Intake Manifold - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

umc276 · 01-26-2007, 13:42

'76 Ford 302.
I noticed that the water passages at the rear (cyds #4 and #8) of the intake manifold are blocked off and thought this might have had something to do with smog control in the late 70's.
However, on the replacement 5.0 I put in its place the EFI intake also has the water passages to those cylinders blocked off. There are openings in the heads but no way for the water at the extreme rear of the head to circulate.
Does anyone know why they were designed this way?

George1861 · 03-10-2007, 18:31

Probably found it was not needed.

Sand1 · 03-14-2007, 17:36

Dont ask why it works, just be glad it does.

A lot of engines have passages cut off. Probably something to do with how the block is worked when making it.

C0V3R · 03-22-2007, 01:22

I believe it had to do with the heads being symetricaly cast - they need 2 water ports so they work ok on both sides facing opposite directions. They need the bypass at the front of the bock to get to the thermostat housing. At the rear the water is blocked off and feeds back into the block. A cross over at the back wouldnt add anything much except for maybe some extra leaks.