Maxthe7man

Something is really wrong here with the costs, my stainless manifold only cost me about 150.00 in materials including flanges, the welding materials only about 20 bucks( i had to go and buy a new spool of 321 wire for my mig), somewhere along the lines you guys are getting seriously ripped off, last year I built a stainless header for my N/a for less than a 100 canadian.. Try some other places before you plunk the cash down..Max

setzep

Yeah, figured that figure had to be a LITTLE off.

Where did you get the raw materials for the headers?

Maxthe7man

I am kinda fortunate to be in the mechanical trades I guess, I run across alot of good places to buy stuff to make parts out of.. I went to place that does industrial stainless piping for plants and process equipment, I have worked with them on a couple of different worksites, they let me take as much as I could carry from their scrap pile for 25 bucks..Max

4SFED

"we use stainless steel tubular manifolds on our single kits..greddy makes a nice one off there T-78 kit"

I run one of these manifolds on my T04 setup... they are a work of art!

Check this (before it was polished):

fast13b

Absolutely no way in hell do not ever (am I clear?) get a mild steel turbo manifold. If you do, I'll laugh at you and send you pics of mine so you can see what you have to look forward to. I kept it for a mantle peice.

Yes it is, if you get someone who dosen't know how to weld stainless. Get references. I shopped around here, and 800-1000 US was typical for a custom 321 SS manifold. I thought it was a rip personally.

~J

~Jeremy

Dragon

I'd like to see those pic's... Mines been on the car for a year and a half, sat threw 5 Typhoons when I lived about 200 ft from the ocean and had nook and cranny of my car soaked in salt water (excluding the interior) and it still looks new... I've put 40,000 kms on it in that time as well...

turbostreetfighter

second that, i have had no problem with steel headers, in fact i hav ehad more problems with stainless due to its unstable characteristics, unless it is super thick you have to brace it.

i have been hanging out with a bunch of pro stock and pro 5.0 motor heads lately and they are all using steel headers but the trick is that you must TIG weld them with silicon-bronze welding rod it is a low heat filler and offers slight flexibility, this and ceramic coating the inside seems to be the trick. as of now i am only going to make my headers this way!!!

one of the main reasons for failure as Ted said is the resonance of the engine and the resonance of the turbo. i have found that if you brace the turbo to the engine no header will crack. if your tubo is spinning at 100k plus rpms and the engine at 8k rpms, the weak point would be the header

vosko

iTrader: (4)

i love my greddy S/S manifold from my T78 looks GORGEOUS

fast13b

As soon as I can borrow a digi cam I'll get some pics and post them.

~Jeremy

fast13b

Ok, I posted those pics in the gallery.

https://www.rx7club.com/photo/index....e=2&si=fast13b

~Jeremy

RacerXtreme7

iTrader: (2)

that link is blank......

zyounker

Photo album is down.. Can you post it somewhere else?

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

Is mild steel really that bad?

GarageBoy

I think GT35/40 kits are Mild Steel

Node

iTrader: (1)

So do you guys mean only coat the inside with ceramic, make sure you don't coat the outside or it doesnt matter as long as you get the inside coated?

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

Just to have the inside coated as well Node. The ceramic coating gives the inside a MUCH higher thermal rejection factor so less exhaust heat transfers to the manifold material.

The over 200% better heat rejection over mild steel part of why SS manifolds can be 4x thinner than mild steel ones AND last longer. Less heat transferring to the manifold also means more heat to spool that turbo!

Heat rejection is purely a surface phenomenon so ceramic coatings DO help.

Heat disipation rate and material melting point are another thing altogether- don't themal wrap tubular mild steel turbo manifolds, even if they are built thick. Don't wrap stainless as it makes the expansion cracking more likely.

Another reason SS cracks so easily is that its rate of expansion is MUCH higher than mild steel- couple that w/ a design incorporating 1.5mm runner thickness and 1/4" base flange and it is easy to see why they crack here where thermal expansion forces are greatest.

If you can afford Inconel turbular manifold I hate you!

GarageBoy

What is Inconel? NiCast?
Is it possible to get a nice ss manifold for the 35/40?

Node

iTrader: (1)

Inconel is a great material for headers/turbo manifolds.
Very heat resistant, and all kinds of other good properties.
Has nickel and a few other metals in it.
Its used for turbine blades too.
But very expensive. I think its like more than 3x the price of SS. Used on lots of high performance cars, and supercars who can afford it.
http://www.burnsstainless.com/TechAr...l_article.html

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

Yeah, turbo race cars use tubular Inconel
manifolds "clamshelled" in in carbon fiber to retain more heat and special cast stainless steel turbo exhaust housings with heat retaining carbon fiber turbo scatter shields.

But, they are regulated to old turbo tech in some ways- I haven't seen a major turbo class that allows variable geometry turbos even though they are in (even American!) production cars now.

dmm

we use and recomend ss on all manifolds but you must be sure what grade of ss and welding procedure you use to have the best flowing, looking and reliable manifold that can be built we know because we build them every day and our quality speaks for its self CHECK OUT ASETURBO.COM

GarageBoy

Nice! Will 304 SS work?

hondah8er

I think its 321 stainless you want.

GarageBoy

Thanks, 304 is exhuast material

setzep

The 304 manifold I made is kickin *** still. No cracks.

supracosworth

Anyone had experience with this piece?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2430336692

Don't tell me I'm the lastest sucker to this game.