solution to ss manifolds cracking??

[HyperTek]

So i was thinking, that since those ebay ss manifold specials are known for cracking, is from the excess wieght carried on it with vibrations from the exhuast/engine...

Now if one was to poly fill thier motormounts or perhaps braced it, and also tighten up thier exhuast hangers... that might prolong the duration of the manifold's lifespan??

Another friend of mine told me about ceramic coating the manifold, that would deffinitaly prolong the life and that someone had done it and had thiers over a year... any thoughts?

[cali240sxdrifter]

am close to a year of having my SS manifold from autochrome. So far so good, its a hit or miss though with any product.


but I have nothing to help aid the mainfold. No Engine Damper, flex pipe, the bracket from the head to the manifold, no coats, nothing.

[ace240sx]

FIXES:

a). Replace cat/test pipe with a flex pipe.
b). Install Nismo or equivalent exhaust bushings.
c). Do not buy a ss manifold off ebay.

[sr240mike]

d) better bracing
e) cutting slots between ports

[Johny5]

i'm personally slotting the falange, installing 3" flex pipe in my dp, and welding in brackets on my actual manifold. $180 shipped for top mount ka24de t3 manifold, shit. too good to pass up. haha

[WILDACEX187]

by slotting the flange do u mean creating a space between the bolt holes? (sorry if it sounds stupid, sounded kinda dumb to me)

[Johny5]

well yes you bring up a good point. one good modification to falange is to round out the bolt holes to allow slight movement, along with taking a sawzall and putting angle cuts between the runners on the falange so it has more constant pressure on the gasket.

[sideview_180sx]

by slotting the flange do u mean creating a space between the bolt holes? (sorry if it sounds stupid, sounded kinda dumb to me)

to get an idea of the slots i.e. expansion slots. hit up fullrace.com for pics on it. hypertek drop the motor already, before the manifold breaks due to unuse. haha jk. just drop it in and find out. BTW you don't need to spend big $$$ on a hot pipe. just get home depot fence piping and get a flange made. voila same product and 1/5 the price. for the coating go to jet-hot.com for longevity definately worth it. but why not just stay OE manifold, long lasting, rarely hear of failures either. even henry is still on stock manifold(last that I can recall) only irwin switched over. and tey are making above 300hp.

[WILDACEX187]

http://www.emelecio.net/ifx/ifxpics/manifold_example.jpg

is that wat u guys mean?

[sr240mike]

That's not an sr20 manifold. But yeah its the same basic idea, except on an sr you wouldnt cut it where the holes are, it would be between the holes.

[WILDACEX187]

do u cut all the way through?

[Ian]

yes all the way through, in between the runners.

effectively making 4 flanges, 1 for each hole out of the head.


*edit*

oops, what a noob mistake...this is old :bite:

[HyperTek]

How effect would that be tho? Cuz these manifolds usually crack at the turbo flange.. My friend linked me to some threads on hondatech where they brace the turbo to the engine block and success
http://www.slammdsol.com/files/DSC00008.jpg
http://www.slammdsol.com/photos/new/000_0180.jpg

And not soo lucky people
http://www.redpepperracing.com/gallery/albums/album351/aas.jpg
Id figure a FF car would be the worst example cuz the engine torques back and forth, while the exhuast trys to hold the turbo in a fixed position, which causes stress on the manifold + heat.

[Ian]

yeah, i'm pretty sure good motor mounts and a flex pipe would take care of your issues


i know some guys running the MR manifold and they dont have problems...I also know of a guy that is sponsored by SSauto and runs a whole turbo setup from them and he has no problems

[JDMs13]

[QUOTE=mainevent212]yes all the way through, in between the runners.

effectively making 4 flanges, 1 for each hole out of the head.


You dont want to cut all the way through. Just cut grooves inbetween the ports, expansion chambers i've heard them called. If you cut all the way through, when you take your manifold off, those seperated runners will spring in whatever direction they want. Just grooves.

[Ian]

really? i've always seen them cut all the way through

[Johny5]

yeah chris jex was telling me that the other week, don't cut all the way through, you'll never get constant pressure application from falange to head ever again on all 4 runners.

[khoadogg]

I have a similar manifold and I'm gonna drop it off to get it reinforced just for safe measures. Shoud I upgrad the up pipe and wrap the mani as well? port the turbo a bit?

[sideview_180sx]

just get the mani ceramic-coated inside and out www.jet-hot.com. wrapping the mani and/or the turbo shortens the life of the mani and holds moisture. ususally ceramic-coated is followed with heat wrap to fight rust-corrosion. also simply put its the materials used. I never here of stock manifolds cracking unless serious abuse is the culprit. hell just port out the stock turbo-mani(if SR) and get it coated and weld up bracing to the KA manifolds, hell buy a quality manifold for KA. look under FAQ for available manis. along with www.ka-t.org

[2JZGTE]

Here's a pic of my Full-race for supra.

http://elit3.com/upload/Full-race9.jpg

http://elit3.com/upload/Full-race8.jpg

The flange is cut all the way through in the middle, and the bolt holes are also slit through. Maybe this will help someone.

billy

[HyperTek]

I really wouldnt tell people to go back to stock manifold if I didnt have any experience myself.. so telling someone to go port a stock manifold doesnt help him with his ss manifold, nor bracing a KA manifold which isnt even his motor.. lol :fawk2:

I doubt slotting or grooving the head flange will do much on our 4 cylinder motors, being these manifolds crack at the turbo flange. Im gonna ghetto brace the turbo to the block like those honda guys did. Flex pipe in the downpipe, and solid/fill the motor mounts and exhuast. If it cracks in a few weeks, then ill be upset, but if it cracks in 6 months, Ill be fine with it.

[Ian]

why spend 250 bucks on a manifold that will last 6 months?

if i'm gonna buy an exhaust manifold, i want it to last until i feel like going in and messing w/ my setup, and that shit shouldnt fail a moment sooner