I heard its to warm up the intake and carb in cold weather driving.

Also wondering if it would be ok to block the coolant hole on the block to stop coolant going to the intake

Just asking because a racing manifold I bought used came with an aluminum patch on the coolant hole

I will not be diving it in the winter or in cold and one last thing the intake is aluminum and off a 79' 2.3L Pinto which will be going on a 1980 2.3L block

Great thanks for the reply. I quess theres not enough coolant pressure to burst the patch. I'm going to use my un-patched intake still though, I don't want coolant leaking when im driving down the road.

Intresting where could I find an industrial 2.3L gasket. I think my gasket is done b/c coolant is in the intake just a little but still. Also heard that once the intake gasket starts to leak the head gasket would soon go?

Last time ide seen coolant in the intake was when a hole from the coolant passage underneath the carb developed..   I thought it was a bad head gasket. Ended up replacing the head and gasket before i discovered the prob...

Deffinately interested in finding a fix for those intakes, Alot of those intakes rot through around here.....

Steve

On my race engines I just blocked it off at the opening in the head.

Redneck fix,we have done it at the track.
1 used intake gasket,silicone and a beer can
works every time!

A pressurized radiator has less than 15 PSI of pressure on the gaskets. You can blow about as much into a 2 litre bottle with your lungs. If the passage was welded by a good welder it wont leak or blow out. My Esslinger intake doesn't even have a water passage in it.