I came across a few things the other day. They had all been on a hot rodded 1936 Ford in the 50's. The car got cup in pieces and was spread on a field in NorCal back in the day, but a few things from the engine is still around. I bought these parts from the original owner of that 36 coupe. I am trying to figure out when the intake was made. When did Eddie Meyer start using his teardrop logo?? I am thinking mid 30's? Would appreciate information. Thanks / Hank
Actually it was a water warmed intake. The coolant was used to heat it up for better atomization on the street just like the exhaust cross over on a modern factory V8 intake. Mine came with 2 fined block off plates to cover the holes when used on a race car when the heat was not wanted.
I can't say for sure but I believe it was prewar. They made more than one prewar intake. The top one came with mine. The vendor said that the logo was ground off. Later I found one with the logo and discovered that they were never the same. I only noticed it when this picture was taken. If you look at the fuel pump mount, they are different heights. Your base is different still! So there were at least 3. The much more common reproduction manifold is post war. At least that is what I've been told.... contrary to popular belief,I was not around yet when these were made. let a lone hotrodding cars.
The Eddie Meyer water heated intake was made in Los Angeles and Eddie Meyer started producing these manifolds around 1939. The manifold you have with the block letters embossed on it is the one he first produced and the manifolds with the Eddie Meyer logo on it were made a few years later. Eddie Meyer only made these intakes prior to WW2 and it is anyone's guess as to how many were made. These intakes are one of my favourite flathead intake manifolds. They have that real hot rod look to them.
Thanks for that info. Always good to learn more..Yes, i do love that intake as well. Unfortunately i don't have a flathead in any of my cars, so it will be up for sale.
Hey there, Crashhead. Congrats on a really nice find! That's a seriously rare and desirable piece and should help fund a lot of other hot rod stuff when you sell it. Everything you've heard so far is spot-on and I'll only ad stuff that I know about that hasn't been filled in yet. This is most definitely a pre-war Meyer intake, as it is a "block letter" piece and Eddie Meyer didn't have his familiar tear-drop logo designed until right after the war. I believe in '46. I had a good friend who worked at the shop in the immediate post-war years as a machinist and engine builder and he told me the following; Eddie Meyer ( or, the "old man", as his employees called him ) was not at all interested in things like logos and brands but his son Eddie Jr ( Bud ) certainly was and convinced his father to go the couple of bucks and invest in a design. Eddie Meyer Speed Equipment was a favorite among not only auto racers ( Eddie Sr's brother was Louie Meyer after all... the first three time Indy 500 winner ), but boat racers as well. Hence the midget racer/racing boat combo in the tear-drop crest. Bud even took the sport up and was very competitive until a near fatal high speed accident in competition on the water. I have this identical intake on an engine and have seen very very few. I know of two having sold in the past 5 years and both went in the $2,500 range. Yours appears to be in great shape and only in need of a good pressure wash. Whatever you do, don't let someone talk you into media blasting it in any way. You'll negatively effect the value if you do. Nothing beats an original raw casting and people will pay money for that. Interestingly, I know of one example of this intake with no writing or logo on it whatsoever. It is owned by a friend and he's had it since the '50s. We both believe his to be one of the very first that Meyer cast up, possibly a prototype as the casting is absolutely identical to mine with the block logo. They did produce this intake for a short while after the war using the new tear-drop logo in the same location as your block letter logo but it was soon replaced by the very attractive high rise two-pot intake that features the tear-drop logo wedged between the two carburetor stands. Though this post-war design is a great looking intake ( forgive me Eddie Meyer ) it is a very poor intake in comparison to the earlier design, as it pertains to performance, because of its separate bore design which not only splits your carbs down the middle, absolutely, but also provides no common plenum. Unless your carbs are as true and in tune as perfectly functioning fuel injection nozzles, you'll never have as smooth running an engine as you get with the earlier design. Believe me, I have both intakes and have done a side by side. Congratulations again on a great find and enjoy your time owning a truly great piece of early hot rod history.
Thank you very much for that information. Good to know more about it! It is indeed a very nice intake.
My Dad has had this one (early, no logo) since he was in high school. He's just now getting around to building a car around it. Cris
Sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I wanted to chime in for a couple of reasons. 1st is that I became the owner of this very manifold last year and am very happy to have acquired my holy grail of flathead intake manifolds, let alone one that is in such perfect shape as this, and also one of a handful of the earliest design with the open (undevided) runners. 2nd, I wanted to say thank you very much to the OP Hank @Crashhead and also to David Steele @Steelworks. I am very grateful to David for offering up the advise to not media blast this manifold! It has been cleaned, but only with, I'm assuming, soap and water. Also I'm very grateful to Hank for following David's advise, and cleaning it so carefully! I had been searching for one of these manifolds for a while and couldn't be happier! Enjoy the pics, but please know that none of these items are for sale. Not the intake, the original heads, and especially not the Eddie Meyer distributor that has old school dry lakes racing history. Thanks, Theo You can see more on my Instagram account, especially if you're into flatheads, engine building, Babbitt bearings and other old engines. @AroundTheBlockEngines is my handle there.
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