Heated carb spacers?

I have a carb spacer that has an inlet and outlet so it can be heated by engine coolant. Since it's getting butt cold here and the car has a harder and harder time warming up I want to use it. What would be the best way to set it up?

Option 1. I have an engine block heater with the canister plumed into the heater hoses that warms the antifreeze. What if I were to plumb it only into the carb spacer? Plug it in for an hour or two before I start it and the engine would run well enough long enough to warm the block.

Option 2. Just plumb the carb spacer into the whole cooling system. This to me seems like the best opition, but I would be worried when the engine reached operating temps if the carb would them be too hot and I'd have boiloff or just generally poor running.

Any thoughts? Which option would be best?
Thanks,
Darel
[addsig]

After years of running mid-60's f/e's, mainly 390's but a few truck 360's, I've run into the same thing you're experiencing. From the factory the carb base plate was plumbed directly into the heater hoses. It didn't seem to effect engine performance hot and who knows if it really helped cold start and warm up or not. Ford obviously thought it did because that's how they engineered it. Of course, this was in the Seattle area where the winters are a lot milder than where you are.

Thanks! So plumbing right into the system should be OK.
I should also note that the carb is adjusted properly, the heat riser valve is rusted shut, and a $10 carb spacer looks a lot better to me than a $75 heat riser. When it gets to -10, my tired 390 just doesn't feel like firing.
Darel
[addsig]

Darel, what kind of carb spacer is that? That would really help mine run better in cold weather. Also, what kind of heater is that?
Maybe pipe it in as a bypass with a vacuum operated heater valve that closes after it warms up.

I don't know brands on either of them. The engine heater was on the car when I bought it (and probably has been for 30 years by the looks of it...but it still works great) and I bought the spacer off eBay. When it arrives in the mail I'll look for a brand name.
D
[addsig]

More on the carb spacer thing:The parts I used were OEM, Ford sold both a two and four hole spacer over the counter. They were about 1" thick but there is one hitch in the works, if you use them on any intake manifold other than factory, you'll have a giant vacumn leak, they have a wierd factory only shape on the base. You could use them on aftermarket manifolds but you would need to also use a plain two or four hole spacer, plain aluminum plate, and gasket between the manifold and the Ford spacer. Hope this helps, Gary Gordon

The best thing I have found to improve cold weather driveability is to ditch the pretty chrome open element air filter and keep the factory air cleaner and heat stove setup. It made a world of difference on my truck. I have headers but I fabricated a 2 piece shell out of exhaust pipe to clamp around a header tube to connect the heat pipe to. Carb icing was a major problem for me until I switched back to the factory setup.
Kywookie