440 intake valley pan

[jerry]

what are the pro's and cons of center heat block off. 69 440-6-bbl valley pan.

[Kern Dog]

Do you live in a cold climate where it snows? If so, do you drive the car in cold weather? The crossover is there to help the engine warm up faster in cold weather.

[birdsandbees]

Main question would be, do you still have the automatic choke that opens and closes based on the coolant temperature flowing through the intake manifold. If you've gone electric or manual then it may be beneficial to block it off, and not heat up your carb and it's fuel bowls.

[Bad B-rad]

Main question would be, do you still have the automatic choke that opens and closes based on the coolant temperature flowing through the intake manifold. If you've gone electric or manual then it may be beneficial to block it off, and not heat up your carb and it's fuel bowls.

No coolant flows thru intake manifolds on big block Chryslers.
The original "Air Gap" intake!!

As Kern Dog said helps engine warm up quicker, in cold weather.
It blocks the passage that allows hot exhaust gasses pass through the intake manifold.
I live in NY and I have been running my big blocks on the street for 20+ years with the cross over blocked off, with no issues.
I drive from April-Nov/Dec??(untill snow)
I also let the car warm up for three to seven mins on very cold days.

[Bad B-rad]

The theory is, it keeps carb/ fuel+air charge cooler on hot days.
And same time MAY, and I have never had any issues, but MAY have fuel distribution issues(fuel pooling for split second?) on very cold days.

I am going to guess if you have a 440 6pack, you are only gonna be driving on nice days.(temp above freezing)

[jerry]

yes i live in IL . in the winter on a nice day[no snow or salt on roads] i go to interstate and run it up to 100 mph.then slow down to 70 and drive about 15 miles kicking in front and rear carbs several times then put it away.1 have the factory choke which works fine along with fast idle that stays at 1500 rpms for about 3 minutes.most all driving is in warm weather and it runs very good.reason for my question is i am using intake and carb setup on a new alum head  engine and i got the Fel Pro 1214 valley pan gasket set which has the block off and i didn't know if choke will still work. thanks for all the replies.

[birdsandbees]

Yah.. I don't know why I said coolant vs exhaust. The rest applies...

[metallicareload99]

yes i live in IL . in the winter on a nice day[no snow or salt on roads] i go to interstate and run it up to 100 mph.then slow down to 70 and drive about 15 miles kicking in front and rear carbs several times then put it away.1 have the factory choke which works fine along with fast idle that stays at 1500 rpms for about 3 minutes.most all driving is in warm weather and it runs very good.reason for my question is i am using intake and carb setup on a new alum head  engine and i got the Fel Pro 1214 valley pan gasket set which has the block off and i didn't know if choke will still work. thanks for all the replies.

You have a RB 440 correct!? You will need the Fel-Pro 1215 valley gasket if so. The 1214 is for Low deck B engines.

Also I live in Alaska and have used the 1215 valley pan for 10+ years. I have also done more than my fair share of winter driving in that time and the blocked crossover hasn't been a issue. I would suggest running the engine for a longer time though, to burn/boil out whatever you don't want sitting in your engine oil