chev manifold

[Ken Hughes]

hi people,a friend has a c8ax with a blue flame engine fitted, the problem he is having is it cracked the exhaust manifold and has fitted a bedford manifold to it,now it dont run as good as it used to,i think the bedford manifold is smaller internally.
what other chev manifolds would fit ?the blue flame.
blue flame motors are thin on the ground here in nz.
any suggestions

[hrpearce]

When that happened to my 292 Chev in a C60 we had steel cut to match the exhaust outlets on the head and had a muffler shop make up a set of extractors these work fine and dont crack. My two cents worth Robert.

[Tony Smith]

I know Gillies were making 270 GMC manifolds that were superior to the GM version, contact them to see if they made one for the Blue Flame, or if a 270 one can be modified.

[Ken Hughes]

thanks guys i will pass this info onto fred and see what happens thanks again

[cletrac (RIP)]

I think you're limited to the 235 and 261 manifolds. The 270 series is longer. Those manifolds are easy to come by in the Great White North!

[Phil Waterman]

This issue of cracked manifolds on Chevy straight 6 (stovebolt) is a very common one that seems only to get worse as time goes on. I think that the new gasoline and the asbestos-less exhaust gaskets only exacerbating the problems. New gas burns hotter so that the manifolds are subjected to greater expansion and contraction. The new gaskets are compounded with less or no asbestos so they don’t seem to seal as well or last as long. Another problem seems to be that the manifold gaskets available now are cut to fit all Chevy six cylinders which means they really fit none of them well.

I have found only one solution that really seems to work well and that is a two piece exhaust manifold like the ones made by Fenton. When I first put my C60S on the road with the original 216 exhaust gaskets would only last about a year, part of the problem there is that with radio box the truck is always pulling around 10,000 to 11,000 pounds and has the aerodynamics of a brick, so the engine is always running full bore. Anyway after replacing the gaskets once a year I decided to try the Fenton two piece cast iron exhaust manifold, put the unit on and that was the end of exhaust leaks and it has been in the truck now for more than 15 years. This approach does require a tube Y pipe but that was not much of a problem. The split header seems to be able to take the heat much better, though not a cheep fix at about $350 when you include fabricating the Y pipe it does have the advantage of being a relatively permanent fix. I have not done this fix on my HUP and it is still going through exhaust gaskets about every 18 months, even with replacing the entire manifold with a rare find of a good NOS intake and exhaust manifold. Sorry could not find a good picture of the Fenton Manifold but do a Google Search on “Fenton Exhaust Manifold Chevy” and you will find lots of sources.

[David Ellery]

Hi Ken, I don't know here, but is the Blueflame head identical to the Chev 216 it copied, cause if so there's a 216 manifold and head down your way CHCH on Trademe, Automotive, Vintage section, might be worth persueing. David

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Phil Waterman
Anyway,... I decided to try the Fenton two piece cast iron exhaust manifold, though not a cheep fix at about $350.

There's a set on e-bay at the moment. Item 300146572266.
The seller seems to suggest that lots of GM sixes will share the same manifold??

"Fenton Cast Iron Headers"

1937-1962 Chevy 216, 235

1937-1959 GMC ?

1940-1963 Chevy 261"

[Mike Kelly]

What about trying the manifold from a Toyota engine , 2F isnt it , from the early Landcruisers , supposedly it's a copy of the Chev 235 engine ....

Mike

[Ken Hughes]

hi and thanks guys ,fred is going to follow up on these suggestions.
he is looking at the fenton two piece manifold,and also looking at making up an extractor, and he agrees that the fuel we have today is too hot for the old girls.
a big thanks to all with much appreciation