Healey Sports Cars

any ideas on exhaust manifolds for a 289 in the Healey 3000?

I've found that it had a SBF Manifold that had been cut and rewelded to go over the frame then under the foot wells. I've searched the internet to what seems like the end. the only thing I can think of next is to have them made.....


Ideas?

A set of early sunbeam Tiger manifolds work well. Check in with Healey Rick to get the skinny on whether you need to lefts or two rights. These aren't particularly easy to find BTW but if you keep at it you can find a set reasonably priced.

I take it from your post that you don't have welding equipment you can use. Headers can be very expensive to have built, but you can build them yourself and it's not all that hard if you're a competent welder. If not then there is one company that furnishes a prototype kit that you can use then ship it to them and they will build the headers to match. I learned a lot from their videos and it appears that they are pretty reputable. [www.stainlessheaders.com]

I found the manifolds to be one of the most difficult part of the swap. I didn't want to cut off the original motor mount towers, so the room I had to work with was quite restricted. Go to my project page [forum.britishv8.org] and you can see what I did. I started out buying a pair of Sunbeam Tiger manifolds:

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But to fit everything in, I had to buy a second manifold like the top one in the picture. As you can imagine, Tiger manifolds don't exactly pop up all the time and I believe the ones I used were Tiger specific and didn't just come out of the Ford parts bin. The other possibility if your original engine mount towers have been removed is to get some log style manifolds from the 289 and reverse them so they point toward the front of the engine (these manifolds can be swapped from one side of the motor to the other without any issues). You can see how Tim Moran did this to his car here: [www.modifiedhealeys.org]

While I was considering using the Tiger manifolds for my own V8 swap, I discovered that early Ford Falcon V8 manifolds were the same or very nearly the same. There a couple of Falcon specific suppliers who offer (or did offer) them including Little Dearborn.

I have seen, rear/close dump headders reversed side/side. Possibly work on manifolds ? roverman.

Wow! Lil late, but really big thnx for the replies. Im just now getting to it. Just sold a car to replenish the healy fund. Sunbeamtiger or falcon headers... Thnx!!!!

"Sometimes", or reversed front to back. Many times this requires exhaust port adapter plates. This is still easier than headers from scratch. Let's remember, the rover header is very similar to sbf, not counting the mounting flanges. Good Luck, roverman.

i finally found a manifold i can use.... now just to find someone willing to cut/reweld it. Healey Rick: I got a manifold like the silver one in the bottom of the picture that you posted here. turns out it had two just like that one. The collector portion or "out" port has to be cut off and rotated 180 degrees. works great, and i won't have to replace the exhaust. i'll post a pic of before and after pics so you guys can see what i'm talkin about. its very interesting, turns out that these manifolds are made of pot metal.... "cast" iron, so it will be a chore to weld it. It's been done, so we'll see!

When I was trying to figure out the Tiger manifolds in the picture, I found that the one on the bottom had a Ford part # on them (which IIRC was a Falcon part) while the top manifold was non-Ford part# that I suspect was Tiger specific. I, too, looked at turning the outlet port 180 degrees and rewelding or brazing, Lots of opinions that it can't be done and will crack again when it's finished. Others said it can be done by preheating the whole part with a slow cool down. I'd look for a welder who has done it in the past. I lucked into a second Tiger manifold in the end so didn't have to go that route. The other option is the Falcon log manifolds reversed like this:





The advantage to these is that you can make the transition to the outside of the frame rail in the steel exhaust pipe rather than the cast iron. (I've got a pair of the log manifolds you can have for $25 plus shipping if you're interested.)

BTW, I hope you're keeping the locomotive horns that were in that car, probably louder than the motor.





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2012 06:23PM by HealeyRick.

Really appreciate the response! i went into your build write up, i think im gonna go the same route as you with the pass side exhaust. seems alot easier to manipulate the pipe than the manifold. thanks alot!

and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

PS love the Card!