Hey guys,

I've received a couple of requests to post up my opinion on these two items. I've already posted my dyno results in another thread, which is here:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=99209
For those of you dynojet junkies, 301.1DDwhp*1.15= 346whp on a dynojet.

First, the manifold.
Well, I should've taken Zeus' advice and gotten it coated, because it turned gold within 3 minutes of idle and after a couple days, its now a dark brown. You should expect this from 304 Stainless, though, so it isn't a big surprise considering the heat the car puts off at that spot.
Fitment and installation was a bit of a PITA. Forget using the nuts and bolts they supply; they're the wrong thread pitch. Get out your grinder, because you're going to need it. The front nut on the driver's side where the stud goes through is ***impossible*** to screw a nut over. We ended up having to cut very slightly into the weld so we could even turn the nut. After that, Andrew had to grind the nut itself down to about 3/5 its height as well, because where the two primaries join, its impossible to screw the nut on becasue of lack of clearance. Since there was no way I was going to dent in the header tube, we ended up having to screw the nut in as we lifted the turbo up to the manifold. All the other bolts fit flawlessly, but that front one is a major nightmare.
As far as performance, I can't comment on that only, as I did the titanium turbo at the exact same time.

Titanium 16G with 10.5cm^2 hotside.
This is a wicked, wicked little turbo. Even with the manifold, I spooled about 500rpm earlier! The power increased everywhere, as well as the low end boost and torque. As you can see, I made 50wtq in a couple of places down low. Realize also that this is not fully "tuned" to maximum on 93 octane, because I tuned the XEDE myself with some suggestive assistance from Andrew at Dyno4mance. [shameless plug]Who's dyno, shop, and installation work is AWESOME. Check him out if you live in the southeast. Best car shop I've ever been to. [/shameless plug].
Anyway, the car is so alive and awake now that the header and turbo are on together. The graph in the link tells more of the story.

In the end, I highly recommend the turbo, and am okay with the SSAutochrome manifold. If I had it to do over, I'd likely purchase the DNP manifold instead due to construction and greater ease of installation. I hate having to modify a part to make it fit, but that price is sure hard to argue with. With any luck, they will fix this problem, and it will just be an incredibly solid value all the way around. There were no leaks, and other than the fitment problem I already mentioned, the fit was great. Happy camper here.

 

Good power Noise... damn good.

I should have my SSAutoChrome manifold back from the coater today. I had a 2000-degree coating applied in a titanium color. I will install it tomorrow.

Did you guys completely remove the manifold/turbo assembly? Sounds like you just pulled the manifold off the top and replaced it? I'm yanking the whole thing out so I don't have to worry about tight spaces.

 

Sounds like one of the header tubes is too close to the stud to even get the bolt on it and turn it, even if you have the turbo off.

 

I pulled everything, because I switched turbos at the same time. Sadly, modification is required.

 

Very strange, I think you may have just gotten a defective unit from SSautochrome. Mine fit perfect with zero modifications, and of all the other people I have heard use the SSautochrome manifold I havn't heard of anyone else having problems with fitment. I didn't even try to use the supplied bolts though because I was unable to get the stock studs out I just re-used the stock hardware.

Later,

Keith

<edit> PS: Can you take pics of the area you had to modify? I will look at mine and see if it is different than yours in that area.

 

Of course, how stupid of me... I was in too deep a thought trying to "see" the problem without having the piece in my hands.

Hurry up UPS!

 

I never had these issues with mine. It did turn gold but after a full day of tuning ont he street and dynoing. Anyway you still can get it coated. I just got mine back from the coater and its a awsome finish. You can pick from like 10 different colors. I went with a Satin finish instead of the Chromex becouse the Chromex is rated at 1300 degrees and the Satin at 2000 degrees. I got the manifold, both sides of the turbo, pistons, downpipe dont for $250 coated inside and out.

Chris

 

Great post!