Thanks David for clarifying what I was getting at.

I did consider the warning of restrictive exhaust, which I certainly do not (3" all including mid-pipe). However, when i run a 20 minute track session I certainly see plenty of pops and backfires when the car is running hot.

No cracks in the new turbos and manifold going on. They're getting ceramic coated which I'm not sure how it'll affect things either. I was hoping to use these gaskets instead of stock since I wasn't sure if there will be any imperfections in the coating that would leak with the stock gaskets.

 

Well To bring this full circle, I finally got around to disassembling my hotside again (I am getting really good at this ) and needless to say I found my exhaust leak...

Turbo to Manifold Gaskets:


Manifold to Engine Gaskets:


The turbo to Manifold gaskets, I should have torqued down again after a heat cycle, but I didn't and suffice to here I am. The engine to mani gaskets looked ok, but I noticed on 1 stud, where it looked like it was starting to go. That stud was also a wee bit more loose that I would have liked it to be.

I will be going back to the stock metal ones as I do still have a High flow cat and racing beat dual tip, so my exhaust is NOT the free -est flowing.

 

Wow, those things did NOT stand a chance

 

Update:

Sorry for the lag time (been dealing with personal emergencies)

Rob told me that to not worry too much about the manifold to block gaskets, that they are not normally the ones that fail...

But!

If you want to heat cycle them you can heat your manifold with a map torch or propane torch (evenly) then re-torque the bolts.

hope this helps!

I will do my best to introduce the new gasket to the community ASAP

 

Hmm, torch makes a lot of sense.

David