hey guys I got a 53 chevy belair that im doing a v8 swap into (350) i am using a walton fab kit does anyone know what headers or manifolds i can use that will clear everything? (all stock steering and suspension)
You can buy Sanderson headers, but they are fairly pricey for what you get. I run a 60's Corvette Rams Horn center dump on the pass. side and a early 90's Camaro TPI exhaust on the drivers side. I just had to plug the TPI ports.
I will be using the same, but I found a drivers side manifold w/o the AIR ports. Just have to decide if a th350 will be used, or bite the bullet on a new 5 speed.
Those driver's side manifolds are great for clearance, but make sure your block is setup for a passenger side dipstick, as the head pipe drop is right over the driver's side dip stick hole.
What rear end (differential) are you using on your 53 chevy? i am putting a v8 inmy 53 chevy right but i am still looking for rear end that will fit with out having to cut to much. Alex
Just go to the junk yard and get a nice non-warped or cracked set like ones tooslow54 is running on his drivers side. Nick
Those exhaust manifolds are perfect for my Chevy what model are they off of all the ones I find on line have a heat shield on them?
did your manifolds have threads on the top caps that it has??? and how did you fill those in?? i have the same manifolds but they have holes with threads for the emissions tubes that it had...
They were tig welded closed. Use a stainless rod since it has alot of nickel in it. Workedout fine. Todd
I used sanderson's and yes thay were $$$ but had no problems,ram's will work to good luck with your build.
Does your Belair have factory power steering? I am putting a new 350 crate engine in, and it looks like the power steering is going to make it impossible to put an exhaust manifold or headers on it. Anyone had this issue. I really do not want to replace the front suspension and power steering. Prefer to find some Headers or Manifolds that could work! Ideas?
Tugmaster, can you tell me how thick the manifold is? I have 1 3/4" clearance in my 53 Belair from the face of the block (where the Manifold bolts on) to the Power Steering unit. I wonder if the exhaust manifolds you are using might just make it?
We used 96 Caprice Cop Car exhaust manifolds, and they are the same as the manifolds posted up by Tugmaster. We removed the tin covers, plugged the AIR ports with soft plugs or pipe plugs, that I then brazed in to keep them put. An extra hole is drilled on each exhaust manifold where it bolts to the head (see Tugs photos). These are basically a cast iron header; each cylinder has it's own port back into the rear dump. The dump fasteners are metric, that's the only issue we really had. They look good, they sound good, and they build power over the other manifolds in use for the V-8 into 49-54 Chevrolet swap. The Sanderson headers are a waste of time, effort, and MONEY, IMO. I'd use 55-56, 265 exhaust manifolds before I'd go with the Sanderson's. Those 55-56 manifolds actually were what was used to do the swap back in the day, but don't work so well with the larger CID engines we have now. The mid 60's to early 70's Chevelle, Camaro, Nova, or truck manifolds would be my next choice. I would stay away from the 305 engine manifolds unless that's all you have available; they'll work, just not really very well for building any kind of power. My exhaust is full length, all the way to the rear bumper, and uses 36 inch long Cherry Bomb mufflers, and it sounds really nice, really nice. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
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