Turbo/DP Bracing
 

I tried searching for turbo or DP bracing options and found only whispers. I'm trying to come up with a setup for my car, but I'd like to see what others are done because, well, I'm not at all creative or original. So, who's done what?

For my turbo setup i have a thick ass manifold with thick ass gussets over the top and bottom horizontal welds. If this thing fails i should go back to school for a different profession.

As for the downpipe, Most get away with no downpipe brace, however, if you want bracing on it, JayL's DP has a piece of flat bar with a hole drilled in it that is welded to his downpipe and utilizes the bolt from the transmission.

What manifold are you using (or thinking of using)?

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/v...ks/Cars031.jpg

I'm trying to get some longevity out of a cheap-o eBay manifold. The brace (which is more of a gusset to brace itself to, well, itself) already on it is cracked.

When i buy stuff on ebay for my car, I always feel like im saving money only to gain headaches later. If it were me i would bust out the welder and gusset any high stress points. Someone may have a different solution.


P.S. Pics of said manifold and broken gusset

P.P.S. Our for sale section sometimes has FM or BEGI cast iron manifolds which dont require bracing at all.

I'm up at school at the moment and won't be able to have a good pic of the cracked gusset until I go home next week. The bottom portion has begun to separate. The manifold is the TD05 one that infests eBay.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._4633689_n.jpg

I suppose I'll have to just weld on some reinforcement for the time being.

*I apologize for the terrible photo.

From the looks of it it seems to be a OBX manifold.

http://ludeatic.com/ebay/TH10146_5.jpg


Out of curiosity how thick are the runners? 16ga?

Quite thin, possibly 16 ga.

I have an idea in my head that just hasn't come to fruition yet.

Go to your hardware store and pick up a turnbuckle. Bolt one end to a motor mount bolt or some other appropriate bolt on your block and the other end to a bolt on your turbo, preferably at the downpipe flange. Crank that bitch as hard as you can by hand, actually perhaps a little less than as hard as you can with that thin manifold. I'm going to do this when I have my engine out next week so I can illustrate.

It wouldn't be necessary to have any sort of bushing or anything?

FM makes a 2.5" and 3" brace for 09-05 miatas
http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?...24&parentid=41

I braced mine with a pair of heim joints.

see here-https://www.miataturbo.net/showthread.php?t=45585

cracked anyway after 12-1500 miles. Built a new one out of schedule 40 weld els. Eventually you will most likely need to do the same so brace yourself for that (heh heh heh)