I bought a turbo that came with an ebay stainless tubular manifold, and im trying to figure out a way to prevent it from cracking. do they crack just because of the heat cycles or because of the weight/heat cycles? i was thinking about making some sort of bracket with a turnbuckle from the bottom of the turbo flange to my motor mount in a way so that i could expand the turnbuckle and take some of the weight off of the manifold. would this help? how long before the manifold starts to crack without support?

also, what should i use for wastegate vac lines? just silicone hose? or would braided ss lines work better?

 

One of my buddies bought one of those ebay SS manifolds (ssautochrome) for his sr20 and it couldnt even seal, probably because it wasnt machined correctly. I wouldnt trust one of those at all. I just used silicone vac hoses for the wg vac lines.

 

yes, i am aware that it is crap, but its the only choice i have for the time being, and need to find a way to prevent it from falling apart or whatever. if it doesnt seal right, i can just get it milled down a little.

 

I'm pretty sure the SS manifolds crack due to the high temperatures causing them to expand and cracking the welds. I'm not sure if ceramic coating would do anything helpful.