49-54's have that goofy "center point steering" which really gets in the way of V8 swaps. my old sedan had some rear dump exhaust manifolds I believe they came from a 70 truck (?). they cleared the steering just fine but as I found out later the brake pedal came down and hit them after the pedal got a little mushy over time. I found this out the hard way when I went to slow down to turn into my driveway and drove right past it when the pedal hit the exhaust. I fixed that problem with sanderson headers. the one I have now has a MII so there are no problems. my buddy is putting together a 51 sedan delivery. he paid a guy to intstall a 283. the shop used some exhaust manifolds from who knows what. I was over having a look and he was saying he's gonna take it to have the exhaust put on soon so I look down and told him to be sure the exhaust guy turns the wheel all the way to be certain the pipes clear the steering components.... well these manifolds aint gonna work at all this is not gonna be a keeper so headers are out of the question. what are you guys using?
I know that they're not very performance oriented, but if it's a basically stock 283 anyway, hunt up a pair of '55-'56 265 manifolds. The whole reason that the LH manifold exits in the front is that, originally, Chevrolet's schedule was to debut their new V8 in the '53 models, but the Korean war upset their plans.
my cousin has a 50' chevy with 350/350 combo,M2 front end and uses sanderson block hugger headers. just make sure you use the short starter (late model) ask the guys on www.chevytalk.com they would know
The 55-56 265 V-8 exhaust manifolds are the ones to use. End dumps, and somewhat "upswept"; the ports go OVER the spark plugs, not UNDER. Some of the 305 Camaro exhaust manifolds look similar if you can't find the early ones, or don't want to pay premium prices for collector type parts. I have the 68' HOT ROD MAGAZINE where they put a SBC V-8 into a 53' Bel Air hardtop, and also converted it to open driveline with a 57 Chevrolet rear end. And, this swap was done WITHOUT cutting or t******* the firewall braces; they moved the radiator forward by cutting the front valence panel. I've sent copies to a couple of people over on ChevyTalk.org. P.M. for same with name/address. Butch/56sedandelivery.
Supposedly what works real slick if you can find it is the manifolds for a 267 or 305 from a 77-81 or so Malibu or Monte Carlo (or maybe Monza). They hug real close.
I was thinking about the 265 manifolds... but that's like putting a bannana in your tailpipe as far as flow goes remember Beverly HIlls Cop with Eddie Murphy "we ain't fallin' for no bannana in the tailpipe" I've had several sets of 265 exhaust manifolds in my ebay days. one of those items that is junk at a swapmeet but gold on ebay. just like staggard hole valve covers. and I believe I've seen those monza malibu monte carlo ones before... real tight. a shop did this motor installation... "here's your car, give me my money... oh yeah... you can only turn left now" what a ****ing hack.
I went with 94-96 maniflods. They came out pretty cool. I had to weld up some hole and you need to match the port openings to the heads (easy). I think they came out ok and they are different. There are NO clearence problems on the drivers side.
hey tugmaster... do you have that car together now with exhaust pipes? the problem occurs when you crank the wheel all the way to right (I think) and that goofball stock steering moves right up under where the pipe would bolt to the manifold. it doesn't hit the exhaust, but there is not enough clearance to put any pipe on it. maybe yours are higher up, the ones on my buddys car look like they dump in just about the same spot, but it has been a couple days since I looked at it.
those look pretty cool.. I'm using the 55' manifolds.. no need for performance on the 327, its for my sister. if anything all that backpressure should sound pretty cool for this ride.
The shot on the drivers side is a ****ty angle. I do not have pipes on yet but I did crank the wheel all the way over and it will not be a issue with the steering arm. Todd
anybody else? man... there's a ****load of 49-54 people here. I thought I would end up with 15 different workable choices. guess everyone has sixes, clips or MII front ends. thanks tugmaster.. I'll let him know about those.
Not sure what manifolds my car has but the are pretty slick looking, I will get you some pics tomorrow.
I want some of those, when i got my coupe it had the 265 manifolds on a 283 and worked fine. When i upgraded to a well worked 350 i ended up cutting and shutting a ramshorn to get the clearance. After all the cutting and brazing I would never do it again. Still very tight clearance, Im going to ring around and see if I can find some of them over here. Thanks
To be honest there are unlimited choices on the p***. side. However, the drivers side is a differend story. With my setup (stock steering, C.E. motor mounts) I needed a manifold that dumped betwwen the #5 and# 7 plug. There are quite a few differnt ones. Look on ebay you'll see. Anywa the big thing to watch for is that the downpipe does not hit the pitman are OR the brake pedal. The Sandersons were nice but $$$ Todd
Hey Tug, How did you go about matching the port openings to the heads? Been shopping on EvilBay, and it's between the ones that you're using and the ones from the 265......but if it's not too difficult (and doesn't require any floor mounted shop tools) I was thinking of doing what you've done.
My Canadian Pontiac is the same as the Chevy and I used manifolds from a early 80's Malibu if I remember correctly. Hope this helps.
My 52 has a 1970 350 in it and manifolds dont come close to hitting anything. Dont know what the engine is out of. I ran the numbers and they just say 1970 p***anger car.
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