The one I used is from an ebay seller called happythoughts87 (I'm pretty sure thats it) There are a couple more jbo members that use this manifold. Its an excellent peice. I have never seen either of the ones you posted but most ebay turbo kits are crap.
His name is actually happythoughts47, i bought my Ecotec 2.2L from him, havent recieved it yet...
But yes i heard about good stuff about him too...
Yes ebay turbo KITS are CRAP, dont buy generic crap..
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tough call... now if we can assume that they're both made by people/companies who know wtf they're doing, then I'd go for the cast manifold out of personal preference... However, I'm not sure if anyone here has actually put one of those manis to the test so for all we know, it could be absolute crap. If you can find people who've used the second one without issue, then I'd be going for whichever one has the most positive firsthand feedback from people. I say firsthand because one person can say its good and then you'll have 40 people saying "well I heard that its good" which isn't the same as 40 people who OWN it saying that its a good quality piece.
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I own a mani from happythoughts and I am happy with the quality in which it was built.
The only problem I had when I picked mine up, was there was a protrusion in one of the runners that I just ground out with a die grinder.
Not a huge deal, IMO, for something that's welded solid and clean.
stevefire wrote:I own a mani from happythoughts and I am happy with the quality in which it was built.
The only problem I had when I picked mine up, was there was a protrusion in one of the runners that I just ground out with a die grinder.
Not a huge deal, IMO, for something that's welded solid and clean.
that sounds good, but does he make mais with external wastegate port on it?? i am fiine with getting a quality product from him, but it would suck to have to take it somewhere to get that welded on.
Lefix I'm not going to lie his shipping is slow but quality for the price is unsurpassed.
VT if you aske him he can add an external wastegate flange I have never seen one of his manifolds having one but he clearly states he is able to due them for a small fee.
Josh Cortez wrote:Lefix I'm not going to lie his shipping is slow but quality for the price is unsurpassed.
VT if you aske him he can add an external wastegate flange I have never seen one of his manifolds having one but he clearly states he is able to due them for a small fee.
Great, good to know. i think i will go with him on the manifold since everyone can vouch for the quality and product. I'll try to contact him, and see if I can get one since there's none on ebay now.
Yea the sell ended last week it will be up again soon he takes it down for about a week and then puts it back up.
Hmm, perhaps it is just me, but I would go for the cast manifold over the welded one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the cast one be stronger? I'll send it to jet hot to get a coating, and be good to go. What do you guys think?
Plus, I love that it has the external waste gate port, and the price is a winner too. Can anyone tell from the picture, but it looks like the turbo would go on the drivers side of the car right? Is that what everyone else is seeing too? That would be good too to give enough room for the 90 degree bend off the turbo for the downpipe.
Great find by the way slowolej
I have a manifold internaly gated that ill sell for like 75$ shipped
slowolej wrote:The cast manifold is available separately. A little time searching turned up this page:
http://www.advancedjdmparts.com/product.php?productid=16900
I'd bet they're going to get more popular in the near future... probably made in China and imported by the box. 
Excellent find.
VTLoki wrote:Hmm, perhaps it is just me, but I would go for the cast manifold over the welded one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the cast one be stronger? I'll send it to jet hot to get a coating, and be good to go. What do you guys think?
If I was in the market for a new mid-range manifold, I would take a cast over a stainless log any day of the week. The Chinese castings had some quality issues in past years, but I haven't seen any problems recently. If it means anything, both my aftermarket DSM manifolds are cast
Oh yeah, don't bother with Jet-Hot on them, it's pointless. I have some super-duper high temp powder coat if you want it to look pretty for a quarter the price though
fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster
Hmm, is it me, or does the manifold on AdvancedJDMparts, look like the image is mirrored what it is suppose to be?
Advanced JDMparts
ebay:
Notice the notch in the lower right corner of the manifold? It's clearly the same manifold, but the image from advanced JDM parts looks like it is mirrored. Because, if the image is correct, then i think the Alternator would interfere with the install. the turbo would hit the alternator.... I hope the picture is just mirrored. For Some reason.
Nope cast is not better at least every cast manifold I've seen on a boosted car has cracked and not lasted long. If the welds are good the manifold will last. You have to remember these manifolds get extremely hot even with jet hot coating the heat and the weight of the turbo can do crazy things to a manifold.
Quote:
Nope cast is not better at least every cast manifold I've seen on a boosted car has cracked and not lasted long.
Well...
1989 Sunbird Turbo, OE cast manifold, 232k miles.
And the "homemade" manifold on the wife's 2.2 Cavi made it for about 3 years before the car was taken off the road due to rust.
Maybe the issue with the cars you saw is excess heat due to poor tuning? Or maybe just cheap aftermarket cast iron?
Manifold pictures...
It's got to be an issue with mirroring. I can't see any way for turbo + alternator to live a happy life in the same physical space.
A simple email to JDM might solve the issue.
-->Slow
Josh Cortez wrote:Nope cast is not better at least every cast manifold I've seen on a boosted car has cracked and not lasted long. If the welds are good the manifold will last. You have to remember these manifolds get extremely hot even with jet hot coating the heat and the weight of the turbo can do crazy things to a manifold.
Well, unless i'm mistake, cast manifolds don't have welds, which in my mind, would make it stronger then a welded one. At least, as strong as a good weld. I suppose that is debatable depending on the metal used in the cast manifold. I see the cast manifold as having less structural stress areas, since there are no welds. Then with the jet-hot coating, that's just more protection.
As for the pictures, Yah, I'll e-mail them and ask.
No question that the kit is probably crap. I would never get the kit. I guess it could be assumed that since the kit is so cheap, then the manifold may be of low quality. I guess we won't know until someone gets it and uses it for a while. The turbo, and everything else is probably cheap. including the manifold possibly.
Visually (which doesn't mean anything) it looks good, and typically, cast is strong... I dunno.
Notec your probably right considering all my freinds are cheapskates, but about 3 months ago I helped install a kit for my freinds JDM D15B VTEC he used a CX manifold (CX civic hatch) and welded on a DSM flange to the end with a 14B. About 2 weeks ago he had a serious boost leak it ended up the manifold cracked on the left side. I don't like the idea of welding cast iron, but lately I've seen some good stuff.
^^^^ Because unless you're REALLY good, cast is going to crack like a mother when welded. And 99.99999% of people don't know crap about how to weld properly. They may think they do, but they don't.
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thanks all i just bought a cast iron mani off of a jbok member for 110 shipped... now youve got me doubting it
^^^ if its not welded, it should be fine. The thing is, there are so many factors that go into a good reliable manifold (cast OR fabricated) that outside of obvious imperfections, its hard to tell how long it will hold up, especially since we don't exactly have a lot of well-known suppliers, and we therefore can't go by the reputation of the company.
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I got the reply from Advanced JDM parts, and they told me the picture was mirrored.
They said the manifold should look like this:
I'm not sure about this company. But, in general, cast should be better/stronger then a welded manifold, all things being equal, right? Isn't that one of the reasons it is used instead of a welded manifold?
Obviously, it's quicker to mass produce, and that is the obvious reason to use cast for mass produced cars. I might be wrong.
