Once upon a time hot rodders worked with the materials readily at hand to build their machines. During those formative days, one of the easiest ways to increase performance was to improve the exhaust flow, and resourceful rodders dicovered that the inner driveshaft found under a 1936 Ford would provide a perfect pair of tapered cones to be used as main exhaust tubes and the basis for a pair of sexy lakes-style headers.
One of the purveyors of truthful and useful hot rods built with the techniques and ideas of the golden age of rodding is Jimmy White, the owner and proprietor of Circle City Hot Rods in Orange, California. Jimmy has built many graceful headers so we were thoroughly excited when he invited us to tag along while he built a pair using the old '36 Ford driveshaft method. Follow along as we take a trip into the past.
The path to a sweet set of...
The path to a sweet set of headers begins by cutting the ends off an original '36 Ford inner driveshaft right behind the point where the splined shaft is welded to the tube.
The tube was then measured...
The tube was then measured to find the middle so that it could be cut into two equal pieces.
A disc grinder was used to...
A disc grinder was used to neatly clean up the cut edges, resulting in a pair of perfectly matched tapered pieces.
After the ends were cut off,...
After the ends were cut off, a small piece of the splined shaft was left inside the ends of the tube. Using a long piece of appropriately sized tubing, the splined remnant was gently tapped out of the inner driveshaft tube and discarded.
A new pair of laser-cut header...
A new pair of laser-cut header flanges were dressed and smoothed for appearance purposes and then bolted to the heads.
The first bend was slightly...
The first bend was slightly flared at a local muffler shop to fit correctly into the end of the cut-down driveshaft. The header was then eyeballed into position until it looked right.
After adding a small connector...
After adding a small connector piece to the header flange, the first corner was trimmed and tack welded into place. The mocked-up header follows the lines of the vehicle perfectly. Jimmy takes the time to stand back and carefully study the headers from all angles to ensure happiness with the finished product.
The first of the 1 5/8-inch...
The first of the 1 5/8-inch down tubes was cut in the bandsaw from U-bends supplied by B&C Industries. Then the sweeping ends of the down tubes were also cut in the bandsaw, but this step can be duplicated with hand shears.
A drum sander was used to...
A drum sander was used to shape the end of the down tubes to best fit the cut-down torque tube.
Once the down pipe fit the...
Once the down pipe fit the torque tube, it was marked for trimming to meet the small upper pipe attached to the header flange.
The sweep of the down pipe...
The sweep of the down pipe was then copied to make the rest of the down pipes. Repeating the same steps, the rest of the down pipes were tacked into place. Before the header was disassembled, machinist dye was sprayed on the header and a scribe was then used to mark the placement of each down tube.
The tack welds were then cut...
The tack welds were then cut and the main header pipe was separated from the header assembly. A hole cutter was used to begin the process of opening up the main header pipe.
The oval-shaped exhaust passage...
The oval-shaped exhaust passage openings were carefully rough-cut with a cut-off wheel and then finished with a rotary grinder.
Once each exhaust opening...
Once each exhaust opening had been cut into the torque tube, it was reattached to the pipes with a few tack welds. A Scotch-Brite wheel was used to clean the header for maximum weld penetration in preparation for final welding.
The inside of the upper exhaust...
The inside of the upper exhaust tubes were the first to receive final welding. Finish welding of all the tubes required the greatest amount of talent and concentration.
The finished product is a...
The finished product is a thing of functional beauty.
The same process used in this...
The same process used in this buildup can be repeated on just about any powerplant. Here is a similar style header built by Circle City Hot Rods for a Ford Flathead.