The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Speaking of headers, Fenton's that is!

Question withdrawn, up sets to many people.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I believe Patrick Dykes ([email protected]) is the current owner of the Fenton patterns, both intake and exhaust.

regards,
Leon

Last time I was out at Patrick's in Casa Grande, he had a whole crate of them that he had cast off shore. I think he either bought or is leasing the trade mark. Mothertrucker who is on this site sells them on eBay and has the best price I have seen. I kept some of the 50's Hot Rod magazines that had GMC and Y-Block stuff in them. Possibly I will find an ad in there. You might ask on the H.A.M.B. The head guy is about 50 miles from here, and they have a lot of old geezers my age and older who are pretty knowledgeable about rods on the board.

owner/designer was Aaron J Fenton - not listed here, so you likely won't find anything about him, but you could try asking there

Bill

While you’re researching see if you can find some documentation or tests to back up this statement:


“The Fenton header is a MUCH more efficient header and to my eye a lot better looking
than the Vette “manifold.”


Since the cylinder head (specifically the exhaust valve shrouding) is the weak link in the chain I can’t see that any appreciable difference would be found between the vette manifold and the Fentons.


As for looks IMO the 2 different outlet directions looks goofy and the heat tube setup looks like “exhaust system life support” not to mention the 2 different gasket types required.

Curt, the heat tube setup that is commonly seen on most Fenton setups these days is on the versions that they sell now, rather than originals. Original Fentons had an oem style heat riser on the rear manifold. That meant that there had to be 2 different rear manifolds for GM, since the GMC engine is longer. The reason that the riser has been eliminated on the current versions is so that the same parts will fit both Chevrolet and GMC.

The current Fentons will not fit a GMC engine without modifications. Here's how I did it.

Intersting. It doesn't suprise me that modifcations would have to be made to make them work with the GMC correctly, though. I actually had to do some of the same modifications to make them work on my Chevrolet with an Offenhauser intake.

You win Curt, sure hate to voice my opinion and have it upset anyone, I'll withdraw all I've posted so it doesn't bother you.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny: I don’t have to agree with your opinion to value and respect it and am disappointed when you delete it for any reason. You certainly didn’t upset me and I can’t see why anyone would be.



Bill: I’m familiar with and am a fan of those the old Fentons. My issue is the tubes connected to the exhaust manifold looks way too similar to the air pump nonsense in my 1980’s winter beater Blazer and IMO looks like a “band aid” solution. I have not seen anyone share this opinion so if I’m the only one so be it and I don’t think anyone here should feel obligated to withdraw their’s.

http://www.victorylibrary.com/graphics/235/Manifolds/Corvette/Adimage8469.JPG

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/DZAUTO/Exhaust/705561-R1-13-12A.jpg

Curt,

Since we are just speculating and stating opinions, here are my weak opinions:

1. What produces efficiency? The Fenton unit certainly has smoother turns/curves for the exhaust flow. I would not even dare to guess/state if the difference would be measurable.

2. Yes, the Corvette's heating of the intake manifold is much neater (see image above).

3. Is it possible hat the angles of the Fenton outlets were chosen to: (1) rearward piece: allow the attachment of the standard/original car/truck exhaust pipe (the correct angle)? Also, might the angle of the forward Fenton pipe have been chosen to avoid interference when used in an automobile?

3. The use of two different styles of gaskets is hard to understand/explain.

two different gaskets?
want to enlighten me on that one? I'm about a day out from mounting up my fentons on my 261....

It was explained to me that the different outlets of the headers was to allow for the use of the original down pipe. And that the other angle was for clearance of the steering box... maybe in a car because I can't see the issue in a truck.
Jeremy

Look at the exhaust end of your Fentons. The early cast ones use a donut on one header and a gasket on the other. If you have them like that, it's very easy to spot.

who cares how efficient they are, they are cool.

G
I'm a bit confused by this thread since Denny withdrew his initial post but I'm interest in the topic so I vote for Denny to repost so the discussion can continue.

I have Fentons on my 37 and had been looking for a Vette manifold so I could heat the intake but after I found out how much money they bring the 40 something dollar heat kit for the Fentons was way more in my budget,I wanted the Vette manifold to tell the so called experts I usually run into at shows and cruise ins it was a original accessory to try to fool them more then with my 235 that I made look like a 216.

there is really bad news Jeff, there was a corvette manifold that just went for $385 on ebay last week. Not free, but considering the rarity of these wasn't too bad.

I will have to look more closely on ebay from now on,I found one locally for 700.00 and it needed work and another at a swapmeet for 1200.00. I have been lately watching for a tach drive distributor and found one on ebay that had a starting price of 1500.00 so I kind of gave up on looking for Vette parts due to the prices some think they are worth but will have to resume looking.

I was at an auction a few years ago when an early 235 with an Offy intake and Corvette manifold was sold. The whole package went for $1200 bucks. It had a mismatched pair of carbs, the engine was even locked up, and one of the flanges on the exhaust was broken. The price tells you how much hot rodders love those early speed parts.

Thanks DrewP.
I saw that, I just wanted to make sure that's all there is.
I just discovered how much modifying I need to do to these fentons to make them fit. The forward tab on the rear set is cast too tall and pitches the header down hill towards the firewall.
I only noticed when I went to mock up my headers and Offy intake before I send the headers out to be coated.
Better now than later!