fast67vellen2o

SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD

Nice pair of original W&Z exhaust manifolds. Nothing cracked, broken or repaired. All threaded holes are good. On ebay with no reserve and a $9.99 opening bid.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140753171496...84.m1558.l2649

Thanks guys,
-Matt

m371961

teach me. Will these work on a 65 98 with 425?

fast67vellen2o

Honestly I am not sure. I just know they fit 1969-1972 Cutlass.

-Matt

Allan R

I don't believe they will. Check the location of your crossover pipe. I think it dumps down in the middle. IIRC the 65 has the power steering gearbox behind the front axle instead of in front. That creates a clearance issue. Thornton does make a reproduction exhaust manifold for the drivers side if you're trying to go with dual exhaust. But the W/Z won't give that clearance because of the dump angle. Take a look at this link and you can see how the drivers side manifold is radically different: http://gawain.membrane.com/~thornton/manifold.html

m371961

Thanks Allen, I kind of figured that, but the link you sent spelled it out. That straight dump won't work. Just looking for a cheaper option then a new one from Thorton. If I ever sell this car, don't want to lose money like I always seem to do.

Allan R

I hear you. Cars are $$ pits while you own them. The only guy I've ever seen make $$ on cars was a guy I worked with named Tim. He'd buy them cheap, do some cheap repairs, power polish, steam the interior and engine. He could do basic welding and painting too. Bought on Friday, flipped for an extra 2000 the following week. He is a car guy, but more of a money hog. Cars were just toys to play with temporarily to him.

Hawk1061

I'm curious. How do you tell a repro set of manifolds from OEM?

Also what's something like this realistically worth?

Allan R

The Thorntons W/Z are an exact match to OEM right down to the casting numbers. Their SBO manifolds are easy to tell, they never existed to start with and have THORNTONS cast onto the manifold.

Realistically they're worth what Thornton is asking. On the web, OEM's are worth 1) what the seller sets as reserve, or 2) what buyers are willing to pay.

Just as an FYI, if you took a pair of stock OEMs and cleaned them up, and then baked them with a cast colored ceramic finish I doubt you could tell them from the repro. Thornton has an excellent reputation. Just look at their OAI hood and breather elements, + their body shop as proof. Troy stands behind his work and products.

EDIT: Thorntons is licensed to produce those repro parts by GM

fast67vellen2o

Just to let everyone know... these are GM originals and there is no reserve. So I guess we're going to see where the open market puts them in relation to the reproductions.

Hawk1061

Allan R,

Thanks, I'm new to this and didn't know about Thornton's. I went to their website and it appears that it's either $150 for each side or $275 for a pair. Based on your response, it sounds like Thornton's adds a baked cast colored ceramic finish, though that is not clear at the Thornton's website. As you say, they are worth what someone is willing to pay for them, so I probably should have asked my question differently.

For those who have several (or more) years of experience with Oldsmobile's under their belts, how often do people sell OEM W and Z exhaust manifolds in this condition? Also, what is the highest price anyone has seen a pair of OEM's go for? What is the lowest price they're known to have gone for? What is the average price a pair of these manifolds go for? As I said, I'm new and don't have enough experience to know what they 'should' be valued at... would anyone with many years of experience share their knowledge with a noob?

Thanks,
Steve

stevengerard

Matt's opening price was obviously way below market, I just looked and they are already at $227. I usually do not see originals go for less than $250 a pair, doesn't mean they won't but average price for originals are 225 - 300, many times much more. Matt's look like they are in great condition. Interestingly each of his manifolds are date-coded 30 days apart. I have 6 pairs of these and not one matching pair is within a weeks date code of each other. most are weeks apart.

There are always sets available - folks used to claim they were W30 only items, we are smarter now

Hawk1061

Thanks Steven, much appreciated.

Allan R

Steven, I didn't know you'd turned into a hoarder
I agree they will go for a good price and the bidding competition seems to be healthy. IMO Olds purists (if that's the right word) tend to want the OEM parts more than aftermarket repops, so with these ones being presented so nicely it's likely the bidding will go a fair bit higher.

My ^^ comments earlier were not to discourage; I simply have been watching the market prices and comparing them with 'availability' now. I don't need manifolds, but if I did I would consider these. However, since I like restoring things myself I would prolly be inclined to buy ones that need cleanup to reduce the original purchase cost. We all know what these manifolds have the potential for and it's the inside that does the dirty business

stevengerard

Me neither, I had no idea I had so many. I need to change out the starter and was thinking of cleaning up the manofolds on the car now, then I remembered I had an extra pair and thought I'd clean those up and just swap them if the numbers were close. Turns out I had a bunch made throughout the year - as mentioned no pair within days of each other.

BTW I have seen these also go for cheap $150 for a pair that need to be cleaned up - even cheaper occasionally (mostly on here as folks are very fair). And really the repos would do just fine. who is ever going to check a date code on those things anyway.

fast67vellen2o

These end tonight (Sunday 5/20).

Thanks guys.
-Matt