A Leaky Exhaust Gets New Glands

Our 1915 didn’t sound right. We were planning to take it on a tur this weekend so the source of the exhaust leek needed to be identified and repaired. Looking closely around all the exhaust ports didn’t reveal any sooty spots. So we decided to take the manifold off to see what the deal was.

The first thing to do when removing an exhaust manifold is to remove the key, then the mat, and finally the floor boards.

Our manifold exhaust pipe nut was too tight to budge. We started the engine and let it heat up for a few minutes.

With the nut and the engine hot the nut moved easily.

After a turn with the wrench the nut spun easily with a gloved hand – it was still hot!

At this point I went inside to eat lunch and let the engine cool down.

The first step is removing the two center exhaust / intake clamps.

Some extra clamps were cut in half so they could be used for this job. No sense using 6 glands when only four are needed. I installed the two half clamps to keep the intake in place.

The front and rear clamps are removed and the manifold can be pulled off. The throttle linkage rod was in my way so that got removed too. On most Model T’s that step won’t be necessary.

With the manifold removed the leak is easy to see. Look at all the soot on #4 exhaust port – I had left the ring and the gland off completely so it was guaranteed to leak.

Close up of the leak.

I cleaned the rings and the manifold using the high speed angle motor and the fiberglas wheel. then I put a thin bead of RTV on the rings, installed them and slipped a new set of copper glands on the rings. The sealant is not totally needed, but it is sort of a belt and suspenders approach that makes certain there will be no leaks.

The block was also cleaned to expose shiny metal so a good seal could be made.

I carefully reinstalled the exhaust manifold and the end clamps. There is no torque spec, Ford never used torque wrenches in the Model T era. A typical 3/8″ ratchet is plenty to tighten the nuts.

The half clamps were removed from the intake and the full clamps reinstalled. Then the exhaust manifold / muffler pipe nut can be installed and tightened. Time for a test run!

Once the engine is warm the pack nut needs to be tightened again. I got about another 1/3 turn. Failure to perform this step will guarantee the nut comes off while driving.