Best Ram Air Exhaust Manifolds for 65 Lemans
 

I would appreciate any and all advice as to which set of aftermarket Ram Air exhaust manifolds best fit a1965 Lemans. Car has a 428 with cast iron d-ports and belongs to a good friend that was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He's in a race against time to get his car back together so that his wife will have it in running condition once he passes. I'm a Firebird guy so I am not much help.

Thanks in advance - Kevin

I purchased and installed Ram Air Restorations (RARE) manifolds a few years back - they fit great on my 1965 GTO with a 389…..sound great too!

X2 on RARE
 

Have RARE on my 66 and 67 GTO's and my 69 FB. Happy with all. Glad I got ceramic coatings.

I have the RARE 2.5" versions on my '64 so that I could run 2.5" exhaust to it's full advantage, but they currently show that they are out of stock. You could contact Ram Air Restorations to check on when they'll have them back in, but they do have the standard (2.25" units) in stock:

https://www.ramairrestoration.com/rm...y-headers.html

Ram Air Restorations (RARE) are out of southern Ohio.

Tom Jeffers's family owns the company. I was told Tom Jeffers had passed on. RIP Tom,
if it is true. A True Gentleman.

https://www.ramairrestoration.com/pontiac.html

1(800) 421-8455

GET TUBE HEADER PERFORMANCE & EFFICIENCY WITHOUT ALL OF THE TUBE HEADER HASSLE AND GROUND CLEARANCE PROBS:

BOLT IN FIT FOR : 1961-1963 Tempest/LeMans,
64-67 Tempest/GTO/LM
73-79 LeMans,
73-87 Grand Prix,
78-87 GM G-body (Lemans, Regal)
71-79 GM B-Body (Catalina/Bonne/Grandville/Parisienne)


Ports are CNC'd and interior of castings are detailed...ready to run.


Our castings are FAR SUPERIOR to competitors castings found at Ames / performance years/ Parts Place/ Classic ind. and Year One. Theirs all have terrible port detail and weigh 30% more! Our Lifetime warranty speaks to our quality.

You pay for the higher quality and the "out of stock" long wait sometimes.

JMT

Tom V.

New home
 

RARE moved to Prescott, AZ a while ago. Phone 847-752-8990.

I have a set of long branch D-ports on my ‘66 Catalina. Fit and finish are great.
A big tube header will out perform it but I doubt you’d notice it on the street.

Yes, the '67 HO exhaust manifolds fit the '64-'67 GTO's very well. They provide very good flow without the hassle of headers that always leak. I've been there, done that.

Follow Up Question
 

Thanks everyone for the advice and comments.

As a follow up question did you get your head pipes through RARE also? How was the fit?

Thanks again - Kevin

Got mine with the manifolds, fit was great but I have a B body.

I used the 3” head pipes on my wife’s car. Didn’t really need 3” exhaust but in the pictures on the website, the turn looked much tighter, giving more ground clearance. Although I have never actually had the 2.5 head pipes in my hands.
The 3” ones give very good ground clearance. They are kinda fiddley to get hooked up. Not terrible though.

I ran the 3” back to a 3 x 2.5 X pipe & 2.5 the rest of the way.

Murf

I used the RARE 2.5" head pipes to go with my 2.5" manifolds. Still working fine 10 years later.

I also used the RARE head pipes with my 2.5 manifolds - great fitment and ground clearance….

Thanks
 

Thanks everyone. Advice taken and RARE contacted. Hopefully the wait isn't too long. We know this is the best path to get the car done properly.

-Kevin

If the 428 is close to stock or even moderately built don’t rule out the use of the standard log exhaust manifolds.

Check out post #5 in this thread: https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=856374

The RA/HO manifolds are only adding about 8 or 10 horsepower over the logs on near stock engines. There are decent 2-1/2” down pipes available that fit the log manifolds as well.

Just a thought, this could save you valuable time and a chunk of change without sacrificing much performance.

The RARE 2.25" manifolds are in stock. It's the 2.5" one's that are not currently in stock.