VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Olds Three port head

G'day, I was wondering if anyone on here owned a Chev 4 with an Olds three port head?
I want to get some info as in the future I plan to build a Hillclimb special with a '25 Chev motor with a Olds Three port head.
Cheers
Jamie

There are several with the Olds or chev. three port head. I have one, but not on the engine yet. What kind of info are you looking for?
Gaby

G'day Gaby,
Anything! I haven't got a motor or head yet.
Things I would like to know, how much should I expect to pay, how rare are they, what modifications have people made to them, what were the actual years they were made (I heard it was from 1918-1923 is this right?). I have some info on them but I want more, more
Cheers
Jamie

Jimmy B

Don't know who told you to go get a 3 port because unless you do a complete over haul and replace the rockers with a different offset rocker assembly from a 30's Nash etc you will get no benifit other than a head with 3 exhaust ports. I have been running a 3 port head for over 15 years on my 27 Truck and there is no benifit to preformance just the exhuast gases sent to the 3 outlets. You have to make a dent into the firewall for clearence on the back exhaust and you will have to shorten the pushrods or use 28 push rods. The other problem that you will have to overcome is getting the exhaust pipes to clear the right hand drive steering and to do this you need the Olds /Chev factory manifold which has the 3 outlets into a single outlet. Unless you run 3 single pipes out the bonnet/hood side.

In my opinion you are much better to use a standard 28 Chev head as it already has an offset rocker which will give you better valve lift and preformance and you won't have to modify anything. Besides 1928 Chev heads are easier to obtain and much better priced that the much overated Old/ 1922 Chev FB head.

I found out the hard way many years ago that very few people who tell you how to modify your engine have ever actually done or run anything. Most read the miss quoted info in a magazine and then big note themselves by relaying the fairytale as fact.

The cost of doing the mods to the head, obtaining a usable head from Australia is very hard or importing one from the USA make the 28 a better choice.

TWIN 4

G'day Twin4, I do intend to use an olds 3 port head, I don't care how long it takes I will find one & build it up.
I want info on what needs to be done and what I need to do so, Thankyou for posting the info on what you have done.
I plan to use a '28 chassis should give me the needed clearences around steering.
Where I got the idea......



Olds 3 port article 140mph in 1940 is bloody good potential don't you think?
I will make up my own mind if it is worth it.
Cheers
Jamie

Jimmy B

If you are going to make up your own mind if it is worth it, then why ask for help in the first place.

Twin 4

there is a complete early 20's olds with partial parts car for sale on ebay. look under collector cars, oldsmobile, other. mike

G'day Twin 4, I appreciate your post and info. I thought I would ask to make things easier, I have already made up my mind long before I posted. I just need the info on what people do/have done to run an Olds 3 port.
You might think it ain't worth the hassles, I on the other hand do feel it's worth it. If time proves you right so be it, I will be the wiser for it & you can say I told ya' so
Cheers
Jamie

Hey Mike, I've just been looking for it & haven't found it :confused: do you have an item number or link?
Cheers
Jamie

Jimmy B ,I think what twin 4 was trying to tell you is there is a number of us here in Australia with those heads and in most cases they were all cracked and cost a small fortune to repair ,Colin Taylor-Evans (in Sydney)has done some flow bench testing on them as well as the 28 head and there is not a lot between them ,the article that you are quoting has been around for a long time and please note that it was a salt flat racer not a hill climber and most important the car needed to be towed to start it,about 40 mph. You should proberly talk to Ray sherwell in Brisbane or Bill Eldridge in melbourne who both have 100mph chev4's and build motors professionally. This isn,t a cheap exercise and I could tell you the names of several 28 owners with very low milage on a VERY expensive engine only to come to grief.

Thankyou for the reply Ozjim.
28 head? I got one!

Only problem is it is in Melbourne, I went halves in a Chev with a mate down there. (I will happily trade it for a decent Olds head ). I am also interested in a 1925 motor if any QLD members has one.

(edit) Jim, if I do build this I will end up using a 5 speed (why use 3 when you can have 5 ), do you have any contact info for the people you mentioned? At the moment I'm on a fact finding mission (I need to finish my '29 first) and hopefully collect some parts on the way . I only mentioned hill climbs cause of the local Speed on Tweed. I would like to try my luck at Lake Gardnier, but hill climbs are more likely :(

I thought that speed on tweed is a historic race event if so the five speed puts you in a hot rod .Maybe you should rethink your direction.

G'day Jim, they allow some concessions, if not well I can change the gearbox for the event (eg I can change my '29 gearbox in 1 hour) converting to open drive would also make things easier, is there much difference between a '25 box and '29 gearbox?

Most of the Historic Specials that run are the definition of Hot Rod, and most are V8 Fords, so imagine a Chev banger beating them

Interesting looking exhaust manifold. The ones I have seen here in the US are different. I would like to have one for the 28 head I have for the speedster I am building. How do I get one? It would be cheaper than building a set of headers.

G Day hotroadster

Interesting looking exhaust manifold. How do I get one?
Easy come to Australia and buy one as these are the standard RIGHT HAND drive parts but the bit that is very hard to find unbroken is the cast elbow piece on the end that conects to the exhaust pipe. The manifold part that fits to the head is a little easier to obtain.
TWIN 4

Hi hotroadster,
Twin 4 is right,you'll have to come "down under" for one of our exhaust manifolds.The elbow that bolts to the manifold is very hard to find a good one,but I've had some cast and machined.

Actally, from looking at the picture I only need the part that bolts to the head as I would want to bring it to the outside and run it down the side of the speedster for that racecar appearance. Would I be lucky enough to find out that the rlbo bolts onto the part that bolts to the head? That would make it much easier to attach an outside pipe.
So anybody have an extra manifold they don't need and want to sell to a yank with silly ideas?
I would like to attach a flange that will be welded to a stainless 90 deg bend and go to a megaphone flare that will go to a 3" pipe running down the side of the car.
As for the car, I am using a rear boattail from a fiberglass Buggatti to build a custom body.

Should have read - Would I be lucky enough to find out that the ELBOW bolts onto the part that bolts to the head?

The manifold will be ceramic coated and everything from the flange out will be polished stainless steel. It may not make it go any faster but it will look pretty.

Hi hotroadster,
The elbow does bolt onto the oval shaped flange on the exhaust manifold,but not the actual head.The holes in the head are rectangular in shape,and the hole in the elbow is nearly 2" in dia.
Only RHD cars had this manifold and elbow set up,this was to allow the engine pipe to clear the steering column.

Hi Kevin,
I am hoping that the US head and the RHD head have the same exhaust post shape and dimensions. It sounds like this would be just what I needed.
You mentioned OVAL pipe for the elbow, is the pipe oval or just the flange shape?

I originally planned on having Burns Stainless make 2 custom adaptors for me to go from the rectangular ports to round pipe for the header. They have made stainless parts for me in the past and do excellent work. That would be rather spendy. I think this would be less expensive even with the shipping. Does anyone know if the same manifold was used on all RHD Chevrolets? I know someone in South America and they drive RHD there too.
Stephen Sebastian

Hi Stephan,
The U.S. heads are the same as the RHD ones "down under",with the same exhaust port shape.The oval shape I mentioned is on the manifold where the elbow bolts on..
I think that all RHD Chevs would have the same manifold and elbow set up as the ones here,so if you can get one from South America,that would be the way to go.Otherwise,I'm pretty sure I'd be able to dig up a good manifold.Just let me know.

Heard from my friend in South America. It seems he lives in Peru where the cars are LHD, therefore he doesn't know where to get a RHD manifold. He told me thar several other countries are RHD. So if I want a RHD exhaust manifold it seems that you in Austrailia are still my best bet. I don't need or want the elbow, just the manifold that attaches to the head. Know where one is that is available?

Did they make a RHD heater manifold? It gets chilly in a speedster. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to bend up a sheet metal surround for the stock manifold.

I have a good LHD 1928 Chevrolet heater manifold but I don't have the sheet metal surround. I have seen 1 or 2 and have pics. I was planning on having a friend with a sheet metal brake bend one up for me.
Stephen

I wouldn't think any South American countries would be RHD except possibly British Guiana, and maybe Belize in Central America. I would doubt that either had many 1920s automobiles, so probably not a great source for RHD components. It is possible that there are RHD cars in LHD countries, however, as RHD vehicles were often preferred for mountain driving on poor mountain roads, especially on commercial vehicles. This was a safety issue in that it is easier to see the edge of the road if you were driving from that side.

George

Kevin, I hope you read my post yesterday. I want to work out a buy on that manifold!

It is off topic for this board, but my friend said that Argentina and Uraguay used to be RHD. He also gave me a referral to a site to buy things that he said operates similar to eBay.
"There is a page in Argentna, similar and in association with eBay.com, named www.mercadolibre.com where if you are lucky maybe you can find the manifold."

Belieze is LHD. I have a friend from Calif that retired to Belieze because the official language is English and they drive on LH side same as us. Apparently there are many American retirees there. I guess they can live quite nicely on what Social Security pays. He says medical is good. Flights leave Belieze for Miami and Huston daily. Hmmmmm, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad place to retire?