I4 inlet manifold again
 

Hi peeps, a mate of mine come round the other day and was looking at my car. Upon spying the massive inlet manifold sticking up out of the engine bay he asked why I did not find one from a Galaxy. Apparently ford used the NSE (2.0 DOHC 8 valve I4) in early galaxies and the manifold goes down instead of up. Can anyone confirm or contradict this? He thinks that it may have all the same outlets and even use the same throttle body. I am desperately seeking a solution that will eliminate the need for a massive hump in the bonnet so any input would be very much appreciated.
Best and all that,
Enoch

I know its the 2.3 but it looks like it does go down.

Grabbed some photos. It certainly has a slimmer manifold.

Thanks for that Deezee, I am hoping the 8 valve version looks very similar, if it does then I will be one happy bunny:) It looks like the thermostat housing is in a different position, on the 8 valve it is part of the inlet manifold. I am assured that the I4 engine from my donor is the same as the 8 valve in the Galaxy so I should be ok. I have found one at a breakers so I guess I will know for sure when I receive it.
Enoch.

Those 2nd sets of photos of just the engine, are the 2ltr 8 valve version. Its the engine out of a MK1 Galaxy.

The thermostat I had on a stripped down Sierra DOHC was in the same place as those photos of the galaxy engine thermostat?

Hi again Deezee, is that not the thermostat housing at the back of the engine above the flywheel? On mine the thermostat housing is part of the inlet manifold, it sits at the front of the engine. Can't quite see from your photos if it is the same on the galaxy assembly or not.
Cheers,
Enoch.

Just looked at Haynes. I see what you mean about the thermostat being on the manifold? I got a load of stuff of a DOHC Sierra to convert my RS2000 engine into RWD format. The thermostat I have is exactly the same as the Galaxy one, yet its off a Sierra. Well actually the scrap fella said it was off a Sierra, but it had a RWD sump on it.

This engine was also found in scorpios, not sure if it had the same manifold. Doubt it though.

TT

BISH :)

http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/technical.htm

Thanks guys - TT it looks like the manifold in the first photo would be absolutely perfect, if the thermostat is at the front and the thermostat housing is part of the manifold, like it is on the sierra one. I have taken a gamble and ordered a galaxy one so I will let you know how I get on. I figure I should be able to do something with it far more easily than modifying the existing one.
Enoch.

Hi Enoch

Did you ever get anywhere with this?

Matt

Matthew, I can't answer for him, but try checking his build diary out.

Enoch Build Diary

Hi Matt, I tried numerous solutions, which all failed for one reason or another. In the end I cut up the standard manifold and used some 3 x 4 inch aluminum box section and a couple of bits of plate to make my own manifold. It is "glued" together with chemical metal. The throttle body has been located at the back so I don't get problems with clearing the thermostat housing. I cut all the threaded bosses off the original manifold and then glued them to my new manifold with more chemical metal. It looks a bit crappy but works perfectly, I guess you could add some bits of square alli to make it look a bit more factory made but I don't mind too much what my engine looks like as long as it goes well. The Galaxy manifold was no good, I never found a scorpio one so can't comment if that would have worked or not. For full details of my solution please check out my web site. If you want to chat about it or coma and have a look drop me a pm.
Dave.

Thanks Enoch.

I took a look at your site and I can see what you've done with the manifold - not sure what I'm going to do with mine yet. I fancy throttle bodies but have no idea how I'd attach them.

I also found this picture of a Scorpio with the 8v engine - http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart166axe/3130836319/ which looks very similar to the Sierra manifold so I don't think it is going to be any better.

Matt

I recently modified my I4 inlet manifiold. I am using Fireblade throttle bodies (929R) which have fixed centres. Hence I had to dogleg the two outer ports. Not ideal but should be ok.. I machined up the original casting, turned up the stubs from ali tube and made an MDF jig to hold everything in line and then got a local guy to TIG weld it. I'm using megasquirt. I've attempted to attched photos, hope they will upload ok.

John

That's a nice solution to the problem, with DOHC coming into the build scene more and more it maybe worth getting a bunch of these made ;)

Rapid

Very neat.

I've a couple of questions:

1/ What did you do about the strengthening tube that rins across the top of the engine bay? I can't see it in the last picture, but that may be just down to the angle.

2/ How did you match up the round tubes to the square ports on the manifold?

Matt

Rapid - in practice each manifold would be bespoke to suit the throttle bodies used.

Matt - The inlet casting port cross section is nominally 35mm square with a wall thickness of 6mm. The stubs are 50mm outside diameter and 40mm inside diameter to match the throttle bodies. After welding I used a carbide burr to blend the round/square bores followed by a good polishing. There was enough material to get a reasonable blend without breaking out.
the throttle bodies comfortly clear the chassis brace. I have set the engine height to ensure a reasonable ground clearance. This means that I will have to cut the bonnet to allow the cam cover to protrude. I have added a photo showingthe chassis brace /manifold clearance.

John