places to get an exhaust manifold welded?? medway, kent??

[jimMR2]

hi, i have a jap import mr2 turbo. which is quite highly modified.

it came with a very rare apexi IHI turbo kit and manifold. but this manifold has been cracking on me since day one. it seems it was poorly repaired in japan by its previous owner. i have since removed it and given it to a local mate to repair it on 2 occasions. but its still cracking. and his opinion is its come to the end of its life. as his good welds are just cracking weaker welds on the system. he basically suggest that i should get one made up from scratch.

here are his comments

From our joint knowledge we reckon the main 4 runners on the mani are 321 stainless, the vertical pipe is 304 and the flanges are something even we cant identify! Welds like Mild Steel Boilerplate but is non-magnetic so therefore non-ferrous (i.e. stainless)

It has cracked on the flange again because it is a mis-match of materials and incorrect manufacturing & welding procedures (should be swaged then welded). I am telling you now it will crack again and Tom (welder) does not want to be "owning this problem", which i have to agree with.

In my honest opinion, get it remade have it fabricated WELL from a good 304 stainless steel throughout. OR from 321 Stainless throughout. you will see a much better product from somthing made of matched product than mis-matched - like we have here.



i just wondered the sort of costs involved in getting a new thicker material manifold made up. with a few braces to help prevent cracking????
where and who could possibly do this in the kent area??? and sort of prices???


these pics are after the first repair, but it has since cracked mainly around the flange with the 4 running join.

 

[BO0557]

i would pm vetec_lude his manifolds are very nice

 

[zzr1200]

I suspect there might be a couple of firms in the Brands Hatch area that could made a new one, but at a price...

 

[terratology]

A bit out you're way but there's a very very good exhaust maker up here in Anglesey who is very well known in racing circles. His prices are also very good.

 

[Iain Westland]

check your engine mounts, shouldn't be cracking the maniflod unless its a racing exhaust on road mounts, has it got a flexi in it?

Iain

 

[hotrodder]

JMO but the way most manifolds are 'braced' causes more problems than it addresses. A turbo manifold has to deal with pretty extreme changes of temperature- expansion and contraction forces are significant and reinforcing the thing by welding gussets etc all over it isn't going to fix the issue.

If the turbo is simply hanging off/sitting on the manifold then it's also being asked to support this weight (and deal with the vibration and thermal expansion) at temperatures beyond the point where 304 has lost most of it's strength! 321 is better in this regard but you may be in for a shock when pricing it! A flexy section in the downpipe will help some but it's not going to be night and day

Supporting the turbo independantly will relieve some of the weight that the manifold has to bear and allow the movement from thermal expansion/contraction. Something along the lines of a turbo damper used on Cosworths and F1 back in the turbo days

There are also metallurgical issues with the temperatures involved but that's better left to someone like TechnicAl (makes my head hurt).

 

[aaronbassett]

there is a place in maidstone i think it is called maidstone exhaust center they do 1 offs and good priced

 

[scott0031]

there is a place in maidstone i think it is called maidstone exhaust center they do 1 offs and good priced

There is Maidstone exhaust centre, I know them fairy well and this is beyond what they can do in my view. Where i have my works there is a guy i know well although he doesn't make his own systems up, he is a kit car builder and many are used for the circuit as well as road. He often gets systems made up. If its any help i can try to find out who he uses. I normally do the tig repairs but don't get involved in exhaust systems.


Kind regards,


Scott(ward eng)

 

[pedrobedro]

MK engineering make a lot of kit car exhausts for the locost builders. Martin has mandrel bending equipment and his work is superb but he is a bit far away for you.

 

[rosco454]

Dont know if this is any help to you but Ricks work of this forum looks excellent.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=11529

 

[tankslap]

sorry to hear your 3sgte powered mr2 turbo is suffering from manifold cracking. common for apexi and other alike brands to use a mis-match of materials when constructing such manifolds. have seen a few over the years all suffering.

either replace with new, or another suggestion would be, fab a jig holding manifold and flanges to correct angles etc, section off collector & flanges and bin , leaving head flange & runners to fab a new collector and flanges using correct material will help.

from experience welding over cranked tubular manifold without removing bad areas 1st never lasts long .is important for runner & collector etc to be swaged into any flange and welded from both sides, some understanding of bracing will help if implemented correctly.

as mentioned above make sure to support the turbo, tubular manifolds WILL NOT hold the weight of a turbo when running 1000 C egt.

some ferrous materials when subjected to continuous high temperature cycles become less magnetic not so much Non - ferrous in the true state something to do with the alignment of electrons over time so I have been told. :wink:

good luck.

 

[jimMR2]

thanks, sorry i missed these replies.....

here are more pics to show how and where and what its supporting.

beleive it or not the turbo is extremely light! the stock small orginal OEM turbo is twice if not 3 times as heavy as this....


the turbo/manifld are currently supoorted by a bracket on the screamer pipe off the wastegate that attachs to the block....
you can see the bracket here...
(this ALSO snapps and breaks all the time)

you can see the bracket here when attached to the wastegate and manifold

how its supported in the bay...
so there is the brace on the screamer pipe, and this brace on the downpipe which attachs to the head.
point to note, this is ALL japanese designed/made and how i bought the car when it was imported from japan. not something i had done personally.

turbo, apexi IHI rx6b

how the works in the bay

i have VERY recently fitted uprated engne mounts to help with future proofing the manifold.

there are no engine/turbo dampers for this sort of setup. there is one very hard to get hold of and expensive damper, but it works with the standard manifold!! so i cant use it.




so i have done as some have suggested already.

 

[hotrodder]

All the bracing in place currently... all welded and bolted solid, no allowance for thermal expansion to occur. Somethings got to give

 

[Paul.]

Perfect example there of a cold weld, also known as cold lap, no fusion at all on the lower fillet you can see where the molten metal has just cooled where it touches the vertical plate, the weld on the top has no penetration either.