L head Header and intake

I know this subject has been discusses many times, but the posts I've found have been for F head headers...

I'm in the process of building a header for my L head. I'm not expecting some big hp gain or anything...mainly I'm just trying to help it breath better, and am in the mood for a fabrication project. If the thing comes out nice, and even gave me 1 extra hp I'd be happy, just to say I did it. Anyway, I've had 3 or 4 different stock manifolds that were all pretty much junk in one way or another...and the one that is on my 3A is one that I repaired and was never happy with, so now I'm working on a header...and of course an intake manifold as well. The flange should be done by the end of the week, and I'm starting to work on the primaries...mainly trying to figure out how I want to run them and how I can keep them as close to equal lengths as possible.

Does anyone run a header on their L head? If so, is it a Clifford or a home made one? What did you see for results? If anyone has fabricated their own, do you want to share some pics and comments about how it all worked out?

 

well, I've been working on my header...and it's a tough project, but I'm making progress. This is the second attempt. The first one I mocked up ended up having clearance issues with the oil pump and steering linkage. I had only tacked it together, so I started over and am now trying to keep the primaries running in close to the same location as the factory down pipe.

I'm building this by drawing up the tubes in autocad, then cutting up mandrel bent U and J tubes to get the sections I need. In reality, what I draw doesn't always work, so it's a lot of trial and error. It's a slow process, but it's coming along.

 

This is interesting ... though it doesn't relate to anything I've done or have in mind.

Ross or Saginaw steering? Does it matter on a flattie?

 

I wonder what the most horsepower anyone ever got out of one of the flatheads would be?

 

good work, keep us posted

 

I still have the ross setup on my 3A (it's pretty tight and works well enough), so I've been working the design around those components. If at all possible I will fab it up so that it would clear a saginaw set up as well, just in case I decide to go that route one day.

Yeah, I wonder what the max HP is that someone has got out of the L head. I don't expect it to be very high, but it just be interesting to know. I do know that a friend of mine built a L4 for his 2A...he balanced it, shaved the head/block, build a header and intake, did some significant porting, and used some sort of different carb (not a solex or carter). His motor is surprisingly strong. Stronger than a stock F4, from in seat dyno analysis R)

Of course it takes some special commitment to leave the L4 in a flatty...I know plenty of people would always pull it and replace with a V6...but for some reason I'm pretty set on keeping it, hence the reason for messing with a home made header and intake. I'm not expecting big gains, just playing around and working on some fabrication skills. I guess I was motivated to work on mods after reading a lot about old willys cars, and how people were trying to "hot rod" them back in the day...like the old whippet motors.

I'll keep you posted on my results. It'll be a while before I finish it because I'm waiting on more J bends (wasted some on the first try) which should be here next week sometime.

 

hello i have on my cj3a a clifford header and have the head decked .100k and a clifford custom cam. the intake that willys put on the l134 can be cleaned up and runs good. if you can find a henry j's that had a l134 motor they did make 2 single's and a 2 barrel intake for a little bit in the early 50s but the best kit you can do with little work money and time is a weber 32-36 and a early vw single adapter.the header was $320 and the cam was $160 with a good grindable core and protronics igntion with msd box 300 bucks runs realy good anyway look at this link
http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/wocv/willywilly/willywilly.htm

 

Seems like there was an article a year or so ago in JP on alternative carb setups that were developed in the 50's for L-Heads, and it had something on different headers & intakes as well. If I find it I'll post the link.

 

I remember that article from JP too...although I couldn't seem to find it. If you find it, I'd be interesting in checking that out again

51cj3a, sounds like you've built a nice L4! Do you have any pics? Did you end up using a webber on your motor? I did not know about Clifford making re-grinding cams for these little motors, that is very interesting. Do you have any idea what kind of gains you saw from all of your engine mods? ...or can you give an idea of how much more driveable it was after, like on road and offroad ability? I'm very interested in learning more about your motor.

I also plan to shave the head some day...although I would also love to find one of those willys willys heads, or a Supersonic head.

Back on subject too...I'll post more header progress pics as soon as I get the new J bends in.

 

more progress this weekend. I didn't have much time to work on it, but I did start to mock up the #4 primary, so it's starting to look more like an actual header. I'll keep posting progress as I get further.

 

:lurk: :toetap:

 

Lookin Good!

Your skills are great, should make a custom intake as well!

 

I think there was some mention in that JP article about a sidedraft carb/intake setup. That would be old school cool.

 

Yup, i'm going to build an intake as well...I just have to figure out what carb I want to run. I have a friend who has been jeeping for many years and has owned a few flatties, and he has some neat ideas about using some older carbs, for the old school cool factor...we'll see what we come up with.

 

I've made more progress this week. The flange was machined by a friend of mine because the small cnc I have access to wasn't going to work out, and my torch cutting ability wasn't good enough...he made the flange on a bridgeport. I've mocked up more of the primaries, and am a lot closer to getting things where I want them. When I finish mocking up the primaries, and weld them, I'm considering bringing the individual pipes to someone with a bender and seeing if they can match what i've designed/made so I have smooth one piece primaries. Also, this is a big maybe, but if everything works out and this thing fits and works well, I make make a few of them...but it all depends on how much I'll have to put into building them and materials. This one has required many hours of cutting, trial and error, and piecing things together.

 

looks great! Let us know when they go into full production I'd pick one up

 

slow progress, but still moving forward...I've spent most of my free time fixing my damn daily driver and furnace. I'm hoping to put it on the Jeep this weekend to verify fit again. If that happens and goes well then I'll work on getting all the welding done, and start grinding it smooth. I plan to powder coat it with some real high temp powder coat that a friend of mine thinks we should try.

 

Very nice! :drool: