say that crossing across the back equalizes flow, but really if you look at the design, at best it would just sort of equalize pressure, not flow from side to side, its not really a significant issue.

[MonzaRacer]

Just watch older intakes on newer heads as some wont seal rear ports and tada you get water in the engine. My nephew had this issue on his 84 Mustang GT.

[toofun]

OK,

Thanks guys!

Mark
TOOFUN