Repro Exhaust Manifold

T

tallcoil

Member
I am restoring a 1930 standard roadster for show, and ask if anyone has advice on the best repro exhaust manifold available that meets show standards. Every used manifold I can find is deeply pitted.

Bratton has two in their catalogue - one plain cast iron "made form Ford prints" and one with a gray cast iron finish.

What are the recommendations out there? Do the repro manifolds have to be surfaced before use?
Thanks,
Don
 
The cast iron manifolds are pretty good. Odds are you will probably have to have it surfaced after you bolt the intake to it, unless its really close, which I have seen once. If the intake has been surfaced a lot, you might consider a new intake too, or a better used one, because to match an old, frequently surfaced intake, the new exhaust will have to have a lot shaved off. Another area to check are the flanges where the washer seats might need to be decked to place them in the same plane.
 
Also when you are looking at the used ones, inspect the alignment of the 4 port holes. The rear of the manifold often sags and drops below the engines exhaust. I use a straight edge and run it along the top of all four ports to compare. I pass on the ones that are more than 0.125 or 1/8" off.
 
tallcoil said:
I am restoring a 1930 standard roadster for show, and ask if anyone has advice on the best repro exhaust manifold available that meets show standards. Every used manifold I can find is deeply pitted.

Bratton has two in their catalogue - one plain cast iron "made form Ford prints" and one with a gray cast iron finish.

What are the recommendations out there? Do the repro manifolds have to be surfaced before use?
Thanks,
Don
Click to expand...

Don, to my knowledge, Snyders is the only one that is making the new manifold and I suspect one is ceramic coated and the other one is plain finished.

With that said, I guess your definition of "show" will dictate what needs to be done. The repro manifold is of the later design. In a nutshell, the basic differences is it is missing the casting mark on the back side of the manifold next to the dist. locking screw, and it has an 'S' stamped on the front side by the manifold clamp instead of a number --and no number on the backside. There are also some differences in the stud area. Therefore I guess it boils down to what type show you are wanting to do and how exacting it needs to be.
 
Don , i bought a good number of exhaust manifolds that Snyder made and sold by other vendors [Bratton's who is closer to me for shipping]. buy the plain finish for show.First what i do is walk around the flea market with the manifold and come across the best match up intake manifold as ,,,pat in Santa Cruz stated ,,when you find the correct one for your car you will need the put them together and with a lg. file run it across until all ports are even . Then i take care of the "S" with a smaller file until is almost goes away [not all in one spot file] long strokes. ] I think Snyder took care of where the stud area is. [they were raised at one point and not a flat surface where the manifold washers went.Next i would take a dermal tool and make the number 1 [which is a easy number to make]you need to study how the numbers were on the original manifolds look and then i would Sandblast the whole manifold and blend in the area where the "S" was...and now your number 1... As far as the small raised casting mark behind the dist. well i have a few original ones without that raised mark ! What i don't understand is Brents post about the LATER DESIGN ?? There are only 2 that i know of and the LATER DESIGN started somewhere in March of 1931. You are doing a 1930 Standard "A" which is the same as Snyder's.It sounds like a lot of work but its not and as a judge of A.A.C.A. if you do the work i give full credit.[ i must add ,,i used a lg file because there are "NO" Machine shops willing to this service around here.]Most out of business and 1 is left]
 
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