This issue I find that I'll be doing something different than I have
in the previous 6 issues. This installment I have not been able to complete my
research to the point where I am able to bring you the next chapter in the story of the 12
port heads. I have tried an will continue to attempt to bring the history of the 12
port heads along in somewhat of a chronological order. I have prepared stories for
some of the newer or more recently developed 12 ports but I want to keep things in order
and the information on the Wayne Chevy and Wayne GMC heads which I had hoped to bring you
in this issue just isn't quite finished. I must accumulate a bit more information
before I feel it will be ready for the old printing presses. I'm trying to give you
the whole story and not part of it. So thanks for being so understanding. I do
hope to be back on track by the next issue.
There is one area that I do need help in and I'll take this
opportunity to express that need. As you may have noticed in earlier issues, we
asked for all our readers who owned or have ever owned a 12 Port head of any manufacture,
to please write us and give us that information. Later, we published a "12 Port
Register" and listed some of those individuals who had responded. Your humble
author is in the process of writing a book on the history of the 12 port heads.
These regular installments here in "The 12 Port News" have served and will
continue to serve as a fine place to rough out the material for the book.
Naturally, the book will have more detail than these articles and certainly, more
photos. The area I need help on is this: in the book, I hope to list as many of the
12 port heads still in existence as possible, with the name and city and state of the
current owner. In the case of some of the more famous heads, (like the Iocono head),
I hope to trace total ownership from casting to present. Therefore, if you currently
own a 12 port head of any type, but any manufacturer, no matter what the condition, please
write to me and give me all the information you can about it. Such info as when you
purchased it and from whom, it completeness, etc., current use or planned use. Also,
if you know someone who owns a 12 port head send me their name and address also.
This will help double check and reach guys who might not read this or write in.
Also, if you owned a 12 port at one time and no longer have it, please let me know who you
purchased it from and when, also to who you sold it and when you sold it, (a part of the
history of that head). Naturally all this information will be held confidentially,
"no salesman will call", and before using your name in the book, the normal
legal releases will be obtained, so there will be no surprises. Frankly guys, this
may seem a bit boring to all of you but it is very necessary for me in my attempts to
provide a comprehensive history of this special aspect of American Hot Rodding history,
and I need your help and thank you for it. Remember, if you own more than one 12
port, list them all, I thank each of you in advance for helping me out. Please send
this information directly to me, so as to not burden our busy and dedicated Editor with
info that is primarily intended for my book. Thanks. Write me at: Herbert D.
Hall, P.O. Box 96, Scottville, Mich. 49454.