Needed: Heat riser for '56

[Charlie Petty]

Anyone have one?
Thanks much.

[Dan LeBlanc]

I believe these can be had new for around $120 from USA Parts Supply.

[David King (kz78hy)]

Cooper's has them as well.  That's were I bought mine.

David

[Charlie Petty]

I see Cooper's is less expensive, but I was trying to avoid paying the price for a new one.  Guess the chances of finding a decent used one are slim. 

[Otto Skorzeny]

You can make your own pretty easily.

[D.Yaros]

I see Cooper's is less expensive, but I was trying to avoid paying the price for a new one.  Guess the chances of finding a decent used one are slim. 

tony@allcads.com has them, but they ain't cheap!

Otto - since this is a quite problem for all vintage car owners, would you care to expound a bit on the process of making a heat riser?  I for one would be interested; particularly since I have had to purchase this item for 2 different cars!

[Otto Skorzeny]

You're talking about the little tube that comes up from the passenger side manifold to the carb, right?

It's like making brake lines. Use the tubing benders to make all the bends. Use the old one for a pattern or use a piece of wire to get the shape and transfer it to the tubing.

I just searched my photos for pictures of mine during the rebuild but I couldn't find any. I wrapped it in that white braided cloth sleeve. I'll keep looking for a picture.

[Dan LeBlanc]

I think he's refering to the heat riser valve in the exhaust, not the choke heater tube.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Oh, that stupid thing.

Take it apart, remove the butterfly and put it back on. If you don't have one, leave it off and make your exhaust pipe an inch longer.

[David King (kz78hy)]

I was referring to the valve on the LH exhaust manifold.  If you live in a warm climate, then removing it and adding a spacer, or lengthening the take down pipe is an option.

When I was going through my car, I wanted to put it back correctly, so I put in a new one.  My original was rusted up so badly that it never freed up after many soakings w/penetrating oil.

With that in the system, your freshly painted intake manifold will burn the paint off quickly on the crossover runners.

David

[Otto Skorzeny]

Right. They always rust up. Just put the housing in with the valve removed.

Even if you live in cold climes it will start and run just fine without it. Just let it warm up a little longer.

If there's snow on the ground you're not going to be driving the car anyway.

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

Now this suggestion of eliminating the heat riser valve brings up the question of doing the same thing to a flathead.  In this case the action required would be to block the exhaust passage under the carb.  If the car is not driven in carb icing situations it seems like this would help in the summer by not having the intake manifold being heated continuously.  Has anyone tried this?

[D.Yaros]

You're talking about the little tube that comes up from the passenger side manifold to the carb, right?

It's like making brake lines. Use the tubing benders to make all the bends. Use the old one for a pattern or use a piece of wire to get the shape and transfer it to the tubing.

Well, that explains it.  No, that is not what I was thinking/talking about.  My reference is to the spring loaded flapper valve just below the exhaust manifold on the driver side.  With the passage of time they become frozen in either the open or closed position.

Easy to live with if frozen open, problematic if frozen closed.

[Dan LeBlanc]

I was able to get mine working again.  The car had sit in a field for 25 years and we use lots of salt here, so God knows how long before that it was rusted.  I took some stove oil (or furnace oil) and put it in a jar and soaked it for two weeks.  I then clamped it in a vice and was able to break it loose.  Worked it back and forth a few times and it was just as free as a new one and worked as such.  Didn't have to dismantle it or anything.  I've got another one for my 61 Fleetwood that I'm going to do also.

I'm also thinking of trying the 50/50 mix of acetone to transmission fluid as I read somewhere else on the site.  Apparently, it works better than penetrating oil, so I'm going to give it a shot.