New Exhaust Manifolds

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Does anyone have plans to make new correct exhaust manifolds for the eight cylinder cars? There are several people out there who need new manifolds and some of us with good manifolds who would like a spare.

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

What year car Bill?

John

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John,

I would like to have a spare exhaust manifold on the shelf for my 1929 133 but there is a need out there for the ones for 1931 and 1932 along with 1930.In those cases their manifolds are cracked.My car is just before they changed over to the 1930 style so it is unique.As for differences between 1930 and 1931 and 1932,I would have to check.I certainly think there is a demand out there.A friend needs one for his 1932 54 and his friend needs two for 1931.

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Bill, the 1929 manifold (used only in 29 as you know) maybe be available soon. A sample of a reproduction casting should be at the Buffalo meet in about a month.

I don’t think 30,31,32 are being reproduced at this time, but I’ll let others weigh in on that.

Best-John

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William,

I am Donald’s friend with the 1931 that you are referencing. I CERTAINLY WOULD like to find a reproduction, or good used, manifold. I have posted my request for a manifold in the Emporium recently and only got one response for a used manifold that has similar cracking and “port drooping / alignment” issues as mine.

My understanding is that an early 1929 manifold is distinctly / cosmetically different for that of a 1930. A 1930 is cosmetically different for that of a 1931 and 1932 manifold in that there is an added section for the heat-riser.

Dave Murray was considering making 1931/1932 manifolds a few years ago. He told me a year ago that he needed approximately 10 people that were willing to buy a manifold before he would consider the project. At the time, he only had about three or four people that were interested. I don’t know if Dave would even be interested in the project now, even with ten buyers set to go. I know that Dave looks at the PAS message board from time-to-time, maybe he can comment on the topic.

Sincerely,

John

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John,

Yes,the manifolds do differ and the only way to get a good used one is probably a take off from a car that perhaps was in an accident and the parts were removed and then sat on a shelf for decades.You are correct about the earlier 1929 manifolds as they do differ from the 1930 type introduced late in the 1929 run.If the intake and exhaust are used as a set,they in some cases can be used on another series.Tooling up is not cheap so a commitment up front is needed from people who need them.In the meantime there are cast iron experts out there who can work wonders with these old castings like old cylinder jugs that are broken apart.

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The casting of the manifolds is only half the battle, too. Then the machine work has to be done, and it’s a very tricky shape to work with. I have a repro exhaust manifold on my ’31 (from the ones that were made a long time ago, 30+ years I believe)and remember the machine work was a challenge…..

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William,

I contacted the shop in Iowa that Chris Diekman used to repair his manifold. When I spoke with them they said that the crack repair was not an issue, but the drooping issue of the back exhaust port was. I was told that they have no way to straighten the droop situation when they had the manifold up to temperature. They recommended that I find another manifold.

David,

You are absolutely correct! When I tried to improve the manifold set fit to the block several years ago, I ended up using an industrial long table belt sander to even things out. I was terrified at the thought of a machinist accidentally having the manifold move on the table and breaking a port off. The manifold set is very long and everything is rounded off so it is hard to clamp down.

John

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Sadly, many easy to get reproduction parts are no longer available. Truth is if everyone who owned a car bought the repro parts when they are manufactured, economies of scale would make the price very affordable. Hundreds of manifolds have been made over the last 40 years. The cars that still have factory manifolds WILL fail. Instead of making a run of 10, a run of 50 or 75 would make the cost come way down, and protect your investment in your car. A car with a bad manifold is a giant paper weight. Problem is most people won’t pony up to keep spare parts on the shelf. I have two brand new manifolds on the shelf, one from Dave, and another from a different source. ALL of my cars have new manifolds on them………eight and twelve. I figure the Spares I have will go on future car purchases . I also bought three high-speed ring in pinon sets when they were available . Turns out the manifolds and the gear-sets were very good investments. They are worth 3 to 4 times what I paid for them 10 to 15 years ago . I know many of the people here didn’t have their cars when the projects were active so there is no solution to their problem. . The moral of the story is support club members who two projects and by their parts that fit your car you get the money on the other side . Add the fact that cast iron foundry’s are almost impossible to find today in the U.S. and it may be a very long time before we see any new manifolds. The same things going to happen to cylinder heads and water jacket covers. Buy the stuff while you can. Ed

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As Ed said, sooner or later these manifolds will all fail. The problem is in the casting material originally used. While the blocks of these engines was far superior than their competition, no one expected these manifolds to last 70 or 80 years. When one cracks and is professionally heated and slowly cooled the weld will be the strongest part of the manifold, but the internal oxidation and disintagration, though slow, continues on. Some think that the heating and cooling process extends the life of the unit, but it may actually shorten it.

Dave had used a forge in Brazil, which was excellent but expensive. Neither the forge nor Dave felt that it was economically not wise to produce less than 10. I wish one of our PAS millionaires would bank role the production of large runs of the obvious items that are going to fail over the next 20 years and give the inventory to PAS to sell as needed.

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What is the status of the new Pierce Arrow manifolds? I am very interested in a spare for my 1929 Model 133.My car has the earlier style that was used prior to very late 1929.

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Contact John Wozney, he has the new ’29 manifolds for sale.

Greg Long

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The 1929 manifolds are another project from the Pierce-Arrow Foundation & Museum. John Wozney is handling these as well as running board rubber for ’33-’38 and some earlier. I’m handling the Museum’s 1933-34 Headlight Lenses reproduced in tough ever-clear acrylic.

The Foundation is very pleased to be helping PAS members to keep their cars on the road and looking good.

Dave Stevens

Museum Director

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Thank you! I have already asked John to put me on the list for one of the new 1929 manifolds.I want a spare for my Sport Roadster should anything go wrong with the original.Another project I have suggested are new distributor caps for the 1929-1931 Pierce Arrow cars.

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