My Offy Intake & Reds Headers Transplant

[DCurrent]

You guys crack me up, I almost spit up my Dr. Pepper. LOL.

I know! I think the wise cracks just keep me coming back for more. I just don't get tired of reading these posts! This group is just too funny!

Darren

[mayflower48]

I might suggest Ironwood for longer life manifold

[Mark D]

Someone told me it "wouldn't" work... Ba dum dum.

Ps, Greg I see what you're saying, been a while since I looked at the gasket.

[greg g]

You guys are making ashes of youurselves.

[Mark D]

My current inventory

My mockup board - still looking for a bolt hole pattern if anyone has one to share.

Cork gasket created for preheat plate.

The instructions that came with the Offy linkage... I've decided that I am not going to use this and will create my own with heim joints and 1/4" rod.

Even managed to get some time behind the wheel. From the color of this lone tree you can see winter is at our doorstep in central Mass.

But also its time to interupt all this fun with 50 hour work week.

[Don Coatney]

To top it off I incorporated some wood tools.

[MarkAubuchon]

Mark, I have duals on both of my cars. Here is my suggestion, call George Asche, send him your carb and he will build a match, set up for duals. Buy his carb linkage set up. EZ to install and looks great. I bent my lines with a common tube bender, but i did put the fuel block down by the fuel pump, out of sight. I have since upgraded to an electric fuel pump. From the what its worth department, On my 49 coupe, while I had the head off, we did a valve job, new valve springs, pulled the pistons new rings and bearings. You Will, start reving the snot out of Ruby! Have fun, cant wait to run the gravel roads of Vermont again. Those crazy Plymouths just took off!!!!!

[Mark D]

Thanks Mark - Wise advice, hadn't thought of Geo Asche for the carbs but do recall reading about that at some point in a thread round these parts. I also gave half a thought to the valve job a week ago, but with work constantly getting in the way of fun, I haven't completed that thought yet.

Spent one beers worth of time in the garage after work tonight. Had an incident on Sunday night that gave me quite a scare. Was taking the car out for a spin and had it warming up outside of the garage. Phone rang and I got distracted for 5 minutes, but never had my eyes off the car. Two seconds after I hung up I noticed smoke pouring out from under the dash and filling the car. I jumped in, shut down the engine and dove onto the floor to see what was burning. It was the power lead to my one year old redi-rad. The whole wire from end to end it junk. Tonight I was investigating the issue and still dont have a clue. Fuse was in place too. Tomorrow or Thursday I will take a few photos.

Also spent a few minutes staring at the "instructions" for the headers. The instructions where two printed photos which I've attached. Anyone thats done this transplant know why I need to change these studs? I'm guessing its related to the flange thickness which leads to another question.. Why are the flanges on the dual exhaust collector thicker than the single exhaust collecter? And one last question, what the heck are the extra exhasut flanges for? I suppose I should send these questions to Reds Headers but figured someone here would answer quicker.

Oh and Don - you'll have to find another alternative, that's just not going to cut it.

[steveplym]

Looks like those studs are longer than factory. Be careful when removing them as some of the exhaust manifold studs go into the water jackets. I learned that the hard way.

Those other two gaskets looks like exhaust pipe gaskets.

[gwaggonercpa]

I installed the headers on my 55 without changing the studs. You are right--the header flanges are not as thick as the manifold's flanges. The studs that come with the headers are threaded closer to the block in order to avoid running out of thread before the nuts are tight. but I reused the original studs with the brass washers from the manifold and had no problem.

[greg g]

Measure the thickness of the flanges of both intake and exhaust manifolds. If I remember correctly the cast intakes are different thickness than the stock cast iron. You may need to do some fnacy tricks with washers to get the nuts to tighten square.

didn't we talk carbs and George Ashe just a couple weekends ago or was I imagining something????

[LAKOTA169]

Would the extra flanges be to weld onto your exhaust pipes to match the header flanges?

[Mark D]

Youre correct Lakota, Heres the reply I got;

"The flanges and gaskets that match the flanges are for your exhaust connection to the exits of our headers. Most exhaust shops do not have that style flange in their stock so we include them in our installation kit."

Greg I think we talked about carbs and linkages at your place, for some reason I was more focused on the linkage.

[Mark D]

Quite a difference in thicknesses going on...

Old junk carb on sitting on top of the resin spacers.

Overhead shot of the exisitng setup. Tried a few of the stud nuts and they moved without any issue, praying they all go easy and there are no breaks. Tomorrow I will start tearing her down.

[Niel Hoback]

I'm worried about that front dump. It looks to be a straight shot at the fuel pump. Are you going to use an electric pump?

[Mark D]

I don't think it's going to be an issue. Take a look at the pictures that I posted in #34 above. It's shows the front collector du ping behind the fuel pump. One further note about that, my car has a vacuum assist fuel pump that I assume was stock on the car due to it being so late off the line before they closed p15 production. There were only 4030 cars made after this one, and i know they used these in taxi cabs as well. Its just as probable that it was a replacement, but I don't have prior owner history unfortunately.

[1941Rick]

When you fab up the header pipe you angle away from the fuel pump..still a good idea to fab a heat shield...

[Mark D]

After three cups of srong coffee this morning I dcided to tear into my engine. Started by removing the air filter and support. Won't need those for a long time so cleaned them and packed them away.

Pulled teh carb off and removed the vaccum line and fitting, those will get remounted in the new Offy intake.

Managed to coax off most of the stud nuts, but a few held tight and twisted out the stud as well. What a pain in the butt the last bolt was under the carb.

YuCK - Darn close to 64 years worth.

Easy-Off oven cleaner... this stuff cuts through the gunk easy with a little wire brushing to remove the heavy stuff. Note - WEAR GLOVES - it burns skin easily. and dont get it on painted surfaces you care about. It will eat paint fast. Let it sit for 5 minutes, give it a quick scrubbing and rinse lightly.

[Mark D]

I test fit the intake and exhaust manifolds on the block after I cleaned it. The headers slipped right on, but the intake rubbed the studs in two places. I used my dremmel to carve out some relief at the two places that needed it.

Here's a shot of the interior of the valve cover. That mud is 1/4" thick. These will get a good cleaning and get packed away for the future. Bolts will get cleaned and dressed for redeployment with the new cast aluminum covers.

Rear galley... lots more mud, no surprise. Each of the reservoirs was caked solid. I scooped all that stuff out and used to WD-40 to thin the rest, then mopped it out with a bunch of rags.

Front galley - same condition. Once cleaned I chased out the lift lubrication holes and rotated the engine a few turns.

Tomorrow it seems that I will have the day at home to watch the storm pass. The Gov here in Mass has asked all businesses to close. So, I think I will go huddle in the garage to do some more cleaning.

Question for you folks - Should I replace the studs and nuts? There are four that are really stuck, I dont want to risk breaking one, but know steel stretches from my expiriences with the head bolts last spring.

Second Questrion - should I get something to dump in the galleys to clean them out better? I am planning to drop the pan, replace the gasket and do an oil change as well.

fingers crossed my luck stays with me...

[greg g]

Have you been using non det oil? If so achange to det should clean up most of what you dont scrape out. I assume you will be detailing that side of the block, if so make ssure you orientt the rd draft tube to a more vetically plumb position.

[RobertKB]

I wouldn't worry about the four stuck studs. The nuts are only torqued to about 13-14 pounds if I remember correctly. Forcing the studs out could break them. Studs should have brass nuts and they will strip long before you break the stud. Only time I have broken a manifold bolt was one of the long ones through the exhaust manifold. It was actually a bolt and broke trying to get it out. I replaced it with a stud and nut. My two cents for what they are worth and they may not be worth much.

[hkestes41]

You might want to go with studs and nuts on the valve covers. I put the cast valve covers on mine and the stock bolts were not long enough due to the added thickness of the cast aluminum compared to the stamped steel.

Also, the dump being close to the fuel pump will likely not be an issue for you. Mine dumps pretty close to my fuel pump as well and I have had zero issues with it in Texas summers. Drove it 335 miles from the HAMB drags in Joplin, MO to Plano, TX with temps over 100 the entire way. In fact when I passed the bank about 5 miles from home it said 106. It is not quite as close as it appears in these photos but it is close. You should be fine in Mass with out a heat shield.

[1940plymouth]

Mark,

I know this past week hasn't been the greatest, but with no word from you since Oct 28, I was wondering if you have worked on the engine of Ruby more?

[Mark D]

Parts on order, waiting on the mailman now. Have done some more cleaning and dressing, I'll post pics tomorrow.

Edited November 3, 2012 by My48Ruby

[Mark D]

Just a few pictures to share today. Not much progress to speak of but at least the block got a good cleaning and painting. Carved some relief in two places on the intake casting flanges so it wouldnt bind against the studs. Highlighted the Offy logo with some model paint I had hanging around the shop. Hung everything on the side of the cleaned up engine to test true fit. Also bolted up the heat plate and installed the brass elbows with some teflon. Currently waiting on a couple of carbs to arrive in the mail that a friend found for me. In the mean time I am sourcing parts to build my linkage.