Hi guys, posting again tonight to ask about making Lakeheaders. I found and purchased a 35 ford torque tube..to be cut in half. I also have flanges from my stock Flathead headers. My question is, what did they use to connect the tapered cones to the flanges back in the day? Was it literally some old exhaust pipping cut into small pieces? Thanks a head of time!!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Not sure and I'd be interested as well. Do you have the drive shaft or torque tube? If I recall correctly, it was the drive shaft that was used by most since the torque tube is thick and heavy.
Good call banjorear! I believe I must have the driveshaft because it does have the correct shape (both ends taper out, to be cut in half to make the pair) The man I purchase it from said this is what I needed, but now you have me nervous lol I'm only 23 and this is my first build!! Haha Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I didn't make this pair, I won them on Ebay, but someone back in the day did a great job of building them. They are slightly shorter than I would like, but they are so funky I don't want to change them. Probably will just get them coated white when the time comes. He uses some driveshaft torque tube and made square flanges on the backside for block off plates that he machined out of what looks to be thick aluminum. Don
Don, looks so awesome!!! Is that a buick nail head?? I have a 49 merc for my build! It's stock right now but I'm looking for some vintage goodies for it. Also picked up the dash from the 49 merc that I need to cut down to fit in the model A
No, it's a 64 394 Olds engine. Nice stash of parts your accumulating..........especially the Captain Morgan ! Don
If it has a flange on one end then it is a torque tube, the drive shaft has a splined female coupling (no flange) on each end. It'll kinda look like a 6' pencil but sharpened on both ends. To get parts/pieces check 'Patriot Exhaust' they are one of several selling 'mandril' bends. Mandril bends are what you cut out the pieces from to weld into a header. They come in different radius, thickness and basic shape. I use 16ga, 180degree bends ('U' shape). If you are doing the flattie then you might want to use 1 5/8ths tubes and will have that big step/weld seam going into the end of the lake pipe - when you cut the splined connecter off the tube will be about 2" and there'll be a large gap to fill. Maybe 1 3/4" primaries are ok for the flattie, try to research the science behind it because too large a primary will kill the scavage effect and hurt torque etc. Along will mandril bend shapes (90, 120 & 180degree are common) there are different radius (3, 4 & 6" the 6" has a generous sweep, 3" very tight for confined areas) and 16 or 18ga tubing, 16a being the thicker and easiest to weld.
if i understand your question correctly, the transition cones may be just what you need. http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/transitions-forms-45/rolled-cones-222/ columbia river tubing carries quality products and they are very easy to deal with.tom
To answer your question I think many were made by just using short straight pipes into the cone. Only the front pipe was often curved into the cone. When I made this set I wanted a "lifetime" installation, so I made the pipes of .060 stainless and I rolled the cone from .070 stainless plate. VERY tough stuff. After cutting the blank and rolling it close in a slip roll I finished the cone by squeezing it into round shaped dies using chain wrenches. I wanted the swept pipe look as is commonly found on high end Indy racers. Instead of using just straight pipe (cheap) I opted for mandrel bends of stainless tubing. Those were about $36 a pop so it added a couple hundred bucks to the cost. I plan to polish the entire stainless system and then run it hard to give it that bluish / yellowish patina that I love and that screams "This car gets driven!"
Thanks. One additional thing I would like to mention is that I put the cone weld seam just slightly below the center of the intersection point of the primary pipes so that it is nearly out of sight but it required a minimum amount of welding as most of that seam got cut away to fit up the primaries.
Salt Flat Matt (Gear Drive) took these pictures when he was building mine a couple of years ago. I sent him my cut-in-half drive shaft and he did the rest. He offers these headers now with new tubes that mimic the 35/36 driveshafts. As a note, the tubes are relatively narrow and there is not much room for baffles. They bite hard.
Thanks guys!!! A bunch if great info!! Bib Overalls, how much did Salt Flat Matt charge to make them?
The way you've described what you acquired it sounds like you got the drive shaft rather than the torque tube.....as you should have. For those who may share your newness to these pieces, here's what a couple of '35/6 drive shafts look like as removed.
I wonder how Henry Ford was able to taper those driveshafts on both ends in 1936? The more I learn about those old cars the more respect I have for the guys who built them. Anyhoo, somebody brought up baffles. Here is how I made mine, again using stainless. The spiral rows of small holes add up to one square inch.
I was abit hesitant to post these pics as some may scoff at this idea but here is a set I made. I used model A banjo axle tubes with both ends removed , they were too short so I added 4 1/2 inches to the small end by pie cutting and tapering a piece of tubing. I kept checking with a straight edge and when all was good it was welded, capped and smoothed. The end cap is the pivot cup from an A trans, a baffle was inserted and a cap with smaller hole bolted up. These were black powder coated.
Can't answer your process question, but I believe there were more than one supplier. If you look at the pic I posted above of the two shafts side by side you'll note that the straight sections are not the same length, though the overall lengths are the same. That change also affects the angle of the tapers slightly.
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