First No Start of the New Year. Help Wanted....

[DMCMW Dave]

The W-pipe side is an o-ring seal. It is held in place by one long 7mm bolt.

The black rubber thing is much more than a gasket- it is a purposely flexible joint. Rubber. It can be damaged by indiscriminate use of solvents, and once it opens up it is a huge unmetered air leak, NOT a vacuum leak as it is on the atmospheric side of the throttle. It lets are to the throttle that has not been measured by the metering plate, so the car will be WAY too lean and probably not run at idle depending on how big the hole in it is.

The black rubber seal is hard to install correctly as there are washers on both sides of the mounting ears. If you leave the washers out it will bend and probably tear.

Hard to find part at this point.

[JIMJAM]

Thats what confused me is that its a flexible accordian like. I do not think its leaking but I can tell its old. I am missing that long bolt which obviously fell out which is on order. I just let the car idle with the occasional rev and got it up to temp. Fuel pressure stays at 50 and the idle is 800 and some change. Smells a little rich but until I secure it all with that bolt I am happy that it appears I found the problem.
Not want to get to far ahead of myself but if that 7mm rattled out I may have to do what some others have and thats to go up to a 8mm. I will cross that bridge when I get there.

[SpudMurphy]

jeez I read 152 posts - and there's no soddin' conclusion?

[JIMJAM]

Because of a back injury I usually tinker with a issue and eventually get it done.
That acordian rubber flexible joint is RARE and I was contacted by a few who had them but they wanted over $100 for a 30+ yr piece of rubber. I determined I would tighten down what I had and see if it leaked. It appears to not and I have not had a issue with it since my last post.

Also, there was someone on Ebay selling a stainless steel alternative that was not much more than that hard to find, 30+ yr old rubber seals. I bought one as its aluminum as opposed to rubber and also allows more air to flow thought it. Don't know if that matters but I wanted a permanent solution if/when that fossil/rubber joint fails.

[David T]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of failures of that part. If you have one that is damaged it is probably because it was improperly handled. Try to find a used one. Because there are a few conversions to carbs you may be able to find a used one at a fair price.

[FABombjoy]

I have one that I backfilled with windowweld urethane that I would sell for a reasonable price. I used it on my BAE-like turbo setup as those kits can subject that piece to extra stresses. This one will not tear! PM if interested