Custom CV Manifold

[57pan]

Last year I put a CV carb on my 57. I really liked the way it worked but it stuck out further than the old carb and the air cleaner forced my right leg into a somewhat awkward position. It was especially annoying in cold weather because I couldn't keep my leg up against the tank to reduce the wind. It probably wasn't sticking out all that much further than the old one but I looked things over and decided that it would be possible to tuck the CV back in between the cylinders a little if I could modify the manifold. The S&S two-bolt manifolds aren't that expensive so I figured I didn't have much to lose so I decided to go for it.

The original manifold.

ManifoldStock.jpg (66.22 KiB) Viewed 607 times

The sectioned manifold prior to welding.

ManifoldShort.jpg (61.53 KiB) Viewed 607 times

CV carb installed on new manifold.

ManifoldInstalled2.jpg (87.9 KiB) Viewed 607 times

The result is that now the carb does not stick out as far and my right leg position is back to normal. I haven't noticed any adverse effects of the change - I have put a couple hundred miles on it in 90 deg. weather, which is pretty hot for Michigan (although, I'm sure Craig in Arizona can't wait for the temperatures to get down to 90 ). Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

[RussW]

Looks good. I did the same sort of thing with an SU upswept manifold to mount my CV. Removed about a 1.5" section, rewelded and smoothed out the inner weld with a dremel. Tucks the carb in close and low enough that I can easily remove the carb top under the stock tanks.

[john HD]

looks nice, i need to do that to mine.

john

[Panacea]

57, when mine is ready, just let me know!.... It,s hard to say by looking at the pics, how much did you shorten the manifold? Mine has the screamin' eagle air cleaner so it sticks out far enough to make my foot miss the brake pedal, so an inch would help...Mike

[57pan]

It's hard to say exactly how much I removed - about 1.5 inches I'd say.

I bought an extra insulating spacer and gaskets in case I removed too much and needed to space it back out some, but did not need to use them.