WANTED: Driver's side Exhaust Manifold for 1953 Super V-8

[WillBilly53]

hello, the beautiful V-8 is finally finished, however the driver's side exhaust manifold has a broken ear. i need a replacement. used would be fine as long as ther are no cracks. email me at ventiports@yahoo.com or PM me. thanks!

-Will Eskridge

North Carolina

[Guest AWBE]

Have you tried "Wheatbelt"?

[WillBilly53]

oh yeah. thanks joe. i'll try them.

[brad54]

Here's something that might be of interest to you if you aren't going completely, totally original, but it uses same-era parts:

In '56, they started using dual exhaust systems and higher compression engines: when they did this, they modified the exhaust manifolds, and made them a larger diameter. The passenger side manifolds are totally different, and are actually bulky and not real nice to look at from an "eye appeal" standpoint, but they're bigger and will flow more. The Driver's side is where the fun comes in. On the dual exhaust cars, driver's side manifold looks like a cast iron tube header, dumping out the back. The passenger side also dumps out the back (as you're '53 should also). Now, for a single exhaust car in '56, the driver's side exhaust manifold dumps in the middle, aiming forward, where it picks up the cross over pipe, which wraps around the front of the oil pan and connects with the passenger side manifold and goes out the back of the car. That single exhaust manifold is also larger diameter.

What I'm doing on my '54 is this: I'm eliminating the "flapper" valve for the choke all together--that's more of necessity on cold starting as the temperature drops in the fall and winter, and it's mainly so it doesn't run rough for the first five minutes. Big deal. Anyway, what I did is found a '56 Driver's side and will route that out the back (I'll have to cut a hole in the X-braces and gusset them, but it'll be fine), and then I took a '56 driver's side single exhaust manifold--that dumps in the middle and angles forward--and am turning it around and putting it on the passenger side, where it now angles back.

The result on my '54 is that I will have factory Buick cast iron "headers" that are very pleasing to the eye (as their lines "flow" well), fit around the steering box, and will flow more air than the tiny-diameter factory pieces. Kind of an almost-freebie performance enhancement.

I'm going to grind and smooth them both, and then have them Jet Hot coated in white--like the old white exhaust manifold paint from the '50s and '60s, but it will last.

If I'm not mistaken, the engine bay layout is very similar on the '53 V8 cars and my '54--and the 322 engines just about interchange, as far as engine mounts, accessories, etc.

Just thought I'd pass this on, as I was pretty pleased when I discovered it.

-Brad