Willpower Intake Mainfold for Buick 300

BriansMGBV8 · May 20, 2021, 07:19:46 PM

For the Buick 300 crowd, I'm shipping an extra Buick 300 aluminum manifold I have to Anthony Laney in Australia as a template to get the Buick 300 Willpower manifold produced. I'm looking to see if any other members would be interested in purchasing. It may be possible that a group buy will reduce both manufacturing and shipping costs.

Manifold: $580
Shipping: $150

Total aprox: $730 at todays conversion rate.

I'll be posting on the MGExperience site as well and maybe I'll get Jim N to check the BuickV8 site for an interest.

Anyone have idea as to the weight of the 64 aluminum 300 intake manifold?

mgb260 · May 20, 2021, 07:47:46 PM

Brian, This is the best pic I have of the Rover version. This one is setup for port injection. Greg Williams intake. The 300 version will have the valley cover.

Dan Jones · May 25, 2021, 09:17:08 AM

> Anyone have idea as to the weight of the 64 aluminum 300 intake manifold?

13 lbs on my bathroom scale. Are you shipping a 4 barrel intake or a 2 barrel? In case you are shipping a 4 barrel, I have a 2 barrel that could be shipped in case you don't want to ship the more expensive 4 barrel intake.

mgb260 · May 25, 2021, 01:45:40 PM

Dan, Brian already shipped a 4 barrel intake. We should hear more soon.

PatriciaSmith · February 04, 2022, 10:39:27 AM

Which postal company will you use to send a parcel to Australia? I'd like to know this because it will determine the shipping cost.

BriansMGBV8 · February 04, 2022, 03:26:18 PM

I used DHL and the total bill from Seattle to Australia was about $300 a year ago, it will be more today.

Airwreckc · February 05, 2022, 08:47:35 AM

Curious if there's any thoughts on benefits of this manifold over the standard 300-4 aluminum manifold. Also, how would the height compare?

mgb260 · February 05, 2022, 11:07:27 AM

I'd say it is 10 times better, especially if you use fuel injection. It is a couple inches taller.The stock intake can be improved if it is ported but be careful as there are water passages, Chris used Doc's mod from the V8Buick site. Instead of 4 holes under the carb it has two long holes like a modern Edelbrock. He had to have it Tig welded where it broke through inside. Dan Jones extrude honed one.

https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/docs-dual-plane-mod-and-port-matching-stky.225437/

Airwreckc · February 05, 2022, 02:16:04 PM

That looks like a great modification--and an opportunity to practice my TIG welding. Thanks.

PatriciaSmith · February 07, 2022, 05:45:23 AM

Which postal company will you use to send a parcel to Australia? I'd like to know this because it will determine the shipping cost.

MGBV8 · February 07, 2022, 09:00:01 AM

Brian stated DHL.

BriansMGBV8 · March 30, 2022, 04:09:19 PM

Progress is being made. Anthony has finished up the manifold for the 300 engine. As we couldn't locate/ship a 300 block he needed to adapt by adding in spacers under the heads to mimic the 300 position. He now wants to intergrate the valley plate onto the manifold but minus the block he is concerned about getting the clearances exact. Any thoughts/ideas? I suppose I could have him ship the manifold and then fit up the plate locally.

BlownMGB-V8 · March 30, 2022, 07:53:01 PM

Sorry to hear you couldn't find a block. Tomorrow I'll try to get you a measurement or two that will be helpful to you.

Jim

BriansMGBV8 · March 30, 2022, 09:01:25 PM

Jim,
Appreciate the help. I sent an email to Anthony asking what measurements he made need. To be clear, I've got a 300 engine I'll be using for the project , I just could never find a block to ship. I'm thinking to check back with Chad but my thought was to cut the block in half and as rare as the 300 blocks are getting I didn't want to hack a good block.

MGBV8 · March 31, 2022, 09:27:38 AM

Maybe I am missing something. Why can he not get the measurements from the 300 manifold you sent him?

mgb260 · March 31, 2022, 10:37:22 AM

Carl. That is my thought too. He could measure from bottom of port to valley plate. It looks like the valley plate is about at the bottom of the heads. Maybe he wants to insure the fit? Most use RTV to seal the front and back.

BlownMGB-V8 · March 31, 2022, 11:55:15 AM

That bottom plate has to be in the right place to properly seal the lifter valley. I figured I'd just meansure the distance across the front and back but if you have a block you can do that just as easily.

Jim

mgb260 · March 31, 2022, 12:32:00 PM

Maybe Brian can send Anthony a plywood template?

BriansMGBV8 · March 31, 2022, 02:06:41 PM

Jim, I was thinking the same thing about a template but I'm waiting to hear back from Anthony on what he really feels he needs. I think the biggest concern is the distance/gap between the manifold and block and how thick the plate needs to be. I'm thinking it's almost best to have the manifold sent here for fitup and making the plate or just send it back with the dimensions but shipping is outrageous. I don't mind making an investment in the manifold, as once it's finished Anthony can just turn them out in batches but I need a trade off on costs. So far Anthony's been working with me and I did hear back from TWS on possible involvement in piggy backing off of one of their shipments, though I'm still waiting on a final repsonse from them.

Roverbeam · March 31, 2022, 08:00:00 PM

This is the bottom of a 300 intake, and the dimensions of the 'pads' that seal the lifter end walls.

I can't picture how a plate would work, that wasn't integral to the casting (or a one piece gasket, like the BOP/Rover). The plate's long edge would be edge-to-edge with the irregular-edged intake gasket, wouldn't it?

mgb260 · March 31, 2022, 09:20:18 PM

Chad the Willpower doesn't stick down below the flange like the stock intake. It looks like the sealing flanges are about a 1/4" below the flange. Here is a pic of the Huffaker intake on a plate:

BlownMGB-V8 · April 01, 2022, 09:41:02 AM

The plate should be no less than 1/8" thick and being cast probably at least 3/16" to avoid casting flaws and possible leakage. Thicker at the block flanges of course. I think it would be a pretty good idea to include a small flange that drops down inside the lifter valley along the front and back of the block but of course it would make production machining of those places a bit more work to set up. I expect as much as a 1/16" gap on each one would accommodate variations in the block casting. (allow shifting of the intake fore/aft by as much as 1/8") This flange or shoulder would help retain the OEM seal and make sure it didn't drop inside during assembly. It's true that the seal has lips on it for this purpose but it would just make for a nicer fit up and a more positive seal.

Jim

MGBV8 · April 01, 2022, 04:12:05 PM

Does anyone still use a rubber seal in the front/rear?

mgb260 · April 07, 2022, 10:57:28 AM

Underside view of Wildcat intake which is made by Willpower. Looks like a 5/16" plate from flange to flange would be perfect.

BriansMGBV8 · April 14, 2022, 03:27:19 PM

Wanted to update and submit for future reference on how we got here. Without a block Anthony is guessing on the valley plate dimensions but we came up with some good measurement values and hopefully this will be enough to fabricate the valley plate. Some pics. This engine still used a valley seal though rtv will need to be used with new manifold. There is only about 1/8" gap between bottom of manifold and valley wall. Anthony wanted measurements from the intake edge to valley plate.