Figured I may as well do a quick writeup on the "ETS Stock Location Evo X Tubular Exhaust Manifold". I don't have any direct before and after dyno comparisons to the stock manifold since I decided to do this as part of the GT30 Turbo install but so far it is allowing the turbo to spool up as fast it can for it's size. In fact I even get some compressor surge at 3600-4000 in 5th gear anywhere over 20 psi since I exceed that boost level at 3600. 4th gear is fine though and my datalogging shows 20 psi by 3800 and the top end flow of this combination should make for some nice mid 11 second passes.

I've been tweaking my tune over the last few days and still want to lean out another .5 AFR and add 1-2 degrees of timing in a few spots. So far I'm hitting 270-280% load cells where as my dyno run was only hitting 230-240%. The car is coming alive and I'll report back with final track and dyno numbers in the coming weeks.

Installation wise there were a few things that needed to be adjusted in order for this to bolt up smoothly. The upper centermost stud on the engine block may need to be grinded down a few mm in order to clear the tubing that curves behind the mounting hole. This might not be needed with no header wrap but after measuring clearances with a caliper I decided it was the best option. Getting any kind of wrench on there was also problematic so I lucked out having a flat 14mm wrench that was only 1/4" thick that allowed me to acces the bolt from below. All the rest of the nuts I could get a socket wrench with swivel/wobble extension or in some cases a hand wrench. I could only use a torque wrench on half of them and the others I had to go by mechanics feel to get similar torque on them.

It's also recommended to get that trouble nut threaded first, then get all the others on loose. If taking off the turbo and/or O2 DP then getting all the components nuts and bolts threaded loose is a VERY good idea since once the parts are rigid it can be extremely difficult to start them by hand. I had to file down some of the topmost threads on a few O2 DP bolts in order to get them going.

The stock Evo X exhaust manifold gasket has a metal heat shield integrated with it that deflects heat from the valve cover. I had to trim this off in order to clear everything and give me sight to the nuts when torquing the manifold down. Since I wrapped my manifold with DEI Titanium exhaust wrap I figured it wasn't a huge deal.

However, today I noticed that the upper half of a connector on the driver side of the valve cover had turned molten at some point and I haven't even raced the car at the track yet. I marked the connector with a couple of green X's and the left most one is where the plastic started to melt. I wrapped the connector up with several layers of DEI cool tape which should be ok but I may even fab up a quick aluminum heat shield that is anchored by one of the valve cover bolts. If the manifold wasn't wrapped I'm betting that connector would have not survived at all so plan ahead and use preventative measures to deflect that heat!

This is not an "easy" install but if you are doing a turbo upgrade it's not that much extra work to get it in there. Luckily I've already pointed out all the potential issues that a header can throw at you so you will likely have an easier time!

Naked:


Wrapped with DEI Titanium Exhaust Wrap:


Engine Bay Shot:




Molten Connector:


Wrapped Connector:

 

Clean install! and thanks for the detailed write-up.

 

Damn that looks good! Is that cool tape going to be enough you think?

 

Is the flange warped or is it the pic?

 

Looks good! I would also consider covering everything along the firewall, like the A/C lines.

 

looks good.

 

Haha just the pic, must be some optical illusion as the digital camera gets a little wacky depending on how close something is to the lens. I did put a straight edge on the gasket surface when I ran some 600 grit sandpaper over it and it looked fine. There are no exhaust leaks after installation and I've checked those hard to reach nuts for torque and they are still snug.

I think the cool tape is going to be a really good idea on anything in direct line of sight of the radiating heat from the manifold/turbo area. From non-scientific tests this tape is quite amazing at reflecting away heat, the upper IC pipe and intake piping is touchable despite the blast furnace heat radiating off the headers. I think it isn't so bad when the car is moving but I can't even imagine how hot it would get if the headers were glowing orange and then I parked it with no wrap on the tubing.

Likely all the AC lines are going to get covered since a little $10-$15 of tape now could prevent $100's in headaches later. That plastic connector was aboout 2 inches from the tubing so I should have realized that was going to be trouble. It was interesting how the upper connector was made of a lower melting point plastic compared to the connector in the head. I guess I was lucky that way otherwise the two halves would be bonded togther permanently!

 

Great Review! I'm still impressed by that wrap job!

Thanks,

Michael

 

nice bump

 

Did you have to hammer the wrap between the tubes? I have the same header and the tube are to close together to squeeze the wrap in between....

 

That is a really nice wrap job man (no homo)

 

I had to wedge it in there and kinda bend around the tight areas and force it back over a bit to make it work. In hindsight I think due to the relatively larger diameter of the runners (48mm) you are likely best off going with Ceramic coating or maybe a custom heat shield setup. While I think a full bolt on car with stock turbo and maybe cams could take advantage of the runners, this manifold seems better suited for larger turbo setups.

I switched to the Full-Race exhaust manifold because I wanted to see how much different it would be and I wasn't 100% sure there weren't leaks in the ETS, turns out there were none. I'll do a full comparison between the two but for one thing the runners are only 42mm OD and slightly shorter so power band should be shifted down somewhat. It's too early to tell if I lost top end power but the smaller runners did make it easier to access the bolts and removing the valve cover should be easier now for cam replacement. Low end torque seems to be better but I'll know more when I compare before and after Virtual Dyno runs.

I know you can't judge the headers by looks alone but the ETS seems to win that category.

 

Will that heat be a concern for the 2010 plastic valve cover?

 

Sorry I missed that question... but I'm sure they are using a high melting point plastic in that area. Still I think wrapping the headers or coating them is prudent and I would likely also place some heat reflectant tape on the backside of the valve cover as a preventative measure.

 

So have you figured out yet if the 42mm full race runners have any midrange advantage over the 48mm ets runners?