Type 4 rebuild Intake manifold question
 

1. I am installing dual webber 44's. What gaskets should I use? The thick plastic or the thin metal ones in the gasket set.


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Duane
'76 912E, '73 914,
& '76 VW BUS (ALL 2.0L)

Here is what I did. When I bought my car it barely ran because of CARB problems. There was the thick plastic (spacers) inbetween. SEE: leaked like heck. So I bought some 3/16" "GARLOCK" gasket material and cut me some new ones. this way I was able to ensure that everything stayed portmatched.

I'll take a crack at it...The thick gaskets, stock, are thick to insulate the head from the manifold. The injector seals are only about an inch off of the head and would get cooked without it. Heck, they get cooked anyway.

If going with the carbs...without chokes...I would use the thin gaskets to allow the intake manfolds to heat up faster. That is if cold weather driving is a consideration. I drove a dual carbed type one and had icing problems in the dead of winter as there was no provision made for pre-heat....

Clearance may also be an issue depending on the manifold size...

Any other thoughts? Scott

I second the thin gaskets. For the preheat reason. Also, my studs werent long enough to go over the Dellorto manifolds and the gasket.

I had my heads and manifolds matched and found that the thin gaskets were actually working like a restrictor plate if anything. Make your own gaskets and match them to the manifold.

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CWP/VIR
72 914 L20E in rusto.
73 914 L20E 2.0L in resto.
a914lover73@hotmail.com

Thanks guys. Looks like I'll cut my own thin ones.

CB performance has the thin ones for $0.95 a piece. They're the thick paper kind. Replaced the thick phenolic fuel injector spacers, which seams to have helped with intake leaks. They also have gaskets for between the carbs and the manifolds.

Hey all:

Shortly after I installed 40 Dells on my 2.0L in the trusty Westy, it popped back through the carb one day and blew out a small portion of the CB Perf.-supplied $.95 specials...
Din't run so good with a leak, but the real bee-y*tch was scraping the gaskets off where they had baked themselves to the heads. It was marginally acceptable in a bus engine room, but you'd probably want to slit your wrists trying that in the 914 bay, or take up Drano cocktails. A quick trip to the trusty bag 'o extra gaskets revealed a plethora of the thin metal intake gaskets, as used on the factory carbed T4s.
H'mm sez I, howza 'bout sandwiching the flexi-gasket between two metal ones, compressing the flexi-gasket and preventing it from sticking to either the head or the manifold. There is also a raised portion on the metal gasket; place each toward the flexi-gasket and it's a real tight seal, exactly in the thinnest and most blow-out prone spot.

It's never popped a gasket yet in the bus, did the same thing when the 36 Dells went on the 914 (no blow-holes either), and the new '73 Deluxe w/2.0L is getting the same treatment when she gets her 36 Dells, too!

Oh, yeah... manifold R&R is a piece of cake.