1912-early ‘13 exhaust manifold and pipe question

[Darren J Wallace]

Hey guys, I recently discovered my early ‘13 Canadian touring still has it’s original exhaust manifold which has a bore for the exhaust pipe and no flare. It doesn’t have any packing in it and leaks a bit. What is safe to use for packing? I can’t flare the pipe as there’s no where for the flare to seal against. I have some ceramic cloth I bought from Restoration Supply Company a while back to wrap my ‘05 Queen muffler with. I was thinking about cutting a thin long strip and use it as packing. Thanks in advance!

[TXGOAT2]

Did it ever have any packing? Old Harley Davidson heads had a smooth bore in the exhaust ports and the header pipes were a slip fit. They probably leaked very little when new, but the ones I've enountered all did leak to some degree. You might be able to use an exhaust pipe expansion tool to expand your header pipe at the manifold end to get a better fit in the exhaust manifold. If the parts are in good condition, you could get a tight slip fit that would leak very little, if any.

[TWrenn]

No expert in this, but I would think just about any type of high heat resistant "cloth type" material would work.

[Mark Gregush]

Restoration Supply Company sells 1 if not more exhaust packing rope sizes by the foot. There is where I got mine for the Dodge.
https://restorationstuff.com/

[Darren J Wallace]

Thanks guys!!

[Wayne Sheldon]

I have known a few people to wrap a single turn of standard copper electrical wire around the pipe. Whatever size fits best, usually 12 or 14 gauge.
Just an idea.