My R4

[63larkr1]

I need some help.
We recently bought an R4 engine, but it has an R3 intake. I need an R4 intake and carbs.
It was shipped new to Toronto, Canada by Andy Granatelli to Jack Greenhalgh. Jack raced it in a 1938 Studebaker stock car.
If you have any information about this engine or an intake I would appreciate it.
Richard

[PackardV8]

Dave Thibault is your man. He has complete R4 setups.

Did you get the R3/4 exhausts? If not, Dave also has aluminum repops.

Recommend one of his distributors while you're building.

jack vines

[Hawklover]

Speak to Jon Myer........I would not purchase anything that was 're-poped' without speaking to Jon first.

[StudeRich]

Dave Thibault is your man. He has complete R4 setups.

Did you get the R3/4 exhausts? If not, Dave also has aluminum repops.

Recommend one of his distributors while you're building. jack vines

I am thinking this must be a Typo, surely NO ONE would make R3 Exhaust Manifolds out of Aluminum!

[Bordeaux Daytona]

I am thinking this must be a Typo, surely NO ONE would make R3 Exhaust Manifolds out of Aluminum!

Seen them last year at the South Bend May swap. They do exist.

[dean pearson]

What is average exhaust temperature? Aluminum melts around 1220f.
Flanges are aluminium too I take it, amazing there aren't warping issues.

Very cool stuff!

Dean.

[spokejr]

What is average exhaust temperature? Aluminum melts around 1220f.
Flanges are aluminium too I take it, amazing there aren't warping issues.

Very cool stuff!

Dean.

Has anybody any experience with these? Are they durable? Due to the heat transfer, the engine bay must be even worse for heat! On the otherhand, there must be a notable weight savings?

[PackardV8]

The aluminum exhaust manifolds wouldn't survive many full five mile pulls at Bonneville, but they're fine for drag racing and normal street driving. I ran a pair on the dyno and there was no problem. It should also be noted on this normally aspirated engine these aluminum R3 repops showed absolutely no horsepower gain over stock iron manifolds. On a supercharged engine or with professionally ported heads, there might be a horsepower gain.

jack vines

What is average exhaust temperature? Aluminum melts around 1220f.
Flanges are aluminium too I take it, amazing there aren't warping issues.

Very cool stuff!

Dean.

[Gunslinger]

In the early '60s Pontiac made up a number of aluminum exhaust manifolds for their "Swiss-cheese" cars made for the drag strip with lightening holes drilled through their frames for weight reduction. From what I read about their efforts there was molten aluminum on the track after each run. If that's true or hyperbole I don't know.

Maybe the casting and metallurgical technology has improved for such use today...or maybe Pontiac simply made cheap, throwaway castings for the purpose.

[63larkr1]

Jack,
I have the original R4 headers with it.
If anyone knows some of the history of this engine I would like to know more about it.
This is what my friend Peter Sant found.

http://www.csrhof.com/index.php/component/content/article/9-follow-ups/47-2014-induction-jack-grennhalgh

Richard

[bezhawk]

I rebuilt a set of original R4 numbered carbs for Nimish. I Think he sold the whole setup to someone in Australia.

[Hawklover]

But they look cool at shows.....indeed I know of a bone stock R-1 Avanti with a R-4 intake on it.....truth be told the car only has one operational carb on it....the other is for 'bragging" purposes only:-)

The aluminum exhaust manifolds wouldn't survive many full five mile pulls at Bonneville, but they're fine for drag racing and normal street driving. I ran a pair on the dyno and there was no problem. It should also be noted on this normally aspirated engine these aluminum R3 repops showed absolutely no horsepower gain over stock iron manifolds. On a supercharged engine or with professionally ported heads, there might be a horsepower gain.

jack vines

[StudeRich]

You do have to wonder how that Engine could run if it had R1 Heads?

There is no way to open up those Intake Ports large enough to fit the huge Intake runners on an R3 Intake!

So if it did have R3 Heads, then it was no longer a R1!

[Alan]

Lional Stone made both small and large port R4 manifolds.

[PackardV8]

You do have to wonder how that Engine could run if it had R1 Heads?

There is no way to open up those Intake Ports large enough to fit the huge Intake runners on an R3 Intake!

So if it did have R3 Heads, then it was no longer a R1!

There's always the possibility of a Lionel Stone repop manifold being involved. IIRC, they were available with R1 or R3/R4 ports.

jack vines