68 GTO exhaust manifolds
 

Hello, I recently picked up a decent driver quality ‘68 GTO for a fair price. It ‘s had one repaint many years ago covering the original burgundy with what looks like carousel red. Otherwise the car seems pretty stock and unrestored. I’m curious about the exhaust manifolds though. The passenger side has a leak which I’ll Repair soon and I’m looking at exhaust options. I’ve even thought about going with headers but I want someone to ID the manifolds first. They look like HO manifolds to me in which case I would just stay with them. It’s a base engine and I’m wondering if someone upgraded at some point or maybe those are standard for a ‘68? Thanks!!

Nice driver Goat! I love it! If you are sure you have a base motor, then the Ram Air manifolds must have been added. These are 100% the way to go, they have very good flow- about 95% of a tube header, and seal up to the engine so much better than headers! You can get reproductions of these that look and perform great, I put them on my GT-37, love them......

I think I may double check the engine code tonight. It's really hard to see some of the numbers.

I checked again and it’s a WT block. Thanks for the info and comments!

So, the passenger side HO manifold pictured had a leak at the cylinder closest to the firewall when I bought it. No big deal, right. I bought some new gaskets from Ames and installed it last night. Still leaking, probably worse than before. It's crazy to me that there are only 4 bolts holding it on there, two of which are at one cylinder. So, what tips can you guys give to get these manifolds to seal?
Thanks!

Wish my memory was better because I recall that Paul Knippen (Paul K on this forum) has a part that bolts on the end of the Pontiac cylinder head and comes around to supply a place to screw in the manifold bolt where no holes were drilled in the head for a bolt. I believe he sells these parts on eBay. Wish I had the link for you.

You are probably going to have to pull it off and see if it's warped. And if so, try to have it machined flat again. Check the exhaust ports for pitting or erosion from the leak.

Hopefully one of the RamAir types will chime in with a solution, I'm sure they've come up with something to seal these manifolds.