I'd like to make a turbo exhaust manifold. I know FM uses those fancy blue lego tubes to mock them up, but is there anything the lay man can use to physically mock them up? I'd really like to just get the angle cuts right at the collector. I was thinking the paper towel roll inner cardboard tube for the straight pieces, but they don't have them with 90*.

Any ideas for a beginner?

 

Plastic water pipes and glue?

 

A tubular or log manifold?
Many people just use steam pipe for log manifolds, as seen in this thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo...cs-info-74035/

 

steam pipes if you're not amurican. We use weld els here in the states.

 

Arent those the same thing? Either way how I did mine and how I'd do it again is this. I put the turbo in the engine bay where I wanted it and measured where it was based off one of the exhaust manifold studs. I placed the head flange and the turbo flange in the computer model based on these locations. ANd then I designed the tubes to work. I might have a tube or two really close to the valve cover so I measure based on known points. I did cheat and buy a collector because I knew I would never be able to make a nice one and its the most important part anyways. I was also going to make my collector a certain angle no matter what the pipes wanted since the collector is more important than the pipes anyways. When I went to make it I took some angle steel and placed both flanges where they needed to be bolted the turbo on and made sure I still cleared everything. Then tacked all the weld els together, and put it back in the car with the turbo attached to make sure I didnt **** up. Its pretty easy.

 

They are the same thing, Industry calls them weld els, the places the get welded are typically powerstations, so are known as steam pipe.

Dann