Carburetor spacer

Torque Junkie · October 31, 2001

And what downsides are accompanied by them?

My old carb had a nasty old rubber one so I yanked it out when I put the new Edelbrock on there. There's only a gasket between the intake and carburetor right now.

Thanks

-Mike

bobs409 · November 1, 2001

One that I can think of is it would keep the carb cooler. Less engine heat would be transferred to it.

This would be helpful if you have a carb that floods when it gets hot.

76BBSub · November 1, 2001

Bob is right, it's essentially a heat transfer barrier. When I was running the Performer combo on my '71 Javelin I started out with just the thin base gasket. Started having hot-start problems, so I bought a phenolic spacer, I think it was 3/8" or so, and installed it between the carb and intake. It solved the hot-start problem.

Carb spacers are also used as tuning devices. If you make the spacer thicker you change the flow characteristic of the intake slightly, generally moving the power peak up the in the RPM range a little. But, nothing is free in life, and you will lose a little bottom end in exchange for the top-end you pick up. Drag racers do this stuff all the time, but they are looking for high RPM stuff. For street engines a thinner spacer is usually better.

Jeff