Kennysgreen280zt Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 So I bought the SS autochrome 'top mount' header off ebay. I didnt really expect much and as such im not suprised how it fits. Im sure it wont be much of a problem to fix, or make it fit. I took some pics and will put little captions with each pic. The part itself is decent condition. It is stainless, and is polished nicely. The welds look to be TIG and are pretty good. The flanges are an acceptable thickness. They include a hardware kit, more on that later. Also it came with new gaskets (not OEM) The biggest problem ive heard with these manifolds is cracking, I believe a brace or two to the turbo will keep this from happening. The first step was getting it in, or on, whichever you like. Im using the rick wong mounts and initially had a fear of it hitting the mounts. Turns out once its in, the manifold itself doesnt hit anything. This is where the fun started.... The flange is lazer/plazma cut and the stud holes dont line up with the head bolt pattern. The first three ports are good, and the rear three ports are good, but getting all 12 studs to line up doesnt happen. I will have to wait till monday to elongate the holes at work, so for a temporary solution I started taking exhaust studs out untill the thing slid on. I think the holes are only going to need .040" - .060" more to fit. As you can see in the pictures, once in it has good clearance from everything in the engine bay. The brake lines of course will need a heat shield or thermal wrap. Also the #6 runner is a bit close to the fire wall. A 3" DP might be a tight fit. Here is a 3" tube placed in the rear to see how tight it would be for a down pipe. And here it is without the 3" tube Next I go to grab my turbo shell ive got laying around. Its a standard T3 Ford style exhaust housing, and a to4 compressor housing. I couldnt believe this one. The exhaust housing actually hits the valve cover, and the compressor housing... well I left it off cause it wouldnt sit on the flange with it on. There is plenty of room to cut the manifold to point the flange vertical, or slightly tward the fender, which should clear up this issue. I cant imagine what turbo would work here, with a T3 flange? First pic is from the front. Arrows point to points of contact or lack of contact in the case of the flange. And here is from the exhuast side Last, I go to bolt my Tial 38mm onto it. I screwed in the supplied studs, and slide it on. The 'dump' side of the wastegate points right at the block. The flange and tube are laid out in a way that it should be easy to relocate the wastegate to where ever I feel like under the manifold. Alright, now after all that im sure your depressed, but ive got a plan. It is as follows. Step 1 is to slot all the mounting holes Step 2 is to cut a slit between each port to allow for some expansion when heated Step 3 is to relocate the wastegate either by rotating the flange, or the tube its attached to Step 4 is to cut the T3 flange off and angle it the opposite direction to allow the turbo to fit. Step 5 (optional) is to re route that #6 runner and create a bit of extra room for a down pipe. There is room for it now, but I would like a little more. I also plan on getting the manifold coated in some ceramic stuff. I dont like the way the stainless looks after a few heat cycles. Hopefully that will be enough to make this thing last for a while. I paid $89 + shipping for it. I dont think I could have gotten a flange, and tubing for that price so I think its alright that its going to take some work to fit. Comments are welcome, as is advice. Sorry for the long post but I havent seen anything discussed about this style manifold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparks280zt Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 nice evaluation and write up, alot of questions are asked about the quality of their manifolds, and you have answered it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I bought one of these from ss some time ago....this style seems to fit much better. It fits better into the 240 as well as onto the RB block...with no modifications. My only concern is one pipe is a bit close to the cam cover....but I gues time will tell. If I recall correctly a couple of nuts were tight and tricky to get a wrench at but in the end the fit was good. The gaskets were poor quality and the bolts look unreliable so I bought new http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-RB20-RB25DET-TURBO-MANIFOLD-W-TURBO-OUTLET_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ016QQitemZ260005686007QQrdZ1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB S13 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Yeh i got one of these too, i thought the quality was great for the money, but too found the problem with the poor fitment to the head. I am running a GT30R and the compressor housing 'JUST' clears the cam covers and the exhaust clears plenty (have heat bag also). I feel the turbo sits rather high in my engine bay but it will be just enough, not to have to worry about it, maybe i will cut down the height of the collector??? im struggling to slot the holes out atm though, can't find a die grinder bit strong enough to bite through the stainless. also what do you mean by cut slits beside the ports? how are you bracing yours? I am running a V band wastegate and therefore will be cutting off the flange anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo_fb Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I have just the same manifoil for my rb25, but I havent tried it yet. One thing I was worred about when I saw it, is that the wg pipe sits in the mid of the collector. The exhaust must turn 180 degrees to reach the wg = bad flow. Think I will cut the whole manifoil up in peaces and make a new one. Edit: now I had to go home and take a look at my manifoil. Luckily I only had to slot out 2 holes a bit to get it on. The turbo wont fit at all though so I am going to cut it all apart. Holset HX40 is a beast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB S13 Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 This is a dummy fit of my turbo/manifold to my engine. Did anyone else have an issue with the length of your oil drain pipe? I bought a high mount braided kit from horsepowerinabox and it doesn't seem to be long enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 Edit: now I had to go home and take a look at my manifoil. Luckily I only had to slot out 2 holes a bit to get it on.The turbo wont fit at all though so I am going to cut it all apart. Which two holes did you have to slot out? I will start with those two, hopefully thats all it will take. Im definitally going to be cutting up mine as well. At the least, to move the flange and shorten up that wastegate tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo_fb Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 If cyl 1 is closest to the cam shaft, then I had to slot out the top holes on cyl 4 and 5. I'm gonna drill all the holes bigger anyway. They had a wery tight fit and when the heat gets on they might break I guess. My turbo also has a divided flange so I must call McGuyver to find a solution to make the manifoil into divided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraz Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Im currently helping a mate with a 240k and rb20 with the same top mount manifold. He got the turbo flange cut off and a little ground from the manifold and the flange rewelded to move the turbo a little further from the cam cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Well I started working on the manifold today. First off was the most dangerous way of elongating the holes. I clamped the manifold into the vise on the bridgeport and tilted the head back. I was using a 4 flute 1/2 carbide endmill. It chattered really bad, but the holes are about .050" longer in each direction now. There are a few that will need to go longer, but im going to get them with the grinder and a small carbide tool. Next I tackled the flange. I cut a pie shape out of the flange about .750" on the large side and just hammered the flange down untill it sat flush with the main part of the manifold. I could have gotten away with only cutting a .500" pie out of the manifold, but I cut more than I needed. Im going to start welding it up tomorrow, and relocate the wastegate flange a bit closer to the collector. This picture is after hammering it down, I forgot to take one prior. Finally its in there, with the turbo bolted to it. Im pretty sure there is enough clearance around the turbo, the valve covers and the fender. The compressor housing is a .70 trim and should have a 60-1 wheel in it. A smaller turbo would end up having alot of room Im excited, this is the first 'real' work ive done on my car in a few months and it feels good. I also got new wheels in today (woot for 17's!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Looking good Kenny.... get that sucker jet-hot coated, and maybe some wrap,and you'll be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo_fb Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Looking good. Atleast u have the proper tools for the job. I got me a tig welder yesterday so first I have to learn how to use it, then I can work on my manifoil Did some searching on ebay after cheramic coating but didnt find anything for exhaust temperature. Guess summit heat bandage will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 excellent job kenny. couple of questions. i know the flange is probably a nice hard stainless, but for the guys that don't have access to those types of tools... would it be much of a job to file out the holes?! sure it will take long, but exactly how much of a chore does that seem. considering you have the tools to actually make speedy work of it, i know you wouldnt do it with a file, and neither would i, but what's your take on that?! doable? not doable?! i know some files will get chewed up by the pieces people use them on. just wondering what you think seeing as you have the mani in your hands. also. about the clearance from the strut tower. how in the heck is your compressor tubing going to turn at any angle at all to get towards the front of the car? that looks disasterous. it's almost as if you're going to have to cut a slot out of your strut tower. btw. nice escargot EDIT: damnit, if i could make the pic smaller, i would. mods. make what you will of this pic, if you don't see it fit for the thread. but he looks o so damn cool, im gonna leave'r as a present for kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 about the clearance from the strut tower. how in the heck is your compressor tubing going to turn at any angle at all to get towards the front of the car? that looks disasterous. it's almost as if you're going to have to cut a slot out of your strut tower. We pretty much all face that same issue. Some have a nice alum 90deg elbow welded onto the turbo' date=' and some do it like I have>> [img']http://album.hybridz.org/data/566/medium/My_RB26_motor_on_stand_002.jpg[/img] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted July 16, 2006 Author Share Posted July 16, 2006 I would say if you got a quality file, and kept it clean while working, you could do it that way. Also a dremel tool with a quality bit in it could work as well. I 'may' have to hammer my strut tower a bit, but its got almost an inch clearance, and my motor shouldnt be moving that much. As for the turbo, I will be getting like a 100* bent aluminum tube to weld to the compressor outlet. I thought about the silicone like J. has, but I think it would end up melting that close to the exhaust manifold. Ill also be making some sort of heat shield to over the first three runners, so the compressor housing doesnt super heat being that close to the header. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I would say if you got a quality file' date=' and kept it clean while working, you could do it that way. Also a dremel tool with a quality bit in it could work as well. I 'may' have to hammer my strut tower a bit, but its got almost an inch clearance, and my motor shouldnt be moving that much. As for the turbo, I will be getting like a 100* bent aluminum tube to weld to the compressor outlet. I thought about the silicone like J. has, but I think it would end up melting that close to the exhaust manifold. Ill also be making some sort of heat shield to over the first three runners, so the compressor housing doesnt super heat being that close to the header.[/quote'] i think it would take a bit more heat from the exhuast mani to melt a thick turbo hose like that. infact, it might be a bit better in terms of holding power. after a couple of hard runs, or some days sitting in the sun, you can re-tighten those hose clamps, and the silicone should have a bit more pliability, allowing the clamps to compress a bit more, rather than dig into the silicone itself. but my concerns is for them blowing off. as i've seen intercooler piping blow off, and im sure air looses a bit of it's velocity once it's taken a detour throughout the entire intake tract. soooo im just curious about the silicon not blowing off. and im wondering why soileau always has to show his engine to us! *runs away crying* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fentin_fury Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I purchased a set of the inexpensive HKS knock offs on ebay. A few comments... The bolt pattern although close - was not exact and required some work to attach to the turbos. The turbo flange was neither stainless nor straight! 1mm of in both X and Y. Two holes in the turbo flange needed to be filled - I have no idea what they were for. The welding looks adequate but where the two pipes meet required some clean up - otherwise very restricted. They are on and in place - but they are not bolt on. Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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