The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hello, New to the forum having just acquired my grandfathers Fordson major. It was purchased new by my great grandmother in 1952, so has sentimental value and I want to give it a going-over to bring it back to a servicable condition- not a full restoration though.
The first and main issue I have is the exhaust manifold needs replacing (see picture below). It is beyond repair even if this could be done, as it has a massive crack near #4 and about 1 inch of pipe missing from my grandfather continuing to use it for a number of decades in this condition pasture-improving several thousand acres with it....
I understand that the petrol/kero manifolds are not being reproduced, and would be as rare as hens teeth to find if a decent one could be found, So I'm asking what my options are. this is what I've come up with:
1) will a standard reproduction petrol exhaust manifold fit in its place if old one is unbolted from the 'hot-box' of the inlet? (are these the in-line bolt hole manifolds?)
2) if so, will the current inlet interfere with the fitment of the new manifold, requiring replacement of the inlet manifold also? (despite still working, it also has some outer melting issues and is the worse for wear)
3) if the petrol/kero manifold is indeed a unique set-up and cannot be replaced with repro parts, am I relegated to scrounging at tractor wrecking yards/searching in the bush for a usable manifold?

any advice greatly appreciated before I go spending hard-earned on new parts... thanks in advance,
Ben

Ben, excellent project, and congrads for wanting to keep a piece of your family’s history alive.
However you may be in for some heart brakes finding that manifold, I’m assuming you’re in the UK and from what I’ve read it is going to be a hard find, if you were in the US it would be a impossible find. If you could find a really good welder that has experience welding cast, he could most likely weld/braze patches onto your manifold with pieces from any old junk manifold.

Pat

An early Petrol Fordson. Nice! Hey Brian, Where are you? Brian is our Petrol major Expert. Dandy Dave!

I'm in Queensland, Australia. Seems we got a few of these Petrol/Kerosene Majors shipped here, relative to the number built. I've sent out a heap of emails to tractor wrecking yards to se if they have something usable. I'm used to scrounging for parts for cars, so this is a little different but all part of the fun! it also needs a waterpump (seems to be a heap of play in the bearing, but thats an easy fix compared to the manifold situation.

G'day Ben. [from WA ]
Not too long ago I had a crack and a small chunk missing from my SMD exh. manifold. Took it to an engineering firm and they welded it up as good as new.

Pavel

Are the ports the same as on the early diesel head? If so, could you buy a new manifold for an early diesel and modify it? If i were you personally i would try and find another complete manifold set up on a scrap engine because i expect that manifold would be a nightmare to take apart!