The Ford Barn

olrakcar · 03-18-2014, 04:58 PM

greetings to all
I have been working through the winter months to get my 51 ready for spring cruising and I'm ready except for exhaust headers. There appears to be an issue with availability of header options for the convertible. I understand the frame is different with an "X" cross member, but it does not appear that it would affect headers in the engine bay. Red's has many listings for various other shoebox applications but skips over the 51 convertible. Does anyone know of other solutions? I'm trying to keep most everything stock, but I really would like to replace the stock manifolds.
Thank you all kindly.
randy

Vic Piano · 03-18-2014, 05:24 PM

Is your car a standard shift or a Ford-O-Matic? The reason I ask is; I have a '53 Convertible and the drivers side header extension (Red's Headers) hit the breather shroud on the Ford-O-Matic. There may also be some clearance issues with the clutch (standard transmission) peddle hitting the header extension when fully depressed. None of the aforementioned issues are insurmountable and can be worked out without too much trouble.

rotorwrench · 03-18-2014, 05:34 PM

The X-type frame has provisions on the right side for the pipe to the back but the left side may not have all the holes in the legs & support members. A person might have to make a lightening hole or two to route the left pipe. The gas tank on Ford cars can even complicate things some times. Headers are always a custom job for exhaust and Smithys or other mufflers have different dimensions than stock so a guy might contact a local muffler shop & see what they will offer. It doesn't cost much for an estimate. A guy would at least need to talk to the folks at Red's Headers to get an idea whether they have investigated this before for a particular model or what header combo might fit best.

Vic has a point for trans type. The clutch & shift linkages go on that left side.

olrakcar · 03-18-2014, 10:21 PM

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Thank you, gentlemen, for your replies and hello neighbor in San Antonio - I grew up there, Robert E Lee High School.
My Ford is standard with overdrive and there are holes in the frame for dual exhaust extensions. There is a guy here in Austin that does restorations and can bend tubing so I was planning to get him to do everything from the headers to the back. I had mentioned Red's because that name came up in the forums - I thought maybe there might be other options. All of the issues seem to be downstream of the headers but I'll give Red's a call because there is obviously something different about the convertible.
thanks again.

03-18-2014, 04:58 PM	#1
olrakcar Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: south austin, texas Posts: 7	1951 convertible exhaust greetings to all I have been working through the winter months to get my 51 ready for spring cruising and I'm ready except for exhaust headers. There appears to be an issue with availability of header options for the convertible. I understand the frame is different with an "X" cross member, but it does not appear that it would affect headers in the engine bay. Red's has many listings for various other shoebox applications but skips over the 51 convertible. Does anyone know of other solutions? I'm trying to keep most everything stock, but I really would like to replace the stock manifolds. Thank you all kindly. randy

03-18-2014, 05:24 PM	#2
Vic Piano Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Odessa, FL Posts: 7,611	Re: 1951 convertible exhaust Is your car a standard shift or a Ford-O-Matic? The reason I ask is; I have a '53 Convertible and the drivers side header extension (Red's Headers) hit the breather shroud on the Ford-O-Matic. There may also be some clearance issues with the clutch (standard transmission) peddle hitting the header extension when fully depressed. None of the aforementioned issues are insurmountable and can be worked out without too much trouble. __________________ Imagination is more important than knowledge.

03-18-2014, 05:34 PM	#3
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,436	Re: 1951 convertible exhaust The X-type frame has provisions on the right side for the pipe to the back but the left side may not have all the holes in the legs & support members. A person might have to make a lightening hole or two to route the left pipe. The gas tank on Ford cars can even complicate things some times. Headers are always a custom job for exhaust and Smithys or other mufflers have different dimensions than stock so a guy might contact a local muffler shop & see what they will offer. It doesn't cost much for an estimate. A guy would at least need to talk to the folks at Red's Headers to get an idea whether they have investigated this before for a particular model or what header combo might fit best. Vic has a point for trans type. The clutch & shift linkages go on that left side.

03-18-2014, 10:21 PM	#4
olrakcar Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: south austin, texas Posts: 7	Re: 1951 convertible exhaust Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Thank you, gentlemen, for your replies and hello neighbor in San Antonio - I grew up there, Robert E Lee High School. My Ford is standard with overdrive and there are holes in the frame for dual exhaust extensions. There is a guy here in Austin that does restorations and can bend tubing so I was planning to get him to do everything from the headers to the back. I had mentioned Red's because that name came up in the forums - I thought maybe there might be other options. All of the issues seem to be downstream of the headers but I'll give Red's a call because there is obviously something different about the convertible. thanks again.