Cracked 'vintage' 1.8 T3 EWG cast mani - replacement options?
 

Hey all, looking for some advice (and abuse no doubt). Car is the old "ADFX" 94 Black and Tan that was rumored to be one of the first 400hp cars a hell of a long time ago (around 2000 IIRC), I forget all the details now (which i probably best) but the jist is it is sporting a cast 1.8 T3 EWG manifold that has the WG hole repaired before and is now cracking further. I don't want to go all apeshit and replace everything with a new mani/turbo/DP/WG, I am quite happy with the performance of the cast log and even it's frame rail interference.. I just need to replace the mani with a solid unit. BEGi no longer makes it (and judging by everything I read here I'd be waiting a lifetime for one if they did), and while HellaFab makes pure art I'm not sure I can wait the 6 months it'll take to get a tubular masterpiece, I'd like the car running by end of Feb. Trying to weigh my options due to the various downsides of the Hella fab for my particular situation and desires, I'd love to go that route but I don't know that I can wait it out. So, the question is what other options do I have for a 1.8 T3 flanged EWG manifold?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1994-2005-M...VaDd0C&vxp=mtr

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Y4UAA...0C/s-l1600.png

Is that pretty much it aside from custom fabbed? I've read up a fair bit on the tacotaco stuff and assume this is the same offshore supplier, and this reeks of a ripoff of the existing mani I have (see below). Car should be in the 250+hp range and will be daily driven foolishly on street and maybe a few HPDE's a year. What's the consensus of durability on these cheap manifolds? I don't want to do this same exercise in June because it all cracked to shit (same reason I am not having the existing unit fixed), and this route let's me avoid reworking all manner of shit like the DP, WG, IC piping, etc. since it looks to be a near match drop in piece. But the $120 question is is this a priced solution or is it just delayed misery...?

Thoughts?

Wallyman

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0M...=w1279-h959-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cn...=w1279-h959-no

You must have missed the part where the OP stated:
"...and this route let's me avoid reworking all manner of shit like the DP, WG, IC piping, etc"
- not to mention thte fact that he'd need a new turbo.

Yep missed that part. I made a dumb next time I'll read the whole thing. Ignore what used to be in the place of this text

facepalm

But beside those.. that would work. :D Yeah, I want to keep rework to a minimum so that one is out. :td:

As much as I hate the idea, I suppose I could go cheapo for this coming season and have the HellaFab one made for next winter swap.. but I am trying to avoid redoing it after this winter. The turbo car isn't where I need to be spending my time (or money), fixing it was so I had something to enjoy driving while the LS2 car is finished (hopefully).

Is Abe (ARTech, right?) still around? I've seen references to his work and some photos of pieces that imply he can solve my problems (or at least this specific problem!)

that china manifold is your easiest route. looks like it will fit the same as your existing manifold, and hopefully should last a good white being a heavy cast unit.

Pat is running one on his compound boosted 400+hp setup and it hasnt cracked yet.

That's sort of my thoughts but given you guys run all manner of stuff, the real world of Pat using it helps. Managed to dig up an email for Abe and sent him a note too, but no reply yet if he is building anything. His website shows a BEGi/FM replacement option which is what exactly I need, just not sure he is making anything anymore..?

Abe is still slowly making stuff. He does it on the side of a real job, and its the holidays. Not getting a quick response should be expected.

Cool. From the website I found it sort of looked like a full time gig (company name, address, all that), but waiting it shall be I guess.

So far it's HellaFab, Abe or ebay china knockoff.. any other options? FM is out, BEGi is out.. oh, and I sent that guy over at MKTurbos an email a couple days ago to see if he had a manifold that might work but still waiting on his reply.... :) Do you make your mani or is it a prefab you buy?

I'd just buy that China copy. Otherwise, you'd need to buy a FM or BEGi manifold and then machine the EWG outlet.

fm is t25. He has the t3 version.
Only easy option is the china manifold.

Neither FM nor BEGi make a Mani with the T3 flange any more. The ebay feels like a bandaid at $110... maybe I'm wrong but my problems rarely are solved that easily or cheaply. Usually it's just the can of worms being opened because I didn't spend good money for good product. I want to make sure I at least understand the options available before I pick my poison, especially since it looks like there are 2 or 3 good fabricators that might be able to produce something far superior to that hunk of cast.

Bell tuning or MaxG or what-have-you, don't drill the flanges until after the fact. They can drill it for a T3 -- there was no actually difference in the manifolds. BUT I'm not sure they still have an EWG cast -- very doubtful on that.

I spoke with BEGi (Joey @ MaxG), apparently Corky changed the flange design a while back and it's not big enough to allow for a T3 setup. And yeah, the EWG issue....

I bet the china knockoff is probably the same exact quality and would work fine for you

If it is, it could possibly outlive the car.. that manifold has been on there at least 12 years (and I suspect probably closer to 20 from the history that I know) and saw a metric crap ton of roadcourse track time prior to my ownership..

shuiend, you never answered.. do you make your manifolds?

he makes his own. they won't fit your setup at all though

....no...but maybe he could make one that would. :) Log Mani already has the T3 flange, just needs the EWG port. His DP would be a good start, get it without the v-band flange and put a 4 bolt on it and add the EWG pipe.... possible option if he was interested in making it. Would cover about half of the work or more.

Just collecting info on options.....