So before I get called a moron by everyone here, I looked for several hours trying to find the info I needed with no luck.

Obviously eBay turbo's are trash, but what about the manifolds? I'm looking for a B series Ramhorn manifold (was considering the Blackworks Racing T3 Ramhorn with 38mm wastegate flange) but the $600US pricetage is kind of offputting. I've seen a number of relative no name manifolds that are the same layout as the one I'm looking for but have had no luck finding any reviews or info from people who have owned one.

In a nutshell, would I be an idiot for buying a $200-$250 turbo manifold off of eBay instead of a $500-$600 one from a more reputable company?

 

the only good ebay manifold is the cast manifold and you wont make big power with it. ebay ramhorns are garbage but i heard obx manifolds are a bit better now.

 

The cast manifolds have been known to make well north of 400whp, with some better name-brand ones making 500+ on certain setups.

Cheap chinese stainless headers and manifolds look nice and shiny, but they pretty much always crack right at the welds. And really, they wont make much more power than a cast manifold...

 

Find an Inline Pro manifold or a simple log, like the Spoolin Log Manifold

 

BWR is basically shiny knockoff stuff.. while they do use sch 10 for the manifolds I haven't seen a lot being run. Mostly because if you're gonna pay 600 for a higher quality knockoff manifold you can spend a few hundred more and buy a proven quality manifold from a reputable company with a real warranty and a physical business address

 

Thanks for the reply's

The only reason I ask is because the price difference isn't going to be 1 or 2 hundred. More like 4-5 after shipping and whatnot. Might have to see if I can find a decent used one on the forums....or win the lottery

 

What companies are you looking at? The majority are well under 1k for a ramhorn. Typically 650-900

 

I would buy this one since it comes with a downpipe!!! $400 for a ramhorn and downpipe is a steal!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ram-Horn-Tubro-Manifold-T3-44mm-v-band-B16a-b18c1-GSR-Type-R-B20b-Civic-Integra-/171474920712?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27ecb3a508&vxp=mtr
brand new, name brand, 500$ can't go wrong

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACKWORKS-RAM-HORN-TURBO-MANIFOLD-92-00-HONDA-CIVIC-EG-EK-CIVIC-D-SERIES-38MM-/141439042549?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20ee6c83f5&vxp=mtr

 

If you know where to look you can save a ton of money. Hell I only paid 110 for my brand new neukin manifold lol.. even less for my Greddy one

Look in the marketplace... A lot of users sell quality used parts as well as new parts at fair prices.

Also check out the sponsor marketplace section. Most companies who advertise on HT have special pricing just for HT members as well as specials on certain parts and services.

 

I would hardly call BWR a "name brand"...

 

The Blackworks Racing manifold I was looking at comes to 700 something by the time tax, current exchange rate and shipping to get it into Canada. Which is why the 200 something eBay manifold started to look pretty good. I'll probably wind up browsing the parts threads on here to find something. I'll look through the sponsors as well to see what I can scrape up. Thanks for all the help

 

like the other posts say... only consider ebay cast iron... nothing else. it will crack and break within a month. cast iron is durable and will cast a long time. you won't find a used ramhorn for less than $400, its very rare.

 

do it right the first time. Save money and get the parts you want, that work and hold. pays off in the end.

 

So far the general consensus has been to get a cast manifold off of ebay. Any particular brands I should look for/avoid? In the perfect world I'd get a really nice ramhorn or top mount, but it's probably best if I just get a cheap one for the time being. No point sinking tens of thousands into the first N/A to turbo build I've done

 

Sounds like you need to plan your build with power goal and budget.

If you try and go cheap, your going to spend twice as much replacing the cheap part.

Do it right the 1st time and enjoy the piece of mind and cash still in your wallet.

Building your Dream Car 101 - Honda-Tech

 

The shame... sent to read the 'planning a build thread'

I've read that like 3 times so I could avoid having people send me there haha. General guidelines I'm going off of right now for my build is to turbo a stock B16a2 in a 2000 SiR. I'm not looking to make crazy amounts of power (shooting for a relatively reliable 220-240 at the wheels) I'm not super concerned about the budget because I want to do this right the first time, but at the same time if I can save money by not buying top of the line stuff (like a manifold) I will. Any money I can save here will wind up going into a fully built B18 Turbo project I'll be starting in coming winter anyways.

 

InlinePro cast mani and move on ... i bought one last winter (brand new) for like $200. You can't beat the reliability of cast and people have made stupid amounts of power on it, so its not going to limit your goals in any way

 

Out of curiosity where did you find that manifold for around 200? It's coming up as 500 on the InlinePRO website

 

My cast manifold cost me $60 shipped to my door off ebay lol. Its basically a knockoff of the inline pro manifold. It fits and works great. This is all you need if your goal is only mid 200whp. The only thing I did was buy better hardware to mount the turbo because what came with it was sketchy lol.

 

The BWR ram horn is a really nice piece. There is nothing knock-off about it. I have seen one in person and would use no problem. Its a made in the USA, back purged, fully penetrated, work of art.

 

Classifieds: Forced Induction - Honda-Tech

If you want a cheap, albeit knock-off manifold, you could buy my D series eGay manifold/dp. It came with a bunch of other parts I bought a while ago and its taking up space in my garage.

But seriously, watch the marketplace and you can find all kinds of good deals

 

For the record the cast mani posted above is not a copy of the inlinepro manifold, it's a copy of the blox manifold.

OP if all you want is 250hp or so then skip anything t3 based. Stay t25. Either rub a Greddy 18g or something like a gt2860r or gt2860rs.

Those are probably the 3 best responding street turbos and will make 250 easily with room to get to at least 300 to 350 max. The internal wastegate controls boost fine, keeps costs down, and makes plumbing easier since there's no dumptube to worry about.

Hell I have a real Greddy b series manifold that I'm in the middle of porting I'd give you a deal on. All you have to do then is find a turbo, have someone make a downpipe and charge piping, buy an intercooler, blow off valve, boost controller, larger injectors, fuel pump, chipped ecu, map sensor, wideband, stronger clutch, ARP headstuds an OEM headgasket and get it tuned.

You'd have a solid, quality, reliable setup that's stupid responsive and even more fun to drive.

 

I'd be all over that d series manifold....if I had a d series.

I e already started the hunt for the other pieces I'll need for the project. I'll pm you about the greddy manifold when I can get to a computer

 

If your patient you will find great deals int he HT Marketplace forum. People parting setups, upgrading, etc etc. I would stick with Neukin, FullRace, BRMS, AFI, something of that nature. I am a vendor for Treblic Tuning manifolds as well.

We can get them any style, any series engine, any turbo flange size and wastegate combination.

 

****, If you have a stock EM1 then Id leave it alone. Too many have been molested over the years and these might be a collectors item.