New Exhaust Manifold?

[sprfunk]

I have a small leak from my exhaust manifold were it hooks up the the turbo. I bet a new gasket can fix the problem because I cannot see any cracks or anything on the mani. Now that I am going to be taking the mani off(well at least a some bolts) do you think I should just get a new high flow one? I have the stock t25 turbo now but I eventually will be getting a 16g (not sure what size yet). My goal HP/trq would be 300-350. What do you think I should do?

 

[DSM_PWR]

Tubular is alwasy great but i like my FP Race manifold unless your ona budget get a GT DSM Manifold or Port the 2G

 

[bartels903]

Try a gasket, wait til you upgrade turbos, if it was the gasket get your manifold ported, if it was the manifold buy tubular or ported 2g.

 

[JusMX141]

My goal HP/trq would be 300-350. What do you think I should do?

Install the new gasket for now, and inspect the manifold for cracks. Whenever you find the 16G you want (probably looking at an EvoIII for your HP goals) then you should port the collector area of your stock 2G manifold if it's not cracked.

You'd have to spend hundreds to buy any other exhaust manifold that would work as well and be as durable as a ported 2G manifold. Save your money and put it toward other mods.

 

[Ravenous]

If it is indeed cracked I would pick up the gt manifold. I've had mine for a year and 5000 miles now and it has been great. It will set you back much less than a tubular or the fp cast manifold.

 

[kenamond]

The 2g manifold is plenty for your application. It might be that one or more of your turbo-to-mani bolts have broken. You'd be wasting your time to port the 2g until you had the upgraded turbo in hand; whatever you do to the mani you'd have to match on the turbine housing, and it'd be a bit of a waste of time to port the T25 unless you just want to practice porting.

Keep in mind that tubular manis are expensive and tend to crack. Also, there are guys out there making much more power than your goals on a ported 2g mani; it's a really good mani. Like others said, save your money and spend it on something that you *do* need to upgrade.

After you have an upgraded turbo in hand (14b, evo3b16g, fp b28, 20g will all meet your power goals), then you can worry about porting. When you do that, get 4 new turbo/mani bolts, a new mani/head stud/nut set, and turbine/O2 housing bolts/stud/nut, new ex. mani. gasket, turbo/mani gasket, turbine/O2 gasket, and O2/dp gasket.

 

[thorlief4g63]

Definatly with that small turbo there is no need for the new manifold except for cosmetics. It is much more important that you replace the gasket and probably some arp hardware to get what you have running. If you have money to kill porting and bead blasting will give you a sweet looking and awesome performing mani for the best bang to buck ratio.

 

[erald01]

if you gona take the manifold off, then you might as well change it and also change the studs on it too. Less work to do in the future, and evo3 is a good manifold, might wanna check that out.

 

[kenamond]

You don't have to pull the mani off the head to change the turbo/mani gasket. And an evo mani is a waste of money on your T25 (or on any setup with a 350hp goal).

 

[JusMX141]

An EvoIII and a 2G are essentially the same manifold....the EvoIII just has a 7cm2 collector and the 2G has a 6cm2. If you port the 2G manifold to 7cm2, then you basically have an EvoIII manifold without spending the money for one.

BUT....porting your manifold now and using it with the T25 will do nothing as far as increasing power. If that's what you're going to do, you might as well wait until you get a bigger turbo. However- if your current manifold is cracked, upgrade as you wish....just don't expect to see huge results until you get a bigger turbo.

 

[97gstjosh]

There is no need to change the manifold now. Just wait replace what needs to be replaced and get your car in good running order than focus on what you want. For an EvoIII 16g just go cast.
Get an FP cast manifold:
Forced Performance: FP DSM Race Manifold
Or go EvoIII cast manifold:
Forced Performance: EVO III Exhaust Manifold
Both of the above are good for internally gated or 02 external setups
Go with a HAFE cast manifold:
Slowboy Racing, Inc. :: DSM :: Exhaust :: Manifolds / Headers :: HAFE Performance :: HAFE Performance Cast S.S. 7cm DSM Manifold w/ 38mm WG Prevision
If you want to externally gate it off the manifold like I did with my EvoIII 16g

Hope this helps

 

[kenamond]

Or port your 2g mani and put the $200-$325 you saved by not buying any of the above manifolds toward a real power adder like a turbo or exhaust.

 

[josh_GST]

My FP manifold is great. I love everything about it. But I believe it is a little too much for a stock turbo.

 

[Matt4g63]

I agreed with kenamod, as long as you have it off just port the 2g mani and that should be plenty even for another 100 hp+

 

[sprfunk]

Thanks for the great replies all! I am going to do the gasket tomorrow and see how it goes, seems like I only get a couple hours of light this time of the year and I have no garage. I am going to keep the ideas on this page for when I get a new turbo and it is a little more needed(unless of course its shot). Does anyone have any problems with passing emissions with a ported/upgraded mani? I know I could just take it, and the exhaust I am planning to get off and put back the stock ones, but I think it would be good to not have too...

 

[synthetek]

A ported manifold shouldn't give you any problems with emissions testing. A tubular manifold would probably give you problems with the visual part of the inspection if they have that in your state but it shouldn't effect the actual emissions levels.

 

[sprfunk]

A ported manifold shouldn't give you any problems with emissions testing. A tubular manifold would probably give you problems with the visual part of the inspection if they have that in your state but it shouldn't effect the actual emissions levels.

Nice.

Ok now I have been looking up some info on the turbo mounting gasket to get. There seems to be some different thinking on the matter. Do you think this one should be good, or could you point me to a different one? Thanks all!

 

[hypnoticpimp]

If you were to get another manifold, I'd suggest getting the gt dsm manifold... Cost is 150-165$ it has a 7cm collector, comes with both engine to manifold gasket and manifold to turbo gasket... Wait, thats not all... it also comes with it tapped for an egt, and the reviews on this part are all good

 

[sprfunk]

Broken bolt, Nice. Time to get some drill bits...

 

[sprfunk]

Got it out, not too bad...from the time listed looks like about 2 hours including trip to the mall that has the worst traffic, and parking ever.

 

[kenamond]

So it took 2 hours to change the gasket and get it all back together or just to get the bolts out? I'd highly recommend replacing the 3 bolts and stud+nut with 4 new bolts. That stud+nut makes dropping/reinstalling the turbo harder, and most folks replace it with a bolt the first time they have to separate the turbo and mani.

If you're worried about inspection, then I'd recommend porting your 2g mani (it'll look exactly the same from the outside, so visual inspection won't be an issue. And then I'd recommend an FP B28 turbo. From the outside, it looks exactly like the T25, but the inside is completely different. It flows almost as much as an EvoIII b16g and costs the same (and for all of the others who jump on here and say it's cheaper, they're probably forgetting about the install kit that you need). But you'll have to send in your T25 to Forced Performance as a core exchange. End cost is $700 for either if you get them new. Both will take you to 350hp. The FPB28 is as bolt-on as it can possibly be. Then I'd port both (mani and turbine housing) to a 7cm^2 gasket match. You can buy the FPB28 pre-ported, but that adds $100. I'm not sure if the evo3b16g is already 7cm^2 or not. If it's not, I'd guess it'd be $100 to port it as well. But the evo turbo is a potential problem for inspection.

But until you're ready to upgrade your turbo, just stick with the stock setup.

 

[sprfunk]

So it took 2 hours to change the gasket and get it all back together or just to get the bolts out? I'd highly recommend replacing the 3 bolts and stud+nut with 4 new bolts. That stud+nut makes dropping/reinstalling the turbo harder, and most folks replace it with a bolt the first time they have to separate the turbo and mani.

If you're worried about inspection, then I'd recommend porting your 2g mani (it'll look exactly the same from the outside, so visual inspection won't be an issue. And then I'd recommend an FP B28 turbo. From the outside, it looks exactly like the T25, but the inside is completely different. It flows almost as much as an EvoIII b16g and costs the same (and for all of the others who jump on here and say it's cheaper, they're probably forgetting about the install kit that you need). But you'll have to send in your T25 to Forced Performance as a core exchange. End cost is $700 for either if you get them new. Both will take you to 350hp. The FPB28 is as bolt-on as it can possibly be. Then I'd port both (mani and turbine housing) to a 7cm^2 gasket match. You can buy the FPB28 pre-ported, but that adds $100. I'm not sure if the evo3b16g is already 7cm^2 or not. If it's not, I'd guess it'd be $100 to port it as well. But the evo turbo is a potential problem for inspection.

But until you're ready to upgrade your turbo, just stick with the stock setup.

Took 2 hours to get some drill bits and take the stupid messed up 1/2 inch remaining part of the bolt out.

They don't do a visual test here, just the air test thankfully, so I can go with just about any set up that does not kill my emissions CO%. Thats not a bad idea for a turbo upgrade, I was thinking about trying to make it a total sleeper, even under the hood.

 

[kenamond]

Took 2 hours to get some drill bits and take the stupid messed up 1/2 inch remaining part of the bolt out.

They don't do a visual test here, just the air test thankfully, so I can go with just about any set up that does not kill my emissions CO%. Thats not a bad idea for a turbo upgrade, I was thinking about trying to make it a total sleeper, even under the hood.

You'll have problems making it a sleeper under the hood if you want 350hp. The stock UICP, BOV, and air filter are all bottlenecks, and you'll need an upgraded FP that will over-run the stock FPR, so you'll have to go to an AFPR which is a bit conspicuous. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it'll take some creativity to make it look stock with all of the required mods. You could probably hide the AFPR down low, and I know that one of the Evo BOVs looks just like our 2g BOVs but holds up to 18-20psi boost, whereas ours leaks at around 13psi. The vaccuum line nipple on the evo BOV is at a different angle, too, so that'd be one sign it's non-stock.

Then you have to deal with finding a high-flowing muffler with twin-tips like the stock setup. That's my dilema at the moment; I like the megan racing 3" turboback, but the muffler is one of those huge, chrome, single, ricer tips. I'm a fan of the sleeper look as well. If I had the cash, I've thought about having custom 18" wheels machined with the same look as the stock ones.

And if you want 350hp, you're going to need either water/meth injection, an upgraded side-mount intercooler, or an FMIC. The FMIC kills the sleeper look though. I'm thinking of going water/meth myself.

But I've got the FPB28 and ported 2g mani (ported stuff myself - very gratifying!). But I also have upgraded filter, intake pipe, and charge piping.

Good luck!

 

[pboglio]

Big T28 is a good choice for a stock look and 350 h.p. But maybe this is better if your looking for 400 h.p. : Blouch Turbo Inc. - Our performance turbo upgrades and rebuilds

I run a small T28 and it's putting out a lot more than 350 h.p. at the moment.

FP manifold on these small turbos doesn't seem to help. I did NOT like the gutless midrange it gave me. I am running every bolt on needed to max out a T28 and refuse to install it back on the car. Maybe some tuning would help, don't know.

 

[kenamond]

Big T28 is a good choice for a stock look and 350 h.p. But maybe this is better if your looking for 400 h.p. : Blouch Turbo Inc. - Our performance turbo upgrades and rebuilds

I run a small T28 and it's putting out a lot more than 350 h.p. at the moment.

FP manifold on these small turbos doesn't seem to help. I did NOT like the gutless midrange it gave me. I am running every bolt on needed to max out a T28 and refuse to install it back on the car. Maybe some tuning would help, don't know.

Hadn't seen that turbo before. Do you happen to have the compressor map for it? I'm wondering what it looks like compared to an evo3 big 16g. A bit pricey, though.