Daniel,
The coolant line running through your manifold is not all that
important. You can get your car back on the road today, if you want to.
The coolant line is there to warm up the carbureted fuel/air. I had
Webers on my '72 TR6 for a while, and of course the manifold for those
carbs didn't have a coolant line. So, in order to keep the coolant
system running more or less as it was designed, I had to use an ordinary
rubber heater hose to provide the path for the coolant that the pipe in
the stock manifold provides. I took the Webers off and put the stock
carbs back on, but I still intend to put the Webers back on later, so I
left my rubber by-bass hose in place and didn't hook up the plumbing
through the stock manifold. Everything ran fine.
So if you're eager to keep your car on the road while you look for a
permanent repair, just bypass the pipe in the manifold.
I agree with Bill Sohl that it seems likely the manifold is not damaged,
and it's more likely a bad fitting. However, if the manifold is
damaged, I'm surprised that Bill does not think it can be repaired. The
manifold is soft metal, and I would think that some kind of patch could
be fabricated; then again, Bill has far more experience than I do, and
he's more likely to be correct than me.
I have never had much luck finding used parts where I live in Northern
Alabama, but from what I gather from other subscribers to SOL mailing,
other parts of the country are richer in spare parts. A used manifold
is definitely the way to go, if you can find one.
I encourage you to get the car back on the road again as quickly as
possible, though. I fret and ache inside when mine's parked!
Kevin Riggs
(205) 730-3074
work@riggs.b30.ingr.com
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