ebay exhaust manifold, need reinforcement?

[callphy]

got an ebay exhaust manifold

just wonder if i should ask welder to reweld it, would that reduce the chance of cracking?

 

[malcantry]

reweld no, if it were my manifold i would make 1 or 2 bar/flatbar style pieces that go directly from one flange to the other. that way when you shift / when your engine moves.. it doesnt put all the torque on the pipes, youve got more of a solid piece. try to use same thickness material, both would be softer stainless (304 or 309) if not steel, but you need to make sure, cross-material welding causes cracks!

 

[Brian_K]

cool! i've been wondering if anyone had one of these. please let us know how it fits up and the changes in performance!

 

[hornsfan10609]

You may have to get the flanges machined true so they don't leak, good luck I hope it works for you.

 

[callphy]

i dont think u can get performance gain from it,

its actually smaller than OEM gallaway, the only good thing about it is just less rust around the area i guess

i just wanna replace as much rusty parts as possible

 

[callphy]

the gasket come with it looks like a 2 pieces metal with a sponge kind of filling, so i think its pretty leakfree.

 

[VIPMSP]

it's a thunder mani replica... and yes, it will break. highly recommend reinforcing it with significant welds.

 

[tweety2300]

What the Honda people do with their eBay manifolds is get a garret gasket set ( eBay and felpro is garbage, I've went through 2 felpros) have the flanges milled flat as stated and have the braces made. Then get a good quality flex pipe to absorb any excess movement an it won't crack unless you tear a motor mount and don't fix it. It's still cheaper than the quality manifolds that will still crack if you don't set it up properly

 

[ap123]

make sure you check the holes are drilled properly too. i got an ebay mani at first and the holes hadn't been drilled properly.

If the exhaust gasket looks like this material its trash, and you must buy a proper gasket (ebay crap normally comes with this type of gasket, it ALWAYS LEAKS!!! DO NOT USE IT!!): http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00latQpEgBKTtD/Exhaust-Gasket-Materials-And-Exhaust-Gasket.jpg

+1, Felpro isn't great i've had one leak on me too.

I change the gasket every time i take the turbo off even if its good, a leaky manifold gasket is no fun!
The oem one worked great for me. This manifold is such a pain to torque down you should really invest in good gaskets. The best turbo to mani gasket has to be SCE gasket. But they're special order, the ATPturbo gasket i got now seams to be doing its job.

 

[destineal]

+1 on the SCE gasket, but expect to wait on it to be made

 

[callphy]

i got new gasket from mazda already

btw whats the stud size for it

M8 x 1.25 x38mm x10studs ?

 

[Austin13]

i just got a mani in the mail because my stock one was leaking. i got my new one from protegegarage and the holes dont line up. is it bad to drill the holes to make it fit?

 

[Spiced MSP]

I think Preferio bought that same manifold for his car a while back. Don't expect it to last forever though. You get what you pay for

 

[tweety2300]

No manifold lasts or ever. I've been through 3 cast stock ones in a year all oem Mazda ones but all of them used. Porting the holes won't hurt it any but I would call them and see what the deal is.

 

[Austin13]

i called them and even though he was nice and everything, he told me to drill the hole bigger because anything else he sent would be the same... (puke)

 

[JaLMP5]

That's what you get when you buy products from Ken.
No offense to you, just a known fact on here that he's not someone you want to do buisness with.

 

[tweety2300]

Making the hole a little bigger wont hurt, just be careful if you do it to the gasket as well

 

[Spiced MSP]

No manifold lasts or ever. I've been through 3 cast stock ones in a year all oem Mazda ones but all of them used

Im talking specifically about that ebay manifold. You get what you pay for. If you buy a cheap manifold, don't expect it to last as long as an OEM manifold or any other proven manifold. Im not making any comparisons to stock. and yes a manifold will last if you take care of the car. Some people on here still have stock manifolds that are in better condition than most of us on here. Just because you've been through 3 doesn't prove anything.

 

[tweety2300]

Im talking specifically about that ebay manifold. You get what you pay for. If you buy a cheap manifold, don't expect it to last as long as an OEM manifold or any other proven manifold. Im not making any comparisons to stock. and yes a manifold will last if you take care of the car. Some people on here still have stock manifolds that are in better condition than most of us on here. Just because you've been through 3 doesn't prove anything.

And how much are the oem or other aftermarket manifolds compared to the $150-200 eBay manifold that you can re weld when it cracks

 

[Spiced MSP]

And how much are the oem or other aftermarket manifolds compared to the $150-200 eBay manifold that you can re weld when it cracks

you proved my point even more with that question..lol. How much are they? They cost quite a bit, but there is a reason behind that. They go through R&D before being released. For example, an AMS or ETS manifold for an Evo is around 1000 because of the amount of testing they go through and the build quality. Same thing with the manifolds that used to be available for the MSP. So yeah, you get what you pay for. Nobody should have to buy a car part and constantly have to weld it when it cracks. The thunder manifold was an OEM replacement with no testing done, it cracks, even the reinforced version. This manifold has no testing done, it's just a thunder knockoff. Paying 150-200 for a manifold should be a red flag already. Why is it so cheap? Hmmm, think about it. The OEM manifold isn't really that bad and just like any log manifold will provide great boost response due to the length of the runners. The only reason they crack is because there is no give in the exhaust system. So running with stock motor mounts or even inserts on a MSP with a downpipe that is bolted to the freaking engine will do nothing but cause problems. Why? because the movement has to go somewhere. So, guess where all that stress goes...to the manifold. Doing relief cuts between the runners can help with the issue or just get solid mounts which will help if not stop any cracks from forming. I had a crack forming on my stock manifold and after swapping to AWR solid mounts, the crack never got any bigger. Plus after that, I got rid of the stock downpipe and installed a P.E.P downpipe with a flex section. The flex will definitely help relieve some of that stress if you don't have solid mounts. Just my .02