Fenton headers

[tandj1941]

First off thanks to everyone who posted on how to install Fenton cast headers. The passanger side is no problem. The driver's side is another issue. Here is what I did. Take the bolts for the front motor mounts off, put a board under the front of your oil pan and jack up the engine a couple of inches. This will give you lots of room. Remove the anti-chatter rod from the driver's side, if you have one. There was no room on my car to put it back in, so I'm running just with the passanger side rod. Remove the dip-stick. I had to bend mine to get the header to mount up tight, but it has a strong 1/4" clearance now. I also took a grinder and ground a small amount of material off of the header where it was rubbing the stock steering box and dip-stick. The header is still very tight by the box. If you need to gain more room by the steering box you could shim the front of the engine slightly, which I still may do to gain a bit mor room. Like I said thanks to all who posted on this topic the info was very helpful.

[Matt in Alameda]

The anti chatter rods have nothing to do with the clutch....they are there to prevent the engine from going forward into the radiator......since the rear spring is a transverse spring the engine can 'flex' the system as there are no fixed points like there are on a parallel spring system.....I would not drive it without both rods hooked up, Henry never put anything on a car that wasn't needed. ......Matt in Alameda

[sturgis 39]

Originally Posted by Matt in Alameda

The anti chatter rods have nothing to do with the clutch....they are there to prevent the engine from going forward into the radiator......since the rear spring is a transverse spring the engine can 'flex' the system as there are no fixed points like there are on a parallel spring system.....I would not drive it without both rods hooked up, Henry never put anything on a car that wasn't needed. ......Matt in Alameda

Fenton headers have been a problem for 50 years. Why they do not fix the problems is beyond me. I will never buy a pair.

Matt

I agree a 100% with the statement about anti chatter rods. There is no slip joint in the closed drive line. New cars with open drive lines have a slip joint at the front universal joint. This allows the rear end to move without pushing or pulling on the transmission. The rear end wants to move when you go over a bump, accelerate, brake and shift. These forces try to move the engine and the rods act against these forces. These rod make the motor mounts last loner.

[WRA]

What kind of card did you install them in?

[19Fordy]

Originally Posted by tandj1941

First off thanks to everyone who posted on how to install Fenton cast headers. The passanger side is no problem. The driver's side is another issue. Here is what I did. Take the bolts for the front motor mounts off, put a board under the front of your oil pan and jack up the engine a couple of inches. This will give you lots of room. Remove the anti-chatter rod from the driver's side, if you have one. There was no room on my car to put it back in, so I'm running just with the passanger side rod. Remove the dip-stick. I had to bend mine to get the header to mount up tight, but it has a strong 1/4" clearance now. I also took a grinder and ground a small amount of material off of the header where it was rubbing the stock steering box and dip-stick. The header is still very tight by the box. If you need to gain more room by the steering box you could shim the front of the engine slightly, which I still may do to gain a bit mor room. Like I said thanks to all who posted on this topic the info was very helpful.

You could also use the aftermarket anti-chatter rod kit made years ago. It bolts to the bell housing and "hooks" onto the "X" member. Easy to make one. The engine shown is an 8BA.

[ole39]

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on my 39 std, had the drivers side milled, still tight, but works.

[tandj1941]

It would be impossible to run the driver's side ant-chatter rod. That aftermarket one looks like the ticket, but I'm most likely switching to an open drive line, when I get a different transmission, so that should slove any problems.

[Matt in Alameda]

You still don't understand the function of the anti chatter rods. If you do not use them you need a way to 'lock' the drive train in position...that means parallel springs..an open drive shaft does not do this..If I were you I would sell the Fentons and buy a set of Red's headers....then everything will fit....Matt in Alameda

[sturgis 39]

Originally Posted by Matt in Alameda

You still don't understand the function of the anti chatter rods. If you do not use them you need a way to 'lock' the drive train in position...that means parallel springs..an open drive shaft does not do this..If I were you I would sell the Fentons and buy a set of Red's headers....then everything will fit....Matt in Alameda

I agree 100% with you. I have Red Headers on they were easy to install and no interference problems.

[russcc]

The solution as others have suggested is Red's Headers. I have a 8RT in a '32 frame with a f1 steering box. Red's makes them to fit each application, including the frame and steering box you are using. Sounds like Fentons doesn't care, or are made over seas, where the definitely do give a d!!!m whether it's any good, or fits or not.

[rg130]

Fenton headers fit my 37 ford with no problems. Only change was to slightly bend the dip stick tube.

[Ross in East Texas]

I put 1/4" shims under the front motor mounts, ground a slight groove in the left header at the steering box and ground the same corner off of the steering box slightly and used a Allen head hex on this corner. This gave me about 1/4" clearance on my '39 Standard.
As to the anti chatter rods not affecting the clutch, the certainly do. If the engine is allowed to move this affects the clutch linkage. If the engine moves forward (as when taking off) the clutch will engage rapidly from the normal movement forward if the rods are not attached. Then you press the clutch back in to stop this and the process begins all over again when you begin to engage the clutch again. This all happens very rapidly and this the cause of chatter when there are no rods to arrest the drive train movement.