Carburetor plate

[Brian]

Another intersting question came up today.  James's car has a 4GC carb on it, but he found the original Carter AFB 3922s in his dad's shed, so I am rebuilding that and putting it on the car.  His car is like mine was though--it doesn't have the steel plate under the carb that is supposed to be there to isolate the base of the carb from the exhaust gases in the crossover passage.
  Anyone know of a source for this plate?   I didn't have to find one for my car because I put a correct 2-4's setup on it when I restored it, and they do not use the steel plate under the carbs. 

[WkillGS]

Ooooohhhhh.... a 3922 carb! I need one of those!
For the heat shield, Paul Bowser repo's them in a thicker stainless:
http://www.buicknailheads.com/
Or you can buy the same part from Russ Martin on ebay. He goes by Buickrodder.

[Brian]

Does the plate get a gasket on both sides, or does it just get a gasket on the intake side?  I read something in a Buick service bulletin that implied it only gets a gasket on the intake side.  I don't understand how it could seal to the carb base without a gasket between it and the carb. 

[WkillGS]

Buick put the gasket against the manifold and the plate directly against the carb base. This method keeps the carb hotter.
Original plates had a thin layer of soft metal (terne) to improve the sealing. I bet a coat of copper paint would do the job.

I believe there was a service bulletin about the carbs getting too hot, so they put a thick gasket between the metal plate and carb to keep it cooler.

[Robk]

The idea of a 3922 sitting in a shed is going to keep me awake for days.

Rob Keena

[gssizzler]

Rob, no luck with the 4 spd carb.  but I did try and find one. the plate for the carb looks like this! Jon

[Doc]

If worse comes to worse, you can do like I did,,, make one... your local high school or trade school metal shop can most likely be talked into machining one out for you ..... I have done this on occasion....