The Old Six Fix - Tech - Part Two

Just thread the bolts into the cylinder enough to keep the Fenton headers in place-you want to allow room to set the intake manifold down in between easily without interfering with the intake port sleeves.

Speaking of which, since the exhaust relies somewhat on dowels at each end of the head, in order to match the intake ports, make sure you insert the sleeves before slapping the manifold on. Also, these will prevent you from installing an earlier 216 intake (to properly do so, simply have the manifold ports machined out).

With the carburetors removed for handling purposes, the Fenton intake manifold slid right in place without any fudging or need for a third hand (though that would have made it possible to install the intake with the carb intact).

The forward-most mounting point appears to need a little massaging, as the cast tab on the iron header isn't flush with the one on the aluminum intake. Before you go cutting or grinding, just make up a 1/4-inch spacer to wedge between the mount cap.

As for the remaining mounting areas, alignment is dead-on and should look something like this...

...when everything's snugged down tight.

Regardless what induction you use, make sure your risers are new (and that the "top" points up!). With the Rochesters, you can avoid most common issues by simply making sure everything's installed correctly.

Thanks to Patrick's, the Rochester BC single-barrels look better than they did when new. If you're rebuilding your own carbs, take the time to familiarize yourself with the various settings and adjustments (I purchased an old Rochester factory service manual off of eBay). Despite what many say, these carbs can provide plenty of trouble-free service.

While I probably would have used typical old rubber fuel line with a distribution block of some sort, Patrick's made sure the setup was super-clean by putting together a nice polished stainless fuel rail with polished brass fittings.