Exhaust manifold recommendations

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Hilderbrand1983

Hilderbrand1983

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I removed the intake and exhaust manifolds from my 1967 Dodge Dart 270 (225cid slant 6) and discovered some good news and some bad news.

The Good News: I won't have to worry about cleaning up the exhaust manifold.

The Bad News: Because it's cracked.

I know that these were given to cracking, so I don't want to put an old one from a salvage yard back on the engine. I also don't see much sense in trying to weld on a repair that will crack again in a year or so.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to a new, quality exhaust manifold? I'm looking to keep stock specs on this restoration.

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1. how much do you want to spend?
2. do you want to upgrade the carb, or keep it stock?

I'm no expert, but I have a 225 /6 in my dart and I've been doing some research. there are quite a few options.
 
Futzy1 said:
1. how much do you want to spend?
2. do you want to upgrade the carb, or keep it stock?
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I'm willing to spend what it takes. No need to cut corners now, only to have to replace it again in 12-24 months. I'm looking to keep things as close to stock as is reasonable. If there are sensible upgrades from stock, though, I'm willing to pay for those.
 
Not really much performance to be gained with the iron stock manifold (unless you feel up to some grinding/porting).
I purchased a $100 (new) casting from eBay. It was definitely a cheaply made unit. Externally, it looked fine, internally there was a LOT of casting flash/lumps. I persevered but it took quite a bit of work to make it useable. I can't comment on the more expensive castings, but this is one place not to cut corners (unless you plan to actually cut the corners).
 
You can keep it almost stock and find the setup of a super six.
 
Hilderbrand1983 said:
So you'd recommend the Dorman unit? I see it at Amazon for $250, but I want to make sure that it was quality before I order it.
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Yes, if you want to go for original looking. I installed a Dorman exhaust manifold on my F-150 years ago. Looked exactly the same and I have had no issues with it.
 
This is the one I would buy, very specifically, but there's no single right answer; you've got options:

• Buy a used one: spend less money, but you have to hope you get one that isn't warped, cracked, or otherwise faulty. Hope it stays that way.

• Buy a cheaper-than-Dorman new one: spend middle money, but you will likely have to contend with relatively poor casting quality and accuracy. Makes it a pain to install, too.

• Buy a Dorman new one: spend more money, but "done in one" and you can move on to thinking about things other than exhaust manifolds.

All the aftermarket exhaust manifolds, regardless of brand, are made in China. Whether they all come from the same factory is unknown; it is extremely difficult to chase parts back to their actual origin in China. Dorman is a reputable vendor. Quality of the aftermarket manifolds is generally not quite as good as an original Chrysler manifold, but the best of the aftermarket units are fine. They are NOT all alike; one thing that is very easy to see in the Chinese parts supply stream is stratification: the best castings made into the best manifolds get sold through the premium brands at a relatively higher price. The not-as-good castings made into not-as-good manifolds get sold to 2nd-line brands at a somewhat lower price. And so on and on down the line; only the really completely nasty, totally unusable castings get scrapped. Unless you happen to get lucky, you don't get what you don't pay for.

It is very much worth your while to get the good gaskets for the manifolds-to-head and intake-to-exhaust junctions.

Also, note that all the replacement manifolds are the '73-up type, which will not take the '67 choke thermostat. Assuming you're running a 1bbl, put on a № 1231 Electric choke kit to neatly solve the problem without creating new ones.

Of course, you could also zoot things up with Dutra Duals.

(Super Six 2bbl setup is a separate question completely; the exhaust manifold is not different.)
 
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Thanks, everyone! I went ahead and ordered the Dorman unit. Also got the good gaskets from Remflex and am speaking with the folks from CarbsOnly about an electric choke kit.
 
Dan, do you have an Amazon referrals account / store? If you don't, I feel like you'd make a killing if you did. :p
 
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