wedge v8 exhaust manifolds please!

[drak ula]

hi all, up til saturday i was a 2.9 s2 owner, now i also own an interesting 1984 wedge v8, which started out as a 350i but now has a 3905cc nck engine in it (390se) but running a holley 390 carb.
i noticed first time i viewed the car that it has cast iron manifolds with tubular down pipes (2 per side) which go into 2 into 1 y-pieces either side of the gearbox which the meet in another 2 into 1 piece making just one pipe...
i am assuming the cast manifold and down pipes arrangement is not correct for either the 350i or the 390se, it looks more like it should be on a rover p6 or old range rover than a tvr!
does any one have a decent used pair of tubular manifolds to suit my car or recommend someone who supplies quality new but affordable exhaust manifolds to suit?
here is my new wedge with my s2 in the background!

[adam quantrill]

The early 350i's had cast manifolds as per SD1, AFAIK, so that might be original.

You can libreate a few horses by going fully tubular but they are bespoke made now and not cheap.

[drak ula]

ahhh thanks for that, that expains why the down pipes fit so neatly along to chassis rails. ok i better look out for used fully tubular ones, cheers

adam quantrill said:

The early 350i's had cast manifolds as per SD1, AFAIK, so that might be original.

You can libreate a few horses by going fully tubular but they are bespoke made now and not cheap.

[mrzigazaga]

Hi mate...Sounds like you have a right bargain!...Make sure the plug set has a longer king lead or the supplied one won't reach...Exhausts/Manifolds for these don't really come up that often and Tim at ACT is the only guy i know who has them as a stock item...Well they need to be made obviously, He has Stainless steel but it may be worth asking if he could get them made in mild steel if your budget is limited...
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

[drak ula]

hi mr zigazaga, yeah i am hoping it will turn out to be a bargain. i chatted to the owner that owned it before the young chap i bought it from, who had owned it about 13 years going by the paperwork i got, he said the engine was rebuilt only a few thousand miles ago by v8 developments, also the gearbox and clutch by rt racing some time before that, the brakes were done, it's got some nice looking alloy bodied shocks on the back, all looks in pretty good order really for what i paid £2.5k, so was delighted to get it running this afternoon after just about 2hours work!
i ordered some special leads from v8 developments which you make up yourself to length, so hopefully won't have that problem with the coil being so far from the dizzy. the bloke i spoke to reckoned these wee good leads, forgot the brand he told me, an italian sounding name i think, mala.... something or other. £100 anyway! he told me to avoid the cheapo land rover aftermarket ones on ebay for 15-20 quid. but said genuine land rover ones were ok quality. so since he was being so helpful i thought it a good idea to buy his and maybe i could tap him for more advice later ;-) like jetting for the edelbrock/weber 500 i intend to put on in place of the holley.
i saw the act ones by googling, look lovely but bit beyond my budget for now. will see how i like the car to drive first! will be nice to have pas!!! my s2 is a bit hard work when it comes to tight london parking and i am no weed!
also might have to do something about the quietness pretty quickly, maybe remove a silencer out of the system and replace with straight pipe ;-)
cheers

mrzigazaga said:

Hi mate...Sounds like you have a right bargain!...Make sure the plug set has a longer king lead or the supplied one won't reach...Exhausts/Manifolds for these don't really come up that often and Tim at ACT is the only guy i know who has them as a stock item...Well they need to be made obviously, He has Stainless steel but it may be worth asking if he could get them made in mild steel if your budget is limited...
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

Edited by drak ula on Monday 4th April 21:30

[mrzigazaga]

drak ula said:

might have to do something about the quietness pretty quickly, maybe removed a silencer out of the system and replace with straight pipe ;-)

Wedges should be seen and heard...

Whereabouts in London are you as a few of us meet at Greenwich park most weekends...We have the odd trip to a hot rod diner and some run-outs to somewhere nice....We also go to some classic cars shows.

[drak ula]

oh i'm up in north london, near finsbury park. that sounds great mr zz, i went to the monthly ace cafe tvr/lotus/ginetta/marcos meet a couple of months ago in my s2, thought at the very least some more 'common' chimearas or maybe even a modern grif or even wedge might come, but mine was the only tvr there and from my point of view the only interesting / classic car full stop, the rest were all those little modern lotuses (lotii), so didn't bother going back since, but would be great to meet up with you guys when i gave the golden wedge (yet to think of good name) running right with new leads etc. will be watching for the postman daily!!!!!
what is yours, what others meet up there?
is it purely a wedge affair or maybe i could come in my s2 if my wedge isn't ready for the next one!

mrzigazaga said:

Wedges should be seen and heard...

Whereabouts in London are you as a few of us meet at Greenwich park most weekends...We have the odd trip to a hot rod diner and some run-outs to somewhere nice....We also go to some classic cars shows.

[mrzigazaga]

If you look at the Wedge "Sausage meet" thread it will show that all models of TVR turn up....I have been to the ACE and would love to go again but just getting there is a nightmare and then i would come home and there would be nowhere to park..

Mines the gun metal grey 350i.....Her names "Poppy"....The red 280i was Delilah...My first love...I still miss her now...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Wedg1e]

The manifolds are well within the abilities of an average fabricator to construct; you can buy pre-bent sections in a variety of diameters, radii etc. and in mild or stainless steel. I know a couple of people on here have fabricated their own with varying degrees of artistic interpretation () and a few have had them made bespoke including, if I recall right , 'AM400' who I don't think has posted in a long time but may well respond to an email via his profile to tell you who did his. He was such a perfectionist that they had three goes at the offside one to avoid the usual 'flat spot' where it passes the gearbox... I bought one of the rejects!

I know that some kit cars have similar 'block-hugging' manifolds fitted when an RV8 is installed so a rummage around the bay of evil may turn up something from an alternative source.

[mtb]

Hi drac ULA

Pleased to see u bought my old girl hope u get as much pleasure from her as I did and at times could have divorced her but she is a tvr

BTW it was a complete new clutch assembly fitted by v8 when engine rebuilt

Cheers mike

[drak ula]

hi mike, yes i got it on saturday, £2.5k which was more than i wanted to pay for such an unknown quantity, never having heard it run and not knowing why it wouldn't, so was delighted that my gamble paid off yesterday when i got it to run after 2 hours work!
i did speak to ray at v8 dev's and asked him if he could give me the exact engine spec as you said he had rebuilt it just a year ago, asked him if it would have been built to original nck spec or something different. sadly he said he had no records of the rebuild but did remember the car and reckoned it was more like 2 years ago than a year ago. he also said he didn't remember it being anything special in terms of forged pistons etc...
so since you told me that you bought the motor from rt racing who installed it for you and that it never ran right til v8 dev's found mismatched heads, one with double springs and one with single springs, i am wondering if rt stripped all the goodies out of the engine before selling it to you, maybe nicking the special heads, cam, pistons etc and putting it back together with any old parts out of a range rover or whatever and selling it as a nck motor as it still has the nck engine number????
obviously someone must have dicked about with it if the heads had mismatched valve springs. if ray at v8 dev's doesn't remember what he rebuilt, and you don't know, then i guess the only way i will ever know what the engine really is in its current state is to strip it and see what is inside, which i don't intend to do to a motor that is running well!!!
bit gutted that he couldn't confirm the nck spec, and that thought it was more like 2 years ago than a year.
on the plus side, as soon as i got it running it did really rev well, the revs picked up like a revvy motorbike, and nothing like the 3.9 v8 i had in my land rover last year, so that gives me hope it is the real nck deal, the tacho needle just shot round to 5k with the slightest blip of the throttle and dropped again just as quick, very un-big-v8 like!
any more you can remember and tell me about the car will be very gratefully received, the more you can tell me the better, in terms of all works done, when, and what parts replaced with what. think you told me it was a chimeara clutch, stuff like that all helps. cheers!
https://youtu.be/ukNcvcdKOYY

mtb said:

Hi drac ULA

Pleased to see u bought my old girl hope u get as much pleasure from her as I did and at times could have divorced her but she is a tvr

BTW it was a complete new clutch assembly fitted by v8 when engine rebuilt

Cheers mike

[IainStallard2]

I have a pair of standard manifolds that came off my 400SE that I may be persuaded to let go of. Not sure what they are worth, they aren't pretty being mild steel with a few dents, but could be a lot worse

[mike various]

Hi If drak ula doesn't want them, then i'd be tempted for the FHC as they aren't very good on mine.
What sort of money are you after for them ?

Mike

[drak ula]

hi, thanks, don't need them to be pretty, just need them to work. are they reasonably solid or rusted through anywhere, i can weld well enough to make up exhaust pipes (though not sure i would trust myself with structural work yet) as long as they haven't rusted away too badly. any chance of some pic's? and an idea of price? thanks again.

IainStallard2 said:

I have a pair of standard manifolds that came off my 400SE that I may be persuaded to let go of. Not sure what they are worth, they aren't pretty being mild steel with a few dents, but could be a lot worse

[IainStallard2]

drak ula said:

I'll get some photos for you this evening. As I said, they are a bit battered but perfectly usable, no holes or anything. Only changed them as I bought a set of ACT manifolds. I haven't a clue what they are worth to be honest

[drak ula]

ok iain, thanks, sounds good, where about are you for collection? i'm in north london. cheers again.

IainStallard2 said:

I'll get some photos for you this evening. As I said, they are a bit battered but perfectly usable, no holes or anything. Only changed them as I bought a set of ACT manifolds. I haven't a clue what they are worth to be honest

[IainStallard2]

drak ula said:

ok iain, thanks, sounds good, where about are you for collection? i'm in north london. cheers again.

IainStallard2 said:

I'll get some photos for you this evening. As I said, they are a bit battered but perfectly usable, no holes or anything. Only changed them as I bought a set of ACT manifolds. I haven't a clue what they are worth to be honest

I am based south of Guildford

[drak ula]

oh ok, not a million miles away then, maybe a nice little run out in the wedge one sunny day soon 9when i get the new fancy moroso ht lead kit from v8 dev's i ordered days ago! ;-)
great, look forward to getting the pics, if you prefer to email direct my email is [e-mail]
thanks again.

IainStallard2 said:

I am based south of Guildford

[IainStallard2]

drak ula said:

oh ok, not a million miles away then, maybe a nice little run out in the wedge one sunny day soon 9when i get the new fancy moroso ht lead kit from v8 dev's i ordered days ago! ;-)
great, look forward to getting the pics, if you prefer to email direct my email is [e-mail]
thanks again.

IainStallard2 said:

I am based south of Guildford

Did you get my email? Sent you photos of the manifolds

[drak ula]

thanks for the message here iain, as they hadn't gone to my inbox but because you messaged me here i found them in junk mail! cheers

IainStallard2 said:

Did you get my email? Sent you photos of the manifolds