Exhaust advice

[JameS15]

Hi guys, elbow/mani gasket is blowing and has just been getting worse over the last few days ...was following a mate home last night in his 120 horse Vectra with 160k + miles on the clock when all of a sudden, no boost! I could only just keep up with it let alone overtake! Plus it sounds like a tractor and the cabin gets filled with petrol fumes if you bury the right foot! ...sooo as id intended to replace the mani, elbow, downpipe and decat anyway i thought i may aswell do it all at once instead of just doing the gaskets.

Thinking of getting the Japspeed elbow, decat and their manifold aswell. http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/products/japspeed-sr20det-stainless-tubular-manifold-s14s15.html. Says it comes with gaskets and bolts etc but its worth using genuine Nissan ones instead right and better bolts?

Second thing im wondering about is the downpipe. Seen this one from Japspeed again http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/p...t-3-stainless-front-pipe-s14-s13-sr20det.html but will it flex and sit high enough up under the car to avoid a lot of scrape?

Also saw this downpipe http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/products/80mm-twin-stainless-front-pipe-for-superlow-nissans.html but it says for skylines only. Im sure ive seen someone on here using a downpipe that looked just like this, not sure if its the same one though.

Anyone else using the Japspeed stuff? Any reccomendations regarding the manifold and downpipe? Ive searched and read old threads, lots of usefull info but just wanna be certain before i buy!

Thanks guys! :thumbs:
James

 

[S15 SILVIA]

Be interested in this info also. Is japspeed stuff actually any good? Or just cheap chinesse sh!t ?
Mike

 

[_Wing_]

Judging by the price and pics, they're china-spec.

With the manifold, check out the 4th running going 90degrees into the collector, LOL. Get it if you like bling, else look for something else.
The front pipe, I don't see a flex bit in there? But looks like it does the job.
Thw twin front pipe, it's available for SR20, but japanese gear isn't cheap, I think HPI make it.

The elbow... I didn't catch a link for that piece...

 

[LuPix_S15]

Hey James... you're in luck!! I've done all the Japspeed mods you're asking about except for the mani

Basically the downpipe with flex never seems to catch on my car and it's been lowered with Tein coilovers (fronts are set to the lowest ride height). The only part that ever caught speed bumps was the middle box on the HKS cat-back system so you know what? I got it cut out and a replacement pipe welded in place haha *fook that stupid item off*!!

The elbow seems like a decent item so far and the welds look ok. Be prepared for some fun getting the lambda sensor off the current elbow to fit on your new Japspeed item. Mine was a PITA - did not budge one bit until we had a gas torch heating up the area and then we finally cracked it lol!! If I were you I'd deffo WD40 the area for a few days and nights and even then prepare for some heat treatment

In my experience all the Japspeed stuff lined up and fitted ok. But here's some advice which I'm sure others will agree on:

*ONLY USE NISSAN GASKETS*

Yes more expensive but in your hands you can see how much better they are in quality than the rubbish ones you get from Japspeed - the aftermarket ones look and feel like they're made out of cardboard with tin foil covering them?! So get yourself the rectangular mani > turbo gasket and the funny shaped (!!) turbo > elbow gasket.

In my opinion it's not worth changing the mani for an aftermarket SS item unless you're trying to eek every HP out of the car (prob does more for highly tuned vehicles)... For a start you'll need to change the manifold gasket which IIRC costs around £80+ from Nissan as it's a 6 to 7 ply gasket!! If you don't do this, chances are the original mani gasket will start to fail once you put your new mani onto the block etc. Also the amount of times I've seen people post that their SS mani has cracked and even buying an expensive GReddy or Tomei item might not necessarily be stronger

I'd simply recommend keeping the existing stock mani and just upgrade the elbow and downpipe for now. If you haven't already done so you might wanna upgrade your turbo water and oil feed lines to braided items at the same time as well

 

[JameS15]

Cheers for the reply Wing. Hadnt really noticed that 90 degree pipe but it wouldnt flow too well im guessing! This one looks a lot better http://www.h-dev.co.uk/product_info...d=168&osCsid=cf3ee9a3aef82e3bc9d409458558b94d.

Thanks for the big reply James thats some good info there! im gona go for the Japspeed elbow, decat and that downpipe too. Probs leave the mani for now! I havnt done the braided lines yet but ill get those aswell as the genuine Nissan gaskets. Looking forward to getting the power back lol. Where did you get the braided hoses from?

Cheers guys!!

 

[LuPix_S15]

No worries mate

I got my turbo braided lines from Apex Performance (same part as the S14 ones). They are expensive - just for the coolant feeds they come to around £100!! :wack:

However they are pretty much always in stock so you'd get 'em quick and they come with the banjo bolts. Cheaper alternative would be to buy from Hose Solutions - prob almost half the price but not sure whether you'd be waiting longer and the replacement banjos will have to be ordered separately.

A tip when swapping the coolant lines - heat the copper washers on a stove or use gas burner before you put them on the new banjos and tighten on the block or turbo. Helps them soften and then mould to the new bolts since they've already been on the car a long while and may have bent to a certain shape. The biggest issue is making sure they don't leak when you've fitted it all back together so every little thing helps

 

[DeanS15]

be aware mate - the h-dev manifold is a really decent quality item for the money and is wearing well on my car, but because the pipework has been designed so as not to use such an aggressive bend on the runners the manifold will sit your turbo assembly around 2cm lower than stock. this doesnt cause me problems as i had a custom downpipe made to suit. if you are looking to get a decent downpipe that will last then i really would suggest having one made to fit on the car by a specialist as this way you can get maximum ground clearance, no fouling on the underbody or other components and it will be of far better quality than anything else but the top jdm stuff....also you can ensure that the rear section of the exhaust will not be getting pulled forward or pushed back due to ill fitting downpipes/incorrect length decats off of s14's and s14a's. from this mod alone i managed to gain around 2-3cm of extra ground clearance throughout the whole exhaust but i dont run a flexi - provided the exhaust is fixed at each hanging point and bolted to the box via the bracket it shouldnt cause cracking issues - most cheap downpipes have a bracket that no where near lines up to the box mount.

james - i checked hose solutions for the lines as thats where i got mine from but they dont seem to list them any more????

 

[LuPix_S15]

Dean - I'm not sure about Hose Solutions as I've not ordered from them myself. It's just couple of mates have ordered from them about 6 months ago IIRC and they seemed to get their stuff ok?!

Maybe Apex is one of the only options left. If there's a number I suggest calling Hose Solutions or it's almost double the price!! I'm impatient and went down the Apex route as mine was leaking and I wanted the job done ASAP lol...


Tell me about exhaust brackets that don't line up!! Everytime I'm under the car that's on a proper ramp I look at the mismatch and laugh... It's true!! These 'more affordable' items must be made by pygmies on a remote island haha

 

[adz87kc]

Hmmm i couldn't see the braided lines on hose solutions either. I ordered mines around october/november time no problem though, might be best to give them a call. As far as i remember the guy was very helpful and i got a discount for being part of an owners club.

 

[C1TPT]

I got my lines from hose solutions too! Shame they dont seem to list them any more!

I have a japspeed down pipe with a flexi bit in and its perfect, lovely welding and a great fit! when i put it on it did come up a tiny bit short but when i nipped it up to the decat it was perfect as it raised it a little so no issue with ground clearence.

The brackets lined up perfectly too! :thumbs:

 

[JameS15]

Thanks for all the feedback guys its a great help!

http://www.hosesolutions.org.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=796 Are these the right ones or am i being thick? This is a learning curve for me but im determined to learn and do as much to the car myself as i can haha

 

[DeanS15]

thats the ones mate if your copper washers from yours are no good then you can get them from a motor factors, if they have hardened prior to fitting then you can heat them with a gas gun until they just glow red, then dip them in water. this softens up the copper again ready for fitting.

 

[JameS15]

Thanks mate! :thumbs: Just been on my back under the car for a bit pulling it apart while it was snowing... its bloody cold outside!!