Andy,
This reply is predictable to those on the List that are familiar with my own
experience with a bead-blasted intake manifold. Hopefully, you only bead
blasted the exterior surfaces, otherwise you need to take extreme measures
to ensure that all the media is removed from the surfaces that contact the
oil, plus all the air intake passages that also provide a way for the
abrasive glass media to get into your engine. I might suggest an acid
treatment, muriatic acid (HCl) as a way to release the tiny chips of glass
embedded into the aluminum. Better yet would be hydrofluoric acid, followed
by chromic acid, but you probably don't have access to that. You can get
some aluminum prep at a paint store though; finishing up with this should
leave the aluminum with a nice white appearance, although where it matters
to the engine, you can't see it anyway. (Are you going to polish the top
surfaces?)
The F4B is a good intake and period too, so having a helicoil installed
sounds like a good idea, and cheaper than buying a new Performer RPM too.
Bob
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