410 exhaust manifold

[livermoreb]

The left hand exhaust manifold on my 410 has been damaged by a transport company delivering it to my house. Apparently it is not possible to get new ones, or even second hand ones. Bristol Cars have suggested having it welded but I am not sure this would be very durable.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions as to how I might solve this problem? Brian May has suggested that this is a fairly common issue so I am wondering if it would be worth having a batch made, assuming this is possible.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Bob Livermore

[Bryn Tirion]

You have been misinformed about availability, but doubtless it is more difficult on your side of the Atlantic. These log manifolds come up pretty frequently, and are usually cheap, so persuading someone to ship it to you and the expense of doing so would be your main obstacle. There is a forum that deals with vehicles with our engines (and I am assuming that yours still has its stock Wide Block Poly 318 in it). Don't be offended to find that it is a pickup truck forum:
http://www.dodgesweptline.org/phorum/index.php

I would post a wanted ad in their classifieds section:
DTAForums :: Buy/Sell/Wanted

And I would certainly contact this chap just in case:
Poly 318 Stock Exhaust Manifolds...

Even though he's likely sold them, he may know of more. The type of people on these forums tend to be very honest but prickly by nature. My approach with them is to trust them completely and send the money up front. I have never been cheated. If you proceed with normal British caution, these fellows take offense and go away.

This is what your manifolds should look like if you have the stock engine:

[Peter.Kent]

The factory items are really heavy and inefficient. ACCS used to stock ss tubular items that address both. Peter

[Bryn Tirion]

They are heavy..... an extra 5 pounds or so!! And certainly SS ones are a viable option to consider. They aren't original though, and even with the old ones you have a 130 mph car, how fast do you want to go!?

The seldom-mentioned disadvantage of the nice, thin walled, smooth headers is that they do not dissipate heat evenly over their surface in the same way as cast iron does, and vapour lock is more likely with them, especially if your petrol has that nasty eco-fraud ethanol added to it.

[guymd]

I'm not sure if the engines change from time to time, but here are a couple of eBay ads for Chrysler 318 manifolds that may be what you need:

1967 72 Dart Duster Barracuda 273 318 340 Exhaust Manifold Pair Plymouth A | eBay

Dodge 318 Left Exhaust Manifold 1956 1957 1958 Casting 1634445 Hollander 253 | eBay

[Bryn Tirion]

Originally Posted by guymd

I'm not sure if the engines change from time to time, but here are a couple of eBay ads for Chrysler 318 manifolds that may be what you need:

1967 72 Dart Duster Barracuda 273 318 340 Exhaust Manifold Pair Plymouth A | eBay

Dodge 318 Left Exhaust Manifold 1956 1957 1958 Casting 1634445 Hollander 253 | eBay

Both wrong.... the upper one is for the later LA engine, the lower one for the earlier Dodge engine. 1956 is too early for this series.

All this ignorance is due to the secretiveness of the Crook... bunch, who were fitting outdated engines that they bought (no doubt very cheaply) from Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge, who were at the time changing from the cast-iron Poly A engines to the new LA style. They were doubtless very happy to find someone who wanted to take a bunch off their hands. As it happened, the Poly engine was an excellent unit, with very high power to weight ratio and easy breathing, and American engines were streets ahead of British engines in output.... it was after all one of the grand periods of engine design, in the early 50's to late 60's, where all the developments were coming from the States. That situation changed dramatically in the 70's.

[livermoreb]

Originally Posted by Peter.Kent

The factory items are really heavy and inefficient. ACCS used to stock ss tubular items that address both. Peter

Thanks Peter. Can you tell me who ACCS are and how to contact them. I have seen them mentioned several times in forum posts.

[livermoreb]

Thanks Bryn and guymd. I will check these out.

My manifold doesn't look like these though. The exhaust pipe union is at the rear end of mine rather than in the middle. I wonder if they differed from car to car?

[guymd]

I don't know why the shapes are different, since the two links I sent you both claim to be for 318 engines. But the one whose title begins "Dodge 318..." is linear in the way you describe, with the exit at one end.
Although it states that it's from a 1956-1958, maybe it's correct?

[Bryn Tirion]

Bob.... it would be interesting to see a picture, of your exhaust manifold(s) and of your engine. Your manifold doesn't look like the one in this listing does it?

65 66 67 68 69 Dodge Plymouth Chrysler B C Body 273 318 Exhaust Manifold | eBay

..... which is for a later or LA designation 318. Not the original Poly Wide Block (official designation is as an A engine). This would mean your engine had been swapped for a later LA. The definitive test is to look at the lower edge of your valve (rocker) covers and see if they are scalloped, as in the attached picture. If yes, you have an original-style Poly, if no, you have another engine, more than likely an LA 318.

Edit: I should add that a complicating factor is that the early 313 Bristol engines were really 1960 Plymouth units, and the later 318 Bristols probably had the Dodge Dart unit of 1964 or so, with a four barrel Carter instead of the 2 barrel unit affixed by Dodge. Pictures of your engine could possibly help clear things up. Do you know if your carburettor is a Carter 3131S by any chance?