Hello all, Just bought a 1951 Ford F1 with a flathead V8 tonight!!! I was hoping someone could let me know a good set of headers to buy and where to get them for the 239 cubic inch motor.

Thanks in advance, Dave

 

Red's Headers have the best fitting tube headers for your truck. I've been running them for more than 10 years.

Some others out there interfer with the steering box. Fenton cast iron headers are notorious for needing grinding to fit.

 

Just checked out their website, the headers seem perfect. I think those are the ones I will be going with. Thanks!!!

 

Fentons will not fit a Bonus Built truck at all, I tried very hard to make them work. I got a set of them, chromed no less, for free. Broke my heart....

Ditto the recommendation for Red's, including his "extensions", which get you to near the back of the cab. From that point any Midas shop can do the rest.

 

Do you guys reccomend me just buying the whole exhaust kit?

 

I haven't looked to see what their kit includes, but if they're still selling Smithy's mufflers, I'd just get the headers and extensions.

I've gone thru two sets of Smitty's in the past 10 years - they are not the old mufflers from the 50's/60's. They're just junk in my opinion. The steel in inferior and is packed with steel wool from what I can tell.

For exhaust pipes, don't go over 2" as the flathead needs the back pressure created by 1 3/4" to 2" tubes - and to maintain that wonderful flathead sound.

btw, welcome and congrats on owning a classic!
Tim

 

I could see buying the whole system if it preserves the spare tire location; that's not easy to do. They were not designed to have dual exhaust.

I have Smitty's from about 8 yrs ago, but not anywhere as many miles as MTFlat puts on. I like the sound, no problems so far. I'm not exactly in the Rust Belt, either.

 

What about the tight tuck headers on a flattie 8? Will they work for a '51-'52 F-1 with stock steering?

 

Do you mean the center dumps? I believe someone on here has them but not sure if it is with stock steering box.

 

Yes, I'm curious about the center dumps. Heard of one guy in CA that tried to put them on a '46 Ford truck V8 and had interference issues with the stock steering. Was thinking ( and hoping) the F-1's ('48-'52) were a different situation. Speedway and Pertronix were of no help. Only Sanderson would comfirm fitment of their center dumps, but at a few hundred $ more for a set.

 

Dave,

I recently rebilt my 239 Flathead V8 (52 F-6) and was able to use ford part number 21A-9430/1 headers just fine. Many early ford part dealers have these is serviceable condition for earlier V8s. I was really hoping to obtain the proper 7RT-9430/1 headers, but they are pretty rare it seems. I settleed on the 21A as they are essentially identical and fit just fine. All the new production headers are seemed destined for fitting headaches and are geard towards the modder/hot-rod community instead of the purist.

 

Good Evening Everyone - I realize that this thred has been dormant for some time; however, I have a question for the community. Today I attempted to fit a beautiful set of Red's awesome headers on my rebuilt V8 (Part number 3130). The fitmet was great on the block; however, the long tube design brought the collector directly inline with my tranny cross member. The collector was so close to the cross member that the collector and "s" pipes would not fit. Additionally, the right side would not even bolt to the block as the collector hit the PTO on the venerable 4-speed crash box. I hate to bring this up; Red's stuff is mint - but it just won't work on this truck. Here's the question - what the heck can I use versus the stock manifods on an F6? I'm hoping that Chuck or someone with this issue will comment. Is stock the way to go? Maybe buy a set of resurfaced cast iron manifolds and make pipes? Thanks guys!

 

These are the usual headers, Flathead Headers Longtube headers aren't much benefit on flatheads, since they already have a foot of "pipe" inside the block.

Red's website frankly sucks, there are too many twists and turns.

 

Not sure of the differences between the F-1 and F-6 frame setup, but...the tight tuck headers from Sanderson worked great on clearing the steering box on my F-1, which was always the issue w/ prefabbed headers when dealing w/ the F-1's and the flathead V-8. Since they terminate downward, clearing any framing situations behind the engine is a field adjustment when installing the exhaust pipe/muffler system. Unfortunately, the Sanderson's are the priciest ones out there.

 

Thanks guys for the replies! I am considering a set of the tight tuck headers for the 8BA ... I'm going to give Chuck a call tomorrow AM regarding these and confirm that the bigger stearing box doesn't interfere. The "center dump" design may actually be less cumbersome and make it easerier to route the pipe considering the fact that I have the PTO, hydraulic pump, etc. for the flatbed. I'll definitely post tomorrow!