Alunox SS manifolds

[Vulcan Grey]

That case is not generally how it ends up in practice though.  When you bolt the manifold to the head, it is as rigidly as possible, and then the turbo gets bolted to the manifold, as rigidly as possible, and then the hose is tightened basically at rest.  Meaning the hose is not actually carrying any load (ideally), which means the manifold sees the entire weight of the turbo as it begins to heat and the steel alloy looses ~60% of it's strength.  Then once the steel deforms... then the rubber hose begins to take the weight.

 

The rubber hangers on the exhaust are also not designed to take weight instantly, they would deform and allow a large moment with that much weight at that kind of distance.

 

I've seen the rubber mounts for the chargecooler that were sheared due to boost pressure and the fact that the pipe work didn't have a good lip, and the hose clamps were slippery on the oily silicone tubing.  I've had my silicone hose pop out of the t-bolt hose clamp many times, until I finally bracketed the hose clamps together so they couldn't slip towards or away from each other.

 

This is precisely why many previous exhaust manifolds, and brackets, have cracked (steel and iron)

[CHANGES]

But its not fitted to the Alunox manifold?

 

Im not sure what you are trying to show here? The Turbo pipe and your great big huge exhaust pipe can support the turbo on its own? Most people will have a section of flexi pipe in their exhaust pipe and a small dia. but longer rubber air/turbo inlet. You think this will be strong enough to hold the turbo?

 

 

Hi Scott,  

I did this as a new thread to set aside from the conflict in the other, as a result it may have been a bit vague.

I will try to address the points you made.

What i was trying to illustrate was that the turbo does not wobble around on these mounts as was implied in the other thread.

If i had the Alunox manifold fitted at the time I would not have  been able to illustrated this support so clearly.

The standard  turbo Esprit that the Alunox manifold was designed for does not have a flexi section in the system, It would not

be recommended to fit one to an Esprit that has.  The diameter of the system will make little difference.

The rubber pipe you refer to on the compressor  is the same length  as standard on mine, just a bit stretched on the comp end.

There is no real difference in how mine is laid out to that of a standard Esprit.

hope that helps explain a little..

 

Travis

I understand what you are saying but the Alunox header unlike the standard system and others was designed to be flexible. This

was to reduce the stresses a rigid system incurs under expansion which is a major cause of fatigue cracking..

Because of this flexibility factor the question was raised about the influence the turbo weight would have when suspended on the

manifold . It was suggested that the turbo was mostly reliant on the manifold for its support which could cause problems on a

flexible system like the Alunox ..  

It had not been illustrated before exactly how supporting these other mounts were, which was a consideration in the design of

the Alunox headers.. but had become a matter of contention in the other thread.

Because of the flexible nature of this system it will be necessary to insure all the mounts are in good serviced condition to help

prevent situation that you have experienced,,

 

In general.

The Alunox  five piece manifold with its expansion joints allowing flexibility in the system is a new direction for the Esprit but 

has been used with great success in many other applications. There will always be some concerns over a new product and

how it is fitted . The main one with this was how independently supported the turbo was so as not to lean on the manifold.

The point of this thread was just to show that even though the standard turbo is circa 6 kg its mounting configuration

without the manifold attached can suspend at least 48 kg  which is 8 x its weight. without significant deflection..

Hopefully this will have addressed this concern.. 

[Trevsked]

Dave,

Thanks for posting up and attempting to put minds at rest about turbo support. The issue I think is that previously the turbo was supported by the heavy cast manifold and and people are having issue believing without it the turbo will simply not be supported sufficiently. I don't agree of course and feel this is 1970-1980's production engineering as opposed to modern development and approach. Sparky has had his fitted for some time now and still remarks how much better the car feels.

Trevor.

[Sparky]

I ran mine without the support bracket for several weeks and took a number of measurements, and found nothing to concern me.  The bracket is now fitted - neutral load - and things are still peachy.  The manifold is a joy to fit and run, and I personally have confidence that the hose in question is man enough to provide significant support to the turbo.

[Trevsked]

Actually Im not sure what this recent update adds to this debate.

 

I think the only thing that will be decisive is how they continue to perform over the next couple of years.

 

So far so good. Unless anyone knows any different?

 

Anything else will just be guess work so perhaps we should just leave it there for the time being....please

 

Buddsy

Buddsy,

 

I quite agree and time running these is the proof and of course being installed in a professional manner is key to longevity.

 

Trevor.

[jimblob]

I still want one, maybe after i finish fitting the new kitchen 

[internets]

I'm sure Trev can do you a favourable rate

[Trevsked]

Yep sure can, I still have two.

Trevor.

[jimblob]

Can you do me a favourable rate on kitchen appliances.

[Jacques]

I'll chime in on one a bit later. For now I have plenty of cooler Work

But, as it seems to last, I find the alunox manifold interesting for sure.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

[Trevsked]

Let me know when you want one, they are sitting on the shelf.

Trevor.

[Jacques]

Maybe right before the belt fest? (If I can talk sover someone to brng it in the plane?)

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[ramjet]

Why is all the nice stuff in the UK?

[Sparky]

Cos we kicked all the bad stuff out years ago. 

[ramjet]

 

I don't like you anymore.....

[Bibs]

Just to re-iterate, Trevsked made up the initial group buy of these manifolds by purchasing 2 himself, which he didn't need but did for the sake of the others in the group buy. 

 

If you want to buy a manifold, please do the right thing and purchase this brand new item from Trevor before approaching Alunox. It's the same as the one you'll get from them, but available right now, on the shelf and ready to go and will save Trevor being the best part of £3k out of pocket.

[Trevsked]

Thanks for the support and making that clear Bibs.

 

Trevor.

[Jacques]

So Bibs, naturally we support each other, and I bought one off Trevsked, now waiting for installation.

 

I have a few questions regarding this, as I want to avoid making stree on a part or some parts.

 

- Does someone have a propper installation manual for this kit? And the last updated bracket?

 

- Have anyone polished it ?

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[ramjet]

I always polish mine.

Oh. You're talking about the manifold. Never mind.

[Chillidoggy]

Jacques, I found that it was not easy to fit, even with the engine out. If one pipe was only slightly out of line, then it wouldn't go straight on over the studs.
 
After speaking to Leon at Alunox, I dismantled it, and smeared some moly grease around before reassembling it. I mocked it up on the bench as best I could first, then offered it up, No.1 cylinder first. I put the first nut on, then the next, and used a copper/hide mallet to tap the headers gently around into position. It wasn't a quick process, but once I'd got it perfectly aligned and over the studs, I could pull the whole assembly on and off, with no bother.

 

As for polishing it, that's your choice, but as no-one else will ever see it, and even if I did it will look like shit in a short space of time, I didn't bother.

[fsrowsell]

Had no problems fitting it with engine in car.

[Jacques]

Thanks Guys,

Jacques

[CHANGES]

On 22/01/2015 at 10:17, Buddsy said:

I think the only thing that will be decisive is how they continue to perform over the next couple of years.

 

First test unit fitted and put through its paces in Jan 2013 , 6 1/2 years on, still going strong ,  The last 3 1/2  years without any support bracket fitted on this test Esprit ...   4 1/2 years the above observation / comment    Over 100 units sold and fitted to the Esprit...   

A big Thank you To Alunox for the support ,manufacture and supply of this much needed alternative to the std unit ..   

 

  1st unit under test Jan 2013

 Same unit after inspection and crack test pass,  2015  before re-wrapping..  

[Sparky]

Mine has been without support bracket for 3 years, no issues whatsoever.

[Chillidoggy]

2 years with no support for me. Waste of time fitting it in my view.