RalfK (Don Kincl) posted this shot of a fine old hot rod. He thought the owner said it was a Pontiac V8, but I’ve come to the conclusion it’s an early Olds V8, which was a common and very desirable engine for the purpose, given that in the early 50s there were very few choices other than the venerable Ford flathead in order to make more power. The 1949 Cadillac and Olds V8s were the first, and very much in demand, followed by the 1951 Chrysler hemi, which could make massive power but was mighty heavy. And of course these engines were not exactly easy or cheap to come by until some years went by. And then there’s that intake.
That intake manifold with four one-barrel (I assume) carbs is a real gem too; very early-mid 50s vintage. I Googled it, and came up with nothing. Anyone know its origins? Once four barrel carbs came along, that was quickly the favored way to go. But in the early-mid 50s, multiple one barrels were the preferred setup. Sure looks great.
The first company I ever heard of that made a manifold like this was called Man-A-Fre, but it was designed for four two barrels. I’m pretty sure there were others, too.
Real nice Old Skool roadster, BTW. Bet it goes like a bat out of hell with that motor.
Note that there are no internal passages in the manifold. Each carb fed the adjacent two cylinders. A quick search revealed that Offenhauser and Weiand made similar ones, too.
Yes; Man-A-Fre. I just couldn’t put my finger on the name. Thanks.
I’m not sure these are one-barrels; they might well be two barrels. They look a bit big for ones.
You’re welcome, Paul. Not exactly a name that rolls off the tongue, is it?
I found a company online with the same name that now touts itself as “Toyota Land Cruiser Off-Road Performance Parts and Accessories since 1958” Go figure.
Could be an SBC with Olds style valve covers. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened, I know a guy with Olds valve covers on his 56 Chevy just for a conversation starter.
And a 4 X 1 manifold for a SBC is probably a lot easier to come by.
Nope, Doug. Note the spark plug placement ABOVE the exhaust manifold. This car is the real deal.
Neat. Cool car by the way, don’t see a T body done like this very much these days.
Nope. It’s a very authentic looking Old Skool rod. I love cars like this.
There’s a guy in this forum (2011) who talks about working on a 324 Olds with a 4-carb Man-A-Fre, so the manifold must have been manufactured:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=482337
Likewise, I found an ad for someone selling one for 289-302 Ford.
FWIW, this is a period SBC ad (online sources tell us that’s what’s on the American Graffiti “Milner” car):
The Studebaker V8 also put the plugs above the manifold, but I am not aware of any 4×1 carb setups for them. Not to say that there were none. The engine was heavy but it had a lot of speed potential built in.
The studs on the valve covers are further apart on the Studebaker.
As a kid, I perused hot rod mags endlessly, including old ones at the library. I can’t remember a single one with a Studebaker. Which is not to say there weren’t any, but if so, they were very uncommon. It came down to readily available speed parts, and I think there were very few for the Stude back then.
Right, JP. One of the initial appeals of the SBC was it’s fantastic power to weight ratio vs. the Cadillac and Olds V-8’s. It may not have had the displacement of those mills, but it weighed AT LEAST 100 pounds less. In a very light car like this cool ’27, that was significant.
This is Olds. Note the unique Olds “flats” on water crossover, where power steering pump could be hung? Stud (Cad too) had front-of-head crossover. Cad cover was perimeter bolted.
Carbs are Stromberg 97.
Note GM truck combination master cylinder for brakes
and clutch. So this git up has a stick. …nice
Great air racer radiator cap too! Very cool!
A wide assortment of cobbled parts, the way a rod should be. I presume that’s a post war front end with bigger brakes?
Also what’s the gauge on the firewall? I presume its used for tuning, maybe a tach?
Hard to say for sure, but front axle appears to be ’46-8 Ford car. It would be natural to use the hydraulic front drums from the same (much heavier) car since they would probably have no problem stopping this little thing. I’d be very surprised if this car weighed 2000 pounds soaking wet. Probably more like 1700-1800, the biggest portion of which is the engine/transmission.
What brakes the stock 1927 Model T had were mechanical and on the rear wheels only. That’s right. No front brakes at all although an aftermarket option known as Rocky Mountain Brakes were available on earlier Fords. These were an external contracting band that operated on the rear drum in combination with the internal expanding brake shoes for a little more whoa-power.
And I can’t quite make out what that gauge on the firewall is, although it looks too small to be a tach. My guess is temperature or oil pressure, by the look of it.
A lot of old rods had a fuel pressure gauge on the firewall, I think. Could be. Whatever it all is, it is awesome.
Good call, Randy. I bet that’s it.
I`m no expert, but maybe it was custom built at a speed or machine shop.
My first thought when I read the post was Man-A-Fre.
And this is a VERY cool roadster! What a blast to drive on a nice day.
I see on eBay the bare manifolds going for about $1500-2200, and up to $5K for the injector-setup version; details here from “Hop Up” magazine, 1964:
Damn. The second I saw “four 1BBL carbs” I thought it was a Corvair 140 feature.
Thanks. 🙁
Offenhauser was a pretty popular brand for aluminum intakes back then. They used to produce intakes for multiple Stromberg and Holley carbs for a variety of V8s… from Flathead Ford to Buick Nailhead.
According the Summit Racing website Offenhauser still has intakes for just about any American engine you can think of. Dual quads for an AMC V8? Check. Dual one-barrels for a Dodge flathead six? Check. Four two-barrels for a small block Chevy? Check.
I didn’t know they are still in business… that is great.
The original ’32 in American Grafitti had the Man-A-Fre 4×2 intake.
I must be getting old. I’m sure that car must have been a lot of fun for some 19 year old back in the 1950s, but when I look at it now I keep thinking about what a death trap it must be. It likely doesn’t even have seat belts unless the current owner added them. It hardly offers any more driver protection than a motorcycle. Actually it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to wear a motorcycle helmet while driving that.
Probably a Horne intake. Google “horne intake oldsmobile”. Horne intakes show up for sale pretty often.
…or maybe it is a Cragar intake (yes the wheel guys also made other parts too).
My guess is Horne but who knows, there were a bunch of oddball intakes and parts made back then.
I think this might have been built for stock car racing in Akron Ohio. Try someone in the Arfons or EJ Potter family. Both Walt and Art Arfons have passed and EJ Potter did also. However maybe a family member might know if it.