[ferlin]

Hi there,
I have a CDN 54 Pontiac it has a 6 cylinder 239 engine. I have a Edmunds dual intake with a couple single rochester carbs on it. I am looking to run dual exhaust. Was there ever any headers made for this engine, or is my best bet to split my current exhaust manafold and run dueal exhasut that way?

Thanks

[ferlin]

Hi there,
I have a CDN 54 Pontiac it has a 6 cylinder 239 engine. I have a Edmunds dual intake with a couple single rochester carbs on it. I am looking to run dual exhaust. Was there ever any headers made for this engine, or is my best bet to split my current exhaust manafold and run dueal exhasut that way?

Thanks

[Jack Gifford]

I'm not real clear on engines of Canadian Pontiacs. Do you know if the 239 is an American Chevy 6? Or is it a flathead?
If anyone ever made a manifold or headers for it, I would think it would have been Clifford. I see there's a Clifford website, but I don't know if it's the same old company.
You might want to call Belmont's Rod & Custom in Dedham, Massachussetts (sp?). They're loaded with old speed equipment. They also have a website.
You also might want to try Headers-by-Ed for a flange kit, if you want to fabricate your own headers.
Good luck! Oh- and welcome to a great forum! Did you notice that there's also "Exhaust Tech" and "61 & Older Tech" categories here? You might get more responses on those.

[ferlin]

Thanks for the response. The engine i have is the US 239 pontiac flathead.
Thanks for the tips i will try do some research on clifford. Some one told me fenton maybe made them but i have never come across them on Ebay.

[bmpmdf]

yOU MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE THAT SET OF HEADERS.

[Jeff Walker]

Are you sure you don't have a Chevy 235 6cyl in it? I am not very familair with Candadian Pontiacs of that year, but I know the Pontiacs built in the 60's had Chevy power in them.

[b-man]

Split the manifold.

Do a 2-4 split and it'll sound sweet.

[ferlin]

Re. Jeff Walker, yeah it is definitely not a chev 235 Attached is a photo before the dual manifold went on

I imagine spliting my manifold would be the easiest and least expensive way to go.

What sort of mufflers should i run with it to get that old school 6 sound

[Jack Gifford]

I thought you said it's a '54- how come I don't see a speck of rust????

"Old school" was always glasspacks- the shorter, the better, with full tailpipes. Guys that wanted a real loud "rap" used steelpacks- but I haven't seen a steelpack muffler sold in the last 40 years.

I won't argue that splitting your exhaust manifold is probably the cheapest, but I wouldn't call it the easiest. The preferred way is to pirate a flange from some other manifold, so you're welding cast iron to cast iron. But the welding is still tricky, and prone to cracking even if well done. But hey- it's all for fun, so who cares!

[ferlin]

Hehe thanks Pontiac Jack yeah not much rust on her at all. .
I will talk to a few dudes i know who may be able to fabricate or somehow split my exhaust for me.
I my as well throw in one more "show off" pic.

It is almost finished, just have some brake/reverse light issues to contend with and a set of fenderskirts to put on after I deal with the exhaust and get that cool rappin sound

[Jeff Walker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ferlin:
Re. Jeff Walker, yeah it is definitely not a chev 235 Attached is a photo before the dual manifold went on

I imagine spliting my manifold would be the easiest and least expensive way to go.

What sort of mufflers should i run with it to get that old school 6 sound </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow, I didn't think GM made a flathead 6 in 54 anymore! But being Canadian puts a different twist to things. I will have to send this pic to my Dad. Interesting.

Gotta agree with the others that glasspacks are the way to go for "old school sound". A couple of other old scool tricks that I heard from my dad to get the glass packs louder and cacklier are to install them backwards. Another is to pour oil down the engine while it is running to get the packing burnt out quicker.

Of course you could always go without mufflers and just run tailpipes. A guy I knew in college had a 74 Nova with a SB chebby did this and it cackled real good.

[Greg Reid]

When I was a kid in the '60s and '70s, I used to hear the older guys talking about "Smitty's" mufflers. I didn't know at the time that they meant "Smithy's". Anyway, I saw an ad for them the other day and they are billed as the world's oldest performance mufflers-
Here's a link- Smithy's
BTW, that is an absolutely beautiful car you have there.

[chiphead]

My other car is a '54 Bel-Air with a 235. Looks a lot like this poncho here. I installed a water heated intake from Clifford, Fenton headers, a Howard cam and a Holley 390CFM carb, pertronix ignition. Runs great for a 6.

The smithy's mufflers are the way to go for vintage. They are true old school steel wool packed. I love the way they sound, and the old "3/4" cam I use sounds great thru them.

Clifford is based in california, and has been building parts for I-6s forever. Kansas Kustoms can split the manifold.

Does this Pontiac have Torque-Tube drive???

Here is the KK website. They do all kinds of inline manifolds, they do a lot of 235/261 stuff.
http://www.inliners.org/Advertisers/kkk_ad1.html

robertg

[ferlin]

I will definitely go for a set of those Smithys.
thanks guys

Re. Chiphead
Ya it looks like your Bel-Air as the CDN pontiacs used the chevvy body instead of the US Pontiac body at that time.

What is Torque-Tube drive? If you refering to the transmision it has the 2 speed Power Glide.

[chiphead]

Torque tube drive was an enclosed driveshaft that is riveted to the rear end, and has an enclosed bell swivel that bolts to back of transmission and encloses the UJoint. The driveshaft rides inside the tube on brass bushings. The whole thing goes up and down with the rear suspension travel. Its a weird system US Chevy sedans and light trucks used from early '40s to '54. Parts are still available, but its a real be-atch to work on.

Is your car still 6 volt?

[ferlin]

Yeah I believe i do have one of those enclosed systems. I recall that coming up when i was considering what to do when my engine needed a rebuild.

[Dickdale]

Go to www.inliners.org. They might be able to help you out.

[Jack Gifford]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
Here is the KK website. They do all kinds of inline manifolds... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
For $165! Sounds like a great deal to me.

[ferlin]

Here is an update for those who were interested in seeing the Dual manifold on. I just need to track down another exhasut manifold to split now.

[BVR421]

just about any old manifold can be sacrificed to get a flange to braze onto yours. To get the right sound, the manifold must be literally split by welding in a piece between the front 3 and the back 3. You are showing only 3 cylinders to each exhaust pipe. Thats the only way to get the cackle right. Glass packs or steel packs will both work. Steel packs were always obnoxious, glass packs slightly less so.