handmade manifolds

[confusionhunter]

heres a copy paste from my build thread relevant to these manifolds....
http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... highlight=
Planning on supporting the turbos to the gearbox too... somehow...


So then... time to bash on with the heads... theres 2 outstanding things before the heads go on and thats make the manifolds fit as best as they can be and block off the extra ports that the NA and RS4 heads use but the S4s dont....
So manifold first, not quite done them both but just about there. I sent them back to my welding genius and he tigged the inside of the runners to the inside of the flange so thatthe welds are double up. However that leave a flow restriction so I started flowing them back...

So after welding (before they were welded they were just ends of the tubing exposed, not great for flow...)


So got out my flowing kit!!! stuck on some music.... then put my ear defenders on (good job I put the music on!)... and got cracking.

end result:


quite pleased with that....
now the NA heads have larger ports than the RS4 heads but even with that I think that I could in theory flow the heads a little but Im not going to as the heads are clean and ready to go on.... seee check the gasket out:

See how the ports are smaller than the gasket?
Now on the manifold:

difficult to see but the ports on the manifold are larger than the gasket.... better than the ridiculous restrictions that the standard manifold are!

Ive flowed a few bits and peices mainly alu and steel, but stainless is a lot harder and made short work of my trusty carbide bit!! ah well all in a good cause!!!


Anyway, I fitted the manifold up to the head and it wasnt a great fit. I needed to chamfer the edges of the manifold so there was adequate clearance from the head castings, it might be an NA head thing as the castings are different to the S4 heads....

crap pic, sorry bout that but you can see where I took the angle grinder too...


so was happy with that...

[g60bv]

excellent work mark. keep up with the pics.

[confusionhunter]

Another excerpt from my build post that is manifold related.... just the turbo support bracket to go and thats it as far as the manifold go....

Got the manifold on and had to make modifications to the bracket that sits over the manifold. Left side was fine but well as you can see I had to cut away a fair chunk and then there was sod all room to get the bolt in....


So I made mini stud..... hmm not much room to get a nut on there:

I managed to get a stainless one on so the threads are a little stonger, as to get the nut on I had to put the stud in a couple more threads.... It doesnt look good but its on very tightly. I guess I could file the nut smaller and pull the stud a thread or so but I feel thats good enough as its not exactly crucial.

[confusionhunter]

more from my build thread relating to the manifolds......not great this bit but nothing that not repairable.

So on to the manifolds they go….. and this is where we find out why £1200 manifold are better than £150 ones!!
The left side was fine, but as I tighten up the turbo bolts on the right side one of the bolts felt a little peculiar as it got about 2/3s of the way down…. But it felt like the threads were sticking, which is not uncommon for exhaust parts because of the heat they get…. Tightened it down a bit more…. And it felt worse…. Hmm not happy with this…. Upon closer inspection the issue became apparent…..

Not good…. The was turbo pressing against the manifold, but not where you would want it…. This pushed the turbo at an angle and once I took the turbo off again I discovered the one bolt had cross threaded. It definitely started ok so my only explanation is the manifold…. Dammit!

Typically the tap and die kit I used on the heads was a mates and I have returned it, so this repair will need to wait…. Pants… I think I'll buy my own kit at the next Machine mart VAT free day!

[AdamS4]

Thats a arse.... is it pressing up against the collector bit of the manifold ?? What you gonna do ?

[S4]

heat it up with a torch and give it a wack..... no worries.

Darren

[confusionhunter]

already done that! Blow orch and a hammer and skimmed half a mil off teh outside of the turbo..... got 2mm clearance now.... Will take pics and update soon. Got the tap from my mate again....

[confusionhunter]

more from the build thread.... finished on the manifolds now:
Well first of all I noticed on a prefacelift manifold I had, already had a strange support bracket:

For those interested the part no. on it is : 078 253 034 BP... Only on one side though, the shape of the other manifold is such that its not that simple.
So of course I lopped that off and welded it on to the Tubular manifold:


Well to skip a couple of evenings messing about and trying different methods (and swinging off the downpipes to measure the flex). I came up with these...:


I made a video of the amount of flex there was before and after... but Im having software issues so that will have to wait for now... Sorry.... So next I needed to find some ceramic, phenolic or fibre washers and things to try and minimise the heat transfer. I tried a few places but couldnt find anything suitable. So I ended up chopping up the supplied manifold gaskets with the manifolds which look to be thin metal plates with some fibre in between, so I doubled it up got some longer bolts for the manifold to turbo flanges and bolted them all up after making minor adjustments to allow for the extra spacers (meaning the original holes etc were slightly out of line and adding the washers etc)....... and I painted them with black VHT (very high temp) paint......cutting up the gaskets...


Finished effort:

[dummi]

looks solid Mark I'd like to see them try and bend under all that support

[rocketmq1]

what ever came of these manifolds?