eliminate entire heat riser assembly on 1931 Buick

[crazycars]

Anyone know if it would be possible to eliminate the entire heat riser assembly on a 1931 Buick and just bolt an updraft carb to the intake manifold with some kind of adapter?  Old cast heat riser parts usually are broken or severly cracked. Finding a good one is nearly impossible.

[edinmass]

This same problem has been happening since I first got into the hobby back in the early 70's. You probably won't find a good one. Someone is going to have to take the hit and make them, or it's going to have to be hand made on the intake and exhaust. Keeping stock is usually less expensive in the long run. Making new hand fabricated intake and exhaust manifolds can be done, but then getting a carb to run correctly is fifty times harder than people think. Your problem is not unique, and as car values descend, it's only going to get worse when it comes to reproduction parts. 

 

 

PS- recently there was talk that there are two or three different series manifolds on the Buicks depending on series, so you should post your series in the title.

Edited December 2, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Mark Shaw]

12 hours ago, crazycars said:

Old cast heat riser parts usually are broken or severly cracked. Finding a good one is nearly impossible.

I have one for a 1931 50 series Buick available with no breaks or cracks.  Send me a PM if interested. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[Str8-8-Dave]

The other approach I've seen if you want to eliminate the heat riser is to mount the exhaust manifold upside down and mount a downdraft carburetor.  That is probably like killing 2 birds with one stone, you get rid of the heat riser system AND the Marvel updraft carburetor could be replaced with a more reliable downdraft carburetor. 

 

You could also make a simple setup with same height of the original heat riser, same diameter tubing as original heat riser and flat plate flanges on each end to bolt the original Marvel carb on the bottom and the tube setup to to bottom of the intake manifold.  You could use the original throttle shaft and butterflies in the new tube setup.  Then the exhaust manifold damper could be capped off and voila- a reliable easy to make replacement, just no carburetor heat.