It shouldn't - its a pretty good piece.
I just put mine through some pretty extreme situations that most people wont and I need something that won't crack under those conditions.

Functionally, there is not really much to be improved upon in that form factor and with the existing constraints.

 

I just might try doing it myself. buy a used exhaust manifold and have a fab shop put me one together. thanks for the help guys

 

hmmmm if you enjoy being on your back a lot taking manifolds on and off to fix cracks - that is a good option ....

 

Mine scares me because it has cracked and been re-welded which is how i purchased it the normal quality isnt scary only when it already has a flaw and i dont know who welded it and the material used.....

 

I've had to weld mine a few times now - it will crack somewhere else rather than at the weld if it was done properly.

 

Jeff,

Your pm box is full so I'll try here.

I am buying a Garrett GT3076R, I was wondering if I should go with the standard compressor housing 4" inlet 2.5" out, or would the alternate compact housing be better suited?

 

Thanks hmmm guess the manifold's tolerance is not all its cracked up to be........get it.........get it

 

Gotta do the compact housing. There isn't enough room to do the other cover and get the intake plumbing through the motor mount.

 

I've been hearing this from a lot of people and I'm pretty sure they don't put them through the extreme conditions that you do.

Any thoughts on why so many of them cracked and how one could possibly be built to not have to worry about cracking?

 

They are made out of cast ductile iron.
If the casting is thick enough, they won't crack.
The problem is there are several very thin parts of the casting and because of the way our exhaust system is constructed, much of the stress of the weight of the exhaust system acts like a lever on the manifold (despite the brace on the midpipe, which acts more like a fulcrum than a brace).
I alleviated this in my setup with a flex-bellows on my midpipe, but a change in the way the flow is directed in the manifold and a thickening of the casting at the places where the flow direction changes would probably do the trick.

When I weld mine, I plate over the crack instead of just welding the crack itself.
Then, later, a new spot cracks and I plate over that. My manifold is now almost completely plated with stainless!

 

Good call on the flex bellow, I didn't think of that. New BHR midpipe feature?

We came to the same conclusion of the casting being a tad on the poor side [also that many welders can't repair cast iron properly].

Do you really think it's worth reinforced this part over designing a new manifold without these weak points? Or are you simply thinking of the reinforced manifold as a cost-friendly option for people who already bought the kit?

 

Lmao franken manifold........

 

My manifold is starting completely from scratch.
The only thing I'm "keeping" from the GReddy design is the position of the flanges so that one can simply swap in this manifold in their GReddy kit (or their MM upgraded kit) and be done with it.
It sits in exactly the same place but looks/functions totally different.

 

you can get a flange from racing beat right? cast stainless i think. better base to start from i would think.

 

I get them water-jet cut to my exact specifications out of 1/2" stainless locally for less than 1/2 of what Racing Beat charges.