I have a top mount it was good for about two years then the top middle two exhaust manifold studs busted off so it put stress on the outer two runners and cracked the welds to the cylinder head flange replaced the broken studs and got the cracks tig welded lasted for a few weeks and cracked again got it re welded and a couple weeks later it cracked again on runner 1 and 4 and this time it cracked runner 3 as well. Talked to this fabricator in town and he said heating and cooling stainless makes it brittle and it will be hard to keep it from cracking once it starts and right off the cylinder head flange are bends that see a lot of heat so he is thinking of building a brace on the bottom of the top mount to the block to support it re weld the runners and then get it high heat ceramic coated inside and out to protect the metal from heat which he said is why it cracked. Anyone have any experience with this? Will this work or should I be shopping for a new manifold?

 

Even if you polish a turd it's still a piece of ****.

Get a new manifold and save yourself all the hassle.

 

So your saying once a manifold cracks its junk? Anyone had success repairing a manifold? Its not a egay top mount or anything and It would suck to drop $900 on a new one if this is fixable

 

What do you think? People have had success with repairing many manifolds but unfortunately you're not one of them.

 

What do you think? People have had success with repairing many manifolds but unfortunately you're not one of them.

 

Wow very polite. I know just welding didn't fix it but my Fab Guy says a bottom brace and ceramic cost should do the job. Looking for technical reasons and personal experiences not smart *** remarks do you have any info besides your opinion? This is a tech forum not an opinion forum.

 

did they drill the ends of the crack before they filled them in?

 

What he means is that the materials may be rather substandard, or the welder may not be using the correct filler to replace the welds. Ceramic coating it will simply extend your problems. If you ceramic coat and another weld issue occurs, the metal will be contaminated and your welder will be pretty pissed that he now has to completely clean the surface, just to try and weld a bad manifold that now has been expensively ceramic coated.

I would tend to agree with the above. Time for another pre-made manifold altogether if at all possible.

 

just get a new manifold, why waste the time with a might fix.

 

Thank you for actually giving an explanation instead of just saying its crap LOL. It is only cracking at the welds and my friend was welding it so it might not have been done right and no he didn't drill the ends of the cracks I can't afford a new manifold this month so I'm gonna have a local race car Fab Guy fix it this time he knows what he's doing so I'm going to hope for the best and if it cracks again I will order a new one I will take your advice and save my money and not coat it. What is the proper filler for stainless? It just sucks because it was made to keep power steering and I don't know of any other top mounts like it

 

Hopefully it gets done right this time. The biggest concern I would have is with it cracking or splitting and debris getting sucked down into your turbine housing and destroying your turbo. By the way, you don't need power steering, that's just slowing you down