Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Craig,

Just curious if there is a way to split the siamese center ports to make the headers a 4-tube design. I always wondered if that was a possibility. I'm interested to see how the headers turn out. Although I have a straight eight now, which I'm pretty happy with, the V8 engines continue to be a fascination for me.

55PackardGuy Quote:

The problem is not with splitting the center tube into two smaller tubes. That's done all the time on similar engines such as Pontiac.

The problem is that there is no divider between the exhaust ports in the cylinder head itself. So, there would be no advantage to splitting the center port into separate tubes in the header. I'll post a picture for you as soon as I go out to my shop.

Craig

Here's a digipic of a typical Pontiac center exhaust port:


Here's the same view of a 1955-56 Packard V-8 center exhaust port:


Now you can see why splitting the center into two pipes would be a waste of time and energy. The single larger center pipe I am using (2-1/8in) for my headers has as much inner cross sectional area as the two end pipes (1-5/8in). Do the math.

Craig

Craig,

I'm also happy to see the Panther project on the front burner. Like 55PackardGuy, your site was my introduction to Packard information on the internet.

MIDan Quote:

I'm happy to be back in the saddle again. I'm having a lot of fun with this header subproject which is also entails the "Flipping the Clipper" subproject which also entails the "Slipping the Clipper" subproject. I promise not to get too distracted.

Craig

I, too, am happy to see the Panther project rolling again. My own ideas of what the Panther could have been are a bit different than yours, but I followed the project with great interest until it stalled

G'day Dragonoake,
to PackardInfo. And, if you have a Packard, I invite you to include it in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo!

Craig -

I, too, am happy you have restarted the Panther project. It is an inspiration to the rest of us dreamers. My hope is to duplicate (as nearly as possible) the Packard Request. I've been dreaming for some time without taking any action. Other than procrastination, there have been a couple of other reasons for my lack of progress. I hope that 2014 will see some changes.

In the meantime, keep up the good work! You have a lot of moral support.

Bernardi