Rebuilding the 196 L-Head Exhaust Manifold- Part1 Topic:Mechanical   Date: 2004-11-07 Printer Friendly:

The exhaust manifold for a 1963 Rambler American, and other L-Head 196 engines is not really an exhaust manifold, but just holes cut in 1.75 inch exhaust pipe. The clamps that hold the pipe on are just stamped out of steel:



I'll have to fabricate one of these, or convert to bolts and regular clamps, but here is one of the clamps that is broken:



Here you can see the pipe without the clamps. Towards the rear, notice the black exhaust marks from a crack in the pipe:



Here is what the manifold looks like:



Here is a closeup of the hole. Over the years the pipe has been squeezed down further and further:



There are 3 parts to this article:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3