PHR stage 2 vs BL T67 stage 2

[MR.B]

Speaking of BL kits if anyone spots Terry I need a word. He's a hard man to track down lately!

[wkdtime]

Oye, this is my thread MR. B, and im going to have to charge you now!

[MR.B]

Oye, this is my thread MR. B, and im going to have to charge you now!

I thought my post was kind of in-keeping with the thread - sort of.

[TLicense]

I think there's always a chance that any tubular manifold can crack. (some are more prone than others), As far as I'm aware, we've had no BL failures over here yet. As I've said, mines still going strong and as a 'toy' car, when it does come out, it's pretty fair to say it gets some abuse.

 

Whilst Arnouts manifold is very well made, it does mean that you need to then get all the pipework modified to make it fit. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any ready made 'kits' that will make the job a simple one, and it would certainly add to the cost.

 

Agreed, any tubular manifold can crack. My point was I've heard of a couple of BL ones cracking from people I know, whereas I haven't heard of any HKS ones going. Not to say they won't of course, just personally I've not heard of any. Both of the BL ones I've heard of cracking are on UK based cars. One I heard about second hand, and one directly from the horses mouth, so to speak. I don't know if the owners want it anounced so I'll not mention names, but if you've had a BL or HKS tubular manifold crack, then if you could post it up, perhaps it would give us an idea of the scale of the problem (might be a storm in a tea-cup!)

 

I didn't realise there was so much to fitting a cast manifold compared to a tubular one. Could someone with a cast manifold comment maybe?

[wkdtime]

if you've had a BL or HKS tubular manifold crack, then if you could post it up, perhaps it would give us an idea of the scale of the problem (might be a storm in a tea-cup!)

 

I didn't realise there was so much to fitting a cast manifold compared to a tubular one. Could someone with a cast manifold comment maybe?

 

[Gamer]

I have had an HKS manifold (1JZ-GTE) that had a hairline crack. I replaced that with a Trust (Greddy) no problems with that one.

 

I have the BL manifold on my car now and it is running strong, no problems at all.

[Jake]

At one stage I was looking at using an Arnout cast manifold and a GT35R but it never got off the ground because

1, Arnout never replied to my emails

2, The turbo is at a slight angle on the tubular manifolds but not with Arnout's one. This means you need a custom downpipe as there isn't an off the shelf one available.

 

SimonB who did go for the Arnout manifold and GT35R would be able to say more.

[dandan]

Have any of you guys with a BL manifold seen or had any experience with the heat coating flaking at all?

[Gamer]

No flaking here.

[Miguel]

Agreed, any tubular manifold can crack. My point was I've heard of a couple of BL ones cracking from people I know, whereas I haven't heard of any HKS ones going. Not to say they won't of course, just personally I've not heard of any. Both of the BL ones I've heard of cracking are on UK based cars. One I heard about second hand, and one directly from the horses mouth, so to speak. I don't know if the owners want it anounced so I'll not mention names, but if you've had a BL or HKS tubular manifold crack, then if you could post it up, perhaps it would give us an idea of the scale of the problem (might be a storm in a tea-cup!)

 

I didn't realise there was so much to fitting a cast manifold compared to a tubular one. Could someone with a cast manifold comment maybe?

 

 

I know who your talking about, And maybe you should ask them If it was The FULL BL tubular ( Not one failure to date over here as far as i know ), Or the Budget Short run adapters that were fabbed by BL ...Oh and cast manifolds can still crack too!

[TLicense]

I thought you might

 

I believe it was the short ones, perhaps you can confirm? I guess the budget one is the one that is most likely to be bought by someone with limited funds, so given the choice of spending those limited funds on a DBB turbo, or a cast manifold that has no record of cracking (not just compared to the BL manifold, but any tubular manifold) I would recommend getting the cast manifold over going DBB.

As Vortex sell both Mig, the cast manifold and the budget tubular or even the full BL tubular which would you recommend?

[Miguel]

Well from memory I believe one ( I dont know if there was anymore) of the very very 1st run Vortex/BL budget manifolds Had issues which were resolved and revised with later versions. I'm not even sure If Vortex sells The budget or in fact the cast manifolds either anymore, That is a question for Vortex direct.( I have a couple of cast kicking around LOL )

 

As far as I know there hasnt been one failure of the Full BL manifolds to date over here. What would I recomend?, well that depends of usage, budget and goals. The budget manifold isn't really a cheap option either when you take into account fabbing, Unless a full kit is now availabe, And in my honest opinion I feel the cast would be the weak point for larger framed turbos, from a restriction point of view . If staying street and small to medium sized turbo then yes its a very good choice.

 

I chose a full BL tubular for myself for several reasons , even tho I did have the choice of a few back then, it fits all my needs from small to large apps without having to worry about chaging manifolds, It was less money than similar products but the same quality, the kit was easily fitted with parts availbale to fit ( no fabbing) and IF it did crack it could be very easyly repaired unlike cast repairs...I'm yet to see a cast manifold that has been repaired that lasts.

 

At the end of the day PHR and BL ( amongst others) have made good names for themselves, both sell products that work reliably, they are both very similar and fit right out of the box, so you really cant go wrong. Just depends what you want to spend at the end of the day for very similar products.

[TLicense]

So basically all good stuff!

 

Thanks for the frank reply mate

[Homer]

So, in summary:

 

- Cast manifolds are best avoided due to custom metalwork required, plus any manufacturing fault cannot be rectified easily

- PHR and BL kit is essentially the same, decision should be based on cost

- HKS see PHR^

- SP see PHR^

- XS power... would welcome more views As far as I can determine the turbo's are cack, the rest of the kit is cack, but the manifold should be okay after a bit of work. That’s not a bad thing, those manifolds cost bugger all.

[Guest Terry S]

As always there is some miss-information here.

 

There was a failure on a BL budget adaptor manifold, which was updgraded FOC and no issue since. There has never AFAIK been a BL tubular failure, unlike other makes I know of.

 

DBB are just as suitable for auto's.

 

When deciding on a manifold, check the wall thickness and grade of Stainless.

 

Mr B, you are on my priority list mate, just really struggling at the moment.

[BURT]

no probs here .. and the heat coating hasnt flaked off either:)

[Chris Wilson]

I have an XS Power TO4 flanged stainless tubular turbo manifold for sale, brand new in original packaging. Open to first sensible cash offer. Would form the basis of a budget single kit. Only used to measure it up for making the jig for an Inconel manifold for a customer.

[Homer]

Email sent to you Mr Wilson

[wkdtime]

I have an XS Power TO4 flanged stainless tubular turbo manifold for sale, brand new in original packaging. Open to first sensible cash offer. Would form the basis of a budget single kit. Only used to measure it up for making the jig for an Inconel manifold for a customer.

 

 

Mr Wilson, MKIV Parts For Sale ring a bell?....thread hijacker

[jason m]

Chris - just out of interest how much is an inconel one?

[Nick]

The last time I spoke to Arnout he was still in the process of making the intercooler pipework for the cast manifold. This was a few months ago so maybe he's finished now.