The inlet manifold and carburettor plinth ready for re-assembly. This photograph is taken from the rear. Despite the apparent symmetry the rear pipes are shorter than the front and the plinth forward-face has a slight bulge - it is therefore important to ensure the correct alignment when installing.
The components are finished in a petrol and oil resistant paint over primer/filler. I decided on this finish as it allowed me to disguise the poor original finish which was basically hand filed casting. The picture clearly shows the ripples and hollows in the pipes.
One can see two silver pipes protruding from the bottom of the plinth which are the petrol drain valves. Excess fuel drains via pipes onto the road beneath the rear of the engine. The valves are operated by ball bearings that lift from their seats when the induction pressure reduces. It is important that these valves are clean and operating freely.
Oil for the rocker shafts reaches the heads via 4 pipes; the first 2 of which are shown here. The long pipe runs from the secondary oil filter to a banjo, beneath the carburettor in the engine 'V', where it feeds into the centre of the smaller pipe. The latter feeds one pipe on each bank (not yet shown) which, in turn, feed the front and rear of each pair of rocker shafts.
The inside of these pipes were coated in decades' worth of oil residue that did not readily wash off. I used a length of electrical flex with about 1" of insulator stripped off and the bare strands bent and splayed to form a brush. This was then drawn repeatedly through the pipes with carburettor cleaning fluid and then blown through with compressed air.
It is imperative that these pipes are totally clean as they are down stream of the filters. Some of the rocker assembly holes are as small as 0.015" so will easily block if debris is present.
