ok, so after reading so many people say that after they put on the thermoblok spacers they could "drive hard then pop the hood and place their hand on the intake manifold and it would only be 'warm'", so I bought a set and installed both the IM spacer and TB spacer, and so I figured I would try that.

I drove hard (1 or 2 0-60 runs at WOT then just cruising), then park the car pop the hood and feel the intake manifold, and its HOT AS HELL!!! While it doesn't scald me, it's damn near close to it.

AS I did this I look down at the intake manifold and see something... WTF!!!!!?!?!?! There are METAL BOLTS attaching the upper and lower IM and going right through the thermoblok spacer. While I understand that the thermob spacer reduces teh surface contact area between the upper IM and the heat soak of the engine block, all it's really doing is making it take longer for the IM to heat up to the same temperature as the block, not preventing it from happeneing entirely.

someone correct me on this or something, because I just though that it was kind of stupid to put something between two metal pieces to prevent heat transfer, then to poke holes in it and connect the two metal pieces by metal rods anyways.

 

i don't have any expirience with thermoblocks, but if the manifold wasn't as hot as it was beforethe installation of them, would they have done their jobs?

 

I suppose so, but I guess I was just expecting a more drastic change. like the intake manifold to not be hot at all, maybe just warm. I guess once I go FI it'll make more of a change.

 

I guess it's hard to tell by touch but allmotor_2000 did an actual IAT check from OBD-II comparison and it made a difference.

Outside temps were cool today : 65F
IAT @ Idle : 113F
IAT absolute high : 115F (stoplight)
IAT absolute low : 97F flooring in 4th gear for a few seconds
IAT range normal driving : 100-111F

Results with the Thermoblock Spacers (TB and Intake Manifold).

IAT @ Idle : 102F
IAT absolute high : 106F (long idle @ stoplight)
IAT absolute low : 86F flooring in 4th gear for a few seconds
IAT range normal driving : 89-99F

 

What you say is true, the manifold will soak up heat from the bolts and will take a while to do that. Perhaps something to delay the heat transfer would be to use some sort of heat resistant washer on the manifold bolts. Won't stop the transfer but almost eliminates it.


Another benefit of the thermoblok is the raising of the manifold, That could explain the hp gain on their dyno by causing a ramming effect on the motor.

Did you bypass your water lines to the throttle body? Cooling the air at that point is important. You have to remember that all the little gains you get add up from all the little performance mods you make to this motor.

 

i noticed here in florida in the summer months there was little difference by way of touch . but in the cooler temps there was a dramtic difference went from the same hot as in the summer to luke warm

 

I saw no difference either in the IM. It was just as hot as it was before after some hard driving. I'm not impressed with these spacers either. I'll leave them on just cause I don't want to go through all of that again to uninstall them.

 

It's not only there to decrease intake temp, the extra space increases plenum volume, therefore increasing more air. The computer adjusts and adds more fuel and make some more power. The only time the car will pull timing is when the iat reads high. It will pull timing to reduce detonation. The spacers work, but they are not freezers on the intake, or a miracle mystery mod.

 

I can imagine you will notice a difference in the CO summer after sitting in traffic. I know that my 2nd gen is a dog after sitting in traffic on a hot summer day. Thant's why I'd like to do this mod.

 

It's a motor, it will get hot no matter what. All this does is give the intake some extra time before heating up. And the reason the car becomes a dog in the summer is because it is pulling timing to keep from detonating. The only real way of helping intake temps is what the F-Body guy do. Which is, having a composite intake. After running low 12's at the track i can touch the intake without felling much heat.

 

Unfortunately I can't afford to bypass the TB collant as I live in colorado and it get's down to below freezing very often, and sometimes below zero. I think I might bypass it during the summer months, and then just switch it back once it starts getting cold again.