Bike carb heated manifold?

[Roy Royson]

I'm about to fit a set of ZX9R carbs to my red block, but would like to incorporate a manifold heater to prevent carb icing. I'd like the car to be reliable in winter months as it will probably be used for my commute sometimes.

First question, is this a big problem with bike carbs?

Second, in terms of method, I was going to weld a chamber across the runners with coolant outlets on either end, and run coolant through them. Would this provide sufficient heating?

[slater]

Can be an issue as the carbs are only joined to the head by rubber. Depends on the specifics of the car tho ofcourse

Don't go overboard. You will probably find just a bit of tube across all 4 runners welded where in makes contact would be enough. Plumb it in so you can isolate it during summe maybe?

[Roy Royson]

Nice one, will go for that then. I think some ZX9R carbs might have heaters in the carbs already, so if there's potential to plumb those in, that might be better.

[Tepper]

I think some of them do have coolant passages, but I ran without any form of heating and never had any problems. Maybe give it a go and add it later if needed?

[fad]

My Volksrod has engine oil flowing through a pipe on the manifold (goes through the turbo first). Its a draw through turbo system so the carb gets real cold. Silicone mounted, no issue with heat.

[discostew38]

Zx9r from 1998 on had coolant heaters on them
So you could just plumb them in