Headers on a 39 ford

J

jon laing

Senior Member
I plan on putting headers and dual exhaust on my stock 1939 Ford. Should I anticipate. Should I anticipate problems in getting the old exhaust manifolds off, such as broken bolts? How should I deal with the problems? Jon Laing
 
I would start by soaking the exhaust manifold bolts with a rust solvent of some kind for a day or two before trying to remove them. The problem is accessibility, some of the bottom bolts are difficult to get a socket on and still have leverage to exert pressure to remove them. The up side is you'll love the headers and so will the Flathead.:)
 
I second what Vic said! also if you still haven't purchased headers and are still in the market, I strongly recommend Red's Headers! we sell bunches of them at the speed shop and I have never heard of a fitment problem as of yet. I just ordered some of the ceramic coated one's for my 37, so I will let everyone know how they install. I do think the Fenton headers look good and work well, but almost everyone who has installed them has had to do some fitting for proper clearance. also Red's make the extension pipes to get through and around the linkage etc.. making it easier for exhaust guy to finish up the install or you for that matter.
felix
 
On old stuff, try hitting the old bolts with a hammer... Use a punch, whatever you can do to break the rust... That and the afore mentioned lube will save you a bunch of grief... I like the idea of running it through a few heat cycles, lube in between.

Karl
 
One thing I like about headers is the sound of a good dual exhaust system. However, adding headers and dual exhaust to a stock Flathead does nothing to improve performance and economy to your engine. In JWL's Book you can read the results of this modification. But, they sure do sound good.-
 
Ol' Ron said:
One thing I like about headers is the sound of a good dual exhaust system. However, adding headers and dual exhaust to a stock Flathead does nothing to improve performance and economy to your engine. In JWL's Book you can read the results of this modification. But, they sure do sound good.-
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I'll have to second "Ol' Ron's" comment..
Headers are intended for competition engines that run at high RPM'S. They generally do not start to do their job until the engine reaches 3,000 RPM's and above..
The only thing they will do for a stock engine is give you bragging rights and flatten your pocket book..
Fords stock cast iron manifolds with "twice pipes" do an excellent job of getting the exhaust gases out of, and away from the engine...
 
I just installed speedways headers on my 38 pickup... I don't recommend them if you still have your stock steering box. Lots of hammering was required to make clearance... That and some cursing.
 
blucar said:
I'll have to second "Ol' Ron's" comment..
Headers are intended for competition engines that run at high RPM'S. They generally do not start to do their job until the engine reaches 3,000 RPM's and above..
The only thing they will do for a stock engine is give you bragging rights and flatten your pocket book..
Fords stock cast iron manifolds with "twice pipes" do an excellent job of getting the exhaust gases out of, and away from the engine...
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I think that most of us here on the FordBarn are not building Flatheads for competition but we do like the sound a stock or slightly modified Flathead makes when equipped with headers, etc. My choice is Red's headers & extensions with Brockman steel packed mufflers... If nothing else,they do make beautiful music together...:cool:
 
My latest project is a STOCK 280 CI flathead with milled EAB heads , headers and glas packs and echo cans out the rear. The sound is increadable, almost as good as an L-100.
 
I am only doing this to get that sound that I remember back in the 50s. Performance is not an issue. If someone can tell me that dual glass packs with standard headers on a stock 39 flathead sounds the same as with headers then I will not install Reds headers. Comments? Jon Laing
 
I think you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference in sound between stock manifolds and the short tube headers, all else being equal. From the back of the car. Under the hood the stock manifolds may be quieter. And the are already there. And fit with more space around them and maybe cooler underhood temps.
Martin.
 
Sounds easy then - just buy and install the mufflers you like and listen - if you like - no headers!:D

jon laing said:
I am only doing this to get that sound that I remember back in the 50s. Performance is not an issue. If someone can tell me that dual glass packs with standard headers on a stock 39 flathead sounds the same as with headers then I will not install Reds headers. Comments? Jon Laing
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jon laing said:
I am only doing this to get that sound that I remember back in the 50s. Performance is not an issue. If someone can tell me that dual glass packs with standard headers on a stock 39 flathead sounds the same as with headers then I will not install Reds headers. Comments? Jon Laing
Click to expand...

From my previous comments it should be apparent that I don't care for headers.. I have a brand new pair of Belond headers for a flat-head that I was going to install in about 1953. The left header would not clear the steering gears.. A lot of hammer work, and some mules skinner words to lubricate the installation did not help.. I put the stock '36 log manifolds back on the car.
I use to run a muffle shop.. We used mostly Belond and/or Douglas mufflers and headers..
Most of the early flat-heads had 1-1/2" tail pipes.. The small pipes with steel pack mufflers tend to have more rap noise, 1-3/4-2" tail pipes give a deeper tone.. Blocking the heat risers on a flat-head will produce more noise, however, it will tend to make the engine run rich because of the colder fuel.
The engine in my car is a highly modified 59 AB, it has about every trick mod that can be done to a flat-head.. The manifolds are stock '36 Ford, 2" pipes from the engine to the rear bumper with chambered stock type mufflers..
On an idle you can hear the cam overlap, given away by the larger pipes, cruising down the road the silence is golden.
To summarize, don't waste the money on headers if your only interested in noise... Tail pipe and muffler selection will give you what you are looking for.
 
Thanks guys. I think the best advice is to install dual glass packs and see what it sounds like. If I do not like it I can then add Reds headers. Jon L.
 
If you should decide to go with headers, I would suggest that you give Red's Headers a call. Tell them the application, i.e. year of car, type of steering box, etc. Red's will send you Header's and extensions that will fit, no extra hammering or colorful linguistics required. Same goes for Brockman's Mello-Tone Mufflers, let them know the sound you are looking for, they will make a pair for you...
 
Back in "The Day" the majority of streetable cars had stock cast iron manifolds, steel-pack Douglas, or Smitty mufflers.. Glass pack mufflers did not come into vogue until the early '60's.
Headers were an expense that most "kids' could not afford.. I can honestly say, that at the muffler/speed shop that I ran during the mid '50's, I don't recall installing more that five sets of headers on a flat-head Ford. We did a lot of split manifolds on inline engines.
Memories are actually very funny, we remember only a portion of "how it really was".. The majority of the cars that kids drove had pretty bad exhaust systems, clabbered together with flex pipe and bailing wire.. I was guilty of this on the first two cars I had.
Crossing over a rail road crossing would generally result in the exhaust system, or a portion there-of, being left on the road-way.
 
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