Evening all! Long story short, my 421 jasma manifold /downpipe decided to crack around the flexipipe next to the cat last summer. Unfortunately, I was driving to a job interview across the otherside of the country so had it ‘bodged’ by a local garage to get me to the interview and back. After the interview I then put the lil roadster away for the winter as it wasn’t needed…
Anywaaaay, roll on this year and after a summer rebuildling the top end, I finally got the thing started. However, I have begun hearing the farty tell tale signs of a leaking exhaust and low and behold it is on the new flexitube that was welded in.
My question is what can be done? Is it possible to reweld the the flexipipe back up and protect it with exhaust wrap or cry as I try and take this manifold off and replace it with another one.
I can not see any reason why a good zorst place( not quick rip and the like) cannot weld a new flexi pipe in that will last, it is worth repairing as these are becoming hard to come by now and can only be bought second hand, the new ones on the Bay of E that do not have the flexi pipe are rubbish and the welds snap, so stay clear,there was a reason the Japs put the flexi pipe in for
Personally i would get yours repair right, think how old that is and lasted before the flaxi as gone.if it is done right it will last that long again.
To be fair, Jackson Racing and Racing Beat manifolds don’t have flexi-joints, and they have a top notch reputation. Not all Japanese manifolds have a flexi-joint either (eg. Drophead). The flex-joints allows them to get away with a fair bit. The ebay manifolds suffer from poor welding on the flange plate; the cracking might be as a result of a lack of a length of Goodrich tubing, but fundamentally, its down to poor workmanship. The fella who repaired my MX5parts manifold reckoned a lot of these chinese manifolds, irrespective of what car they are on, have the same problems; the metal is a bit thin. Racing Beat have a superb way of how the runners are mated to the flange.
Anyhow, looks like there might be a DIY solution, that doesn’t need welding:
Hmm those clamps look a good alternative. Mine currently has two clamps on it aswell as being welded up, the clamps don’t look as sturdy as the ones on p7 of that pdf.
