Finally got around to installing my manifold today, Here are some pics I took to show how much port work you should be expecting. Recall that I did not order a 'ported' manifold. I also ordered the ARP hardware kit.


I had some issues getting a few of the bolts/nuts tightened down. I did manage to get a thin walled 12point on the front drivers side ARP nut (after grinding the manifold a bit). getting any type of wrench on the passenger side ARP 12point nut was impossible, I finally gave up and replaced it with a 6point OEM nut from my DSM nuts&bolts bucket. Another issue was that the manifold isn't clearanced enough for two of the head to manifold nuts, I had to grind a flat spot on two of the OEM washers and grind the shoulder of the OEM nuts down before they would even start on the studs.


My OEM manifold had been heavily ported and exactly gasket matched on both the head/manifold and manifold/fpblack sides.


All stripped down and ready for the new manifold:



Sharpie marks made from the gaskets to guide the port work:


All 4 ports needed about the same amount of work:



I spent about an hour with my die grinder, Hogged the openings out to the sharpie mark, and then blended/smoothed back into the port about an inch:



The nuts I had to grind are the two top passenger side nuts. I also couldn't get a box end wrench on any of the top head to manifold nuts. An open end wrench sucks on these nuts, makes it difficult to get them tight.



I expected to have to spend some time on the port matching to my car, but I'm a bit disappointed about the bolt-on fitment issues. having to grind down nuts and washers - then being forced to use an open end wrench on the OEM head to manifold nuts is not good.


On the positive side, comparing the FP to my heavily ported OEM unit, it is a good bet that the FP runners are going to flow better, there is a very noticeable size increase. The FP runners also have a nicer radius bending the exhaust flow into the turbo.


John-

 

Is the head gasket matched too?

 

On my car - yes, fully ported head that was matched to the OEM head to manifold gasket on both intake and exhaust sides.


John-

 

Thx, was wondering how that worked-

 

John are you using the internal and external wastegate together?

 

yes - keeping the stock wastegate closed makes a huge difference in spoolup times and the external wastegate keeps boost taper to a minimum on the topend.


John-

 

Good stuff!

 

I got my shipping invoice today so it should be here by monday if all goes well and the roads stay open. I am really excited to see what can be done with this part... I will have the guys at JMS take a look at the standard unported version and take some suggestions if any are offered. I would love to be able to run this manifold raw so we can see what kind of increase can be made direct from box to car to dyno.

Standby for more *crossing fingers*

 

ralliart004 you should definitely do that and post some numbers. I will love to see those dyno sheets!

 

Ill be doing back to back testing on the dynojet tomorrow.....

 

got my manifold a few days ago. i notice there was a void in the casting at the front bolt hole. doesn't look like it will effect performance but i did send them the pictures to make sure that it wont effect reliability down the road. they told me it would be fine.

 

I wouldn't like that it looks bad. I would like my mani clean.

 

i don't really care, the heat shield would be over it anyways.

 

i got the non ported one because i wanted to port it myself.

here's some pics of the ports before porting. it looks worse in the pictures than it actually is because of the lighting and shadows, but i did it to show where the imperfection of the casting is. i doubt there's any significant gain with the porting. the ports are pretty wide open.

 

started the porting today. here's some pics of the progress. i need to get some longer bits for the sand paper. i'll do the port match to the turbo once i have the oem manifold off.