Hello, I have a 71 Comet with a 302 block and aluminum Ford GT40X heads. I currently have headers and am going back to a stock style exhaust manifold for a more original look and a repositioning of the whole exhaust system. Any suggestions or experience as to what manifolds being sold today (Scott Drake.. etc...) that would bolt right up to the heads? Appreciate the insight!
I used the left side exhaust manifold that came off a 66 Mustang that exits in the rear (same as the Maverick right side manifold) to be able to use the 250 6 cyl. Z-bar when I did a V8 swap...then ran new exhaust pipes.
I guess I should have mentioned it is not the original engine. The guy I bought it from 17 years ago put a new built 302 engine in the car. He told me the block was from Summit. It is not a roller block. But the firing order is 1,8,4,5,6,2,7,3. Is this an HO block? I assumed all stock style 302 manifolds would fit any 302 heads bolted to a 302 block. Sounds like not the case.....
"I have a 71 Comet with a 302 block and aluminum Ford GT40X heads. I currently have headers and am going back to a stock style exhaust manifold..." Kinda negates the whole reason for having those heads. Firing order is determined by the camshaft. What cam do you have?
Dayum, that must be fun to drive!!!! One forward gear and a bunch of reverses. Any small block manifold/header should bolt to those heads. How pipes are routed after exit dictates what chassis they will fit. The 69 Fairlane/Torino 351 exhaust manifolds have the general shape of Maverick manifolds. No idea if they'd actually fit in a Maverick. I had a friend that put a second transmission in a '60s Opel. that thing had four reversed and a bunch of overdrive gears.
Even better, give those heads something to breathe through. Stock systems were all single, any reasonable system is going to require some fabricating. Asthmatic 289/302 manifolds are mostly a bad joke.
I can remember guys doing that back in the '70's. They would put a 3-speed manual trans right behind the normal transmssion and just have the 2nd & 3rd gear linkage arm connected to a short handle. With tall (low numerical) rear gears the 1:1 ratio 3rd gear was like overdrive and 2nd gear was snappier.