Manifold Gland Rings

I use them to help with alignment of the manifold to the block. If you cannot make them line up, its usually a sign of a warped manifold.
 
Over time, the rear of the exhaust manifold tends to droop downward due to the weight of the muffler pulling down on it while the manifold is near red-hot. The holes in the manifold and the exhaust ports in the block get out of alignment, and you can't use the gland rings any longer. It seems to work ok with just the gasket if you have the manifolds faces trued up with a mill.
 
If you're going to put them in, check the width of the rings and the depth of the openings, to be sure that when they're in the gasket will be compressed to make a good seal.
 
Last muffle change on my roadster. I found "7" gland rings rattling around
in the old muffler! The gland rings that the parts houses sell and I use. Are not the proper dimensions and are more of a generic better than nothing replacement. I believe the Judging Standards give what the proper size and make up of the original rings are. Is anybody making correct gland rings?:confused:


Bob-A:D
 
I have found that the "nothing" option works really well. After buying the rings I got fed up with trying to make them fit and decided not to use them. No problems so far.
 
Forget the repro gland rings and get copper manifold gaskets from Bert's. Part A-9448-D Made in USA!
 
Except for a short time in I think 1930 (and then on only a few engines) all Model A engines used them. If Ford did not think they were important he would not have used them. all the engines we do get them if they are ported for them.
 
Ford only used them in 1928. They are worthless in my opinion. Been fixing and driving Model A’s my whole life and never used them or needed them
 
SteveB31 said:
Ford only used them in 1928. They are worthless in my opinion. Been fixing and driving Model A’s my whole life and never used them or needed them
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I agree -found they made the job harder. Decent copper crush gaskets and clean milled faces and the jobs done
 
redmodelt said:
Except for a short time in I think 1930 (and then on only a few engines) all Model A engines used them. If Ford did not think they were important he would not have used them. all the engines we do get them if they are ported for them.
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SteveB31 said:
Ford only used them in 1928. They are worthless in my opinion. Been fixing and driving Model A’s my whole life and never used them or needed them
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redmodelt said:
If Ford only used then in 1928 then why are all the blocks and exhaust manifolds machined for them?
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I have heard the same as redmodelt. And redmodelt makes a valid point. Why did they continue to machine the blocks and manifolds if only used in 1928?
 
I love reading all the comments from the experts and how one tells you to use them and someone tells you they are not needed! ❤️ it!
 
The original purpose of the gland rings, that are used only in the exhaust ports, is to prevent burnout of the manifold gaskets. The rings expand, so they need to have 1/16th gap when installed. If no gap, the rings will buckle and windup in the ports.
 
We could possibly distinguish here between "are gland rings needed" and "are gland rings helpful." My understanding is that they're helpful in preventing manifold drop and damage to the gasket from high-temp gases. However, if it is difficult or impractical to procure gland rings that are the correct size, or if the manifold has previously been resurfaced, such that there is no longer sufficient depth to permit the rings to be installed correctly, the benefit provided by the rings may not be enough to justify the cost of modifying the manifold/block or hunting for rings that are the correct size.
 
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