I run a brace from a threaded hole on the front of my block to the clamps that hold the turbine on. it's made out of a 1/4" X 1" bar with a bracket on the block end. I can take my manifold off and the turbo doesn't move any noticable amount. I don't know why everyone assumes that hanging a turbo and exhaust off your manifold will be very reliable.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tHIS oNE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have to disagree...
I have actually had some manifolds crack from being braced.
If you tie the manifold down too well, the thermal expansion from the manifold is going to crack it somewhere.
When it heats up and wants to expand and cant it has nowhere to go and cracks</TD></TR></TABLE>

that is why it is important to select the proper metal for bracing...
(to best match expansion rate of the manifold)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pgpunkguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that is why it is important to select the proper metal for bracing...
(to best match expansion rate of the manifold)</TD></TR></TABLE>

What's the formula? If the materials of manifold and brace match, do you have to account for the fact that the brace won't see as much heat as the manifold (and may not expand as much)?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pgpunkguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

that is why it is important to select the proper metal for bracing...
(to best match expansion rate of the manifold)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ive gone sans on the rigid braces...
I have been using 1/4" rod ends and threaded lengths

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mamaboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">jesus! why would you want to brace something that's supposed to do its job when you buy it. doesn't make sense to me. search! and you'll find all the answers you need. For that cash buy yourself an inlinepro or revhard...i'd rather stick a drag mani on my car than that thing It's not that i don't believe that it'll do its job as a manifold, but it's just not durable...that's the problem</TD></TR></TABLE>

Even Cody's manifold has cracked too. **** just happens, this are precautionary measures to ensure longevity. What doesn't make sense to me is why would you be offended by spending a extra $50 to brace it? Is that breaking the bank or something? I would rather my heavily braced manifold over any log style manifold any day. Aside from its tendoncy of cracking even Geoff himself said he would pick this manifold over alot of the new custom manifolds you see out there (he is just speaking in terms of performance). Its a hit and miss situation, some have had great success without bracing and some have had bad luck. But if you take the time to brace it and take the extra weight off the manifold I see it lasting longer. Either way I know I am still going to make decent numbers regardless of the people that disagree with it. If I get over 400+whp with my setup then I will be as happy as a pig in ****. I also just had cut expansion slots to the flange that sits on the head to help give a bit of flex that the braces may prevent.

I too would like to see somemore pics of guys that braced their stuff, and actual facts on how its held up. And this applies to all manifolds. Keep this thread alive guys, i love hearing constuctive debates.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MIKES &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Even Cody's manifold has cracked too. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Cody told me that it would be better to brace the manifold, but not critical. Of more than 250 manifolds only 4 of his have broke.

 

Very true. Not knocking Cody's work at all, I think his stuff is great. But there have been issues with some of his stuff aswell, which I think should be expected in pretty much any manifold to a certain extent. As more time rolls on more will come out of the wood works to. To me that isn't a knock against his workmanship, its due to things that are out of our control (ie: metal fatigue).

 

very nice welds good job

 

more block to turbo pics please!!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MIKES &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...I would rather my heavily braced manifold over any log style manifold any day...</TD></TR></TABLE>

WORD!!!

 

Back from the ashes. Anyone want to explain turbo-to-block bracing theory? Heat expansion effects etc.?

 

I will try to take some pics of my bracing. Its a flat steel rod with a hole at both ends with a nut/bolt that tightens down on the tranny hook, and another bolt that goes into the turbine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pgpunkguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

WORD!!! </TD></TR></TABLE>

let me hear you say that if it cracks 3 different times. log's have made 500hp+, so if your street racing more time and are using it for daily driving, log is still very good.

 

I plan on bracing from the transmission to either the compressor or turbine.

 

worfless w/o pics!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I plan on bracing from the transmission to either the compressor or turbine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I bought about a yard of about 1/8" x 1" of steel from home depot, they have all different thicknesses. It was only ~$4.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cyphear &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I bought about a yard of about 1/8" x 1" of steel from home depot, they have all different thicknesses. It was only ~$4.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You're using the sidewinder too aren't you? Did the bracing work good?

 

Cyphear, get your car on the dyno! Alot of us are REALLY wanting to see some slips w/ that new sidewinder...

 

Is the turbo installed yet ? UPDATES PLEASE

 

Just because you brace your manifold does not mean it will be stronger, if some of you guys have heard of thermal expansion of materials then you know that it can actually increase your chances of breaking due to stress.

Let's say you have a manifold where the manifold is parallell to the x-axis. Therefore you have one force acting upon the manifold in the y-axis direction caused by the weight of the turbo. I know design of the runners comes into play here, but just bear with me here. Now, when you brace the manifold you are actually introducing it to increased stresses where the braces are attached at. When metal gets hot, it expands. So, these "braces" are now creating additional stresses in the X,Y,Z axis to the manifold. Once the metal expands it will actually "push" the manifold away from the braced area's and the weak points will most likely fail due to increased stresses.

So with that said, design your braces well in respects to thermal expansion and material strengths. The best bet here is to use the same materials throughout so expansion rates remain constant with one another. Keep in mind that material thickness will also play a factor in expansion rate.

Bottom line here is that if a manifold is designed well chances are it will not crack. You get what you pay for.

 

No sir. The teg is taking a back seat right now. I got Job Spetter Jr. flying up to Canada after his next Pro5.0 meet in Houston tunning Joe Dasilva's car. He is going to be tunning my GN on Joe's dyno. So after my Buick is done I will concentrate on my Teg. I gotta get the Buick in the 9's first. Thats my true love.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just because you brace your manifold does not mean it will be stronger, if some of you guys have heard of thermal expansion of materials then you know that it can actually increase your chances of breaking due to stress.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is the conclusion I've come to after doing a bit of research. Since I know next to nothing about metallurgy and the associated engineering, I'm going to leave the manifold alone. I'd probably do more harm than good.
I was more worried about too much stress on the studs in the head than the manifold cracking, but since I've never heard of that happening, it will likely be just fine.

 

i see a whole lotta bracin going on ......................mengs need alot of bracing i presume

 

I've thought about it, im not sure if its better to have a brace or not either due to thermal expansion, but cody recommended it so thats what im doing.

Heres the best pic I got of it, sorry its so bad, it was of something else...

Sorry, i hope its better than nothing. Just imagine that brace going straight to the tranny hook thing with a hole drilled in the brace and a bolt running through it and a nut on the other side attaching the brace to the tranny. its really simple, wish i had a better pic.


and here is an even worse pic

 

what kind of metal did you use and where did you get it??? is it bent or straight???

Landon