Exhaust manifolds
Exhaust manifolds
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Discussion

wuckfitracing

Original Poster:

990 posts

164 months

Friday 5th February 2021
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Other than expensive ceramic coating, what is the best way of cleaning these up, can I get them blasted. Would vapour blasting work , has anyone done theirs.
Cheers Colin

BIG DUNC

1,919 posts

244 months

Friday 5th February 2021
quotequote all
If you blasted, would it get "between" the tubes?

Wire brush? Emery cloth?

Even if you wanted to ceramic coat, you would have to clean them up first.

You may also find that blasting will create a lot of holes.


Dave85chim

483 posts

107 months

Friday 5th February 2021
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Hours of various grits, wet/dry and mop on drill bit will get you to this stage - but not great between the pipes still





Unlucky48

71 posts

72 months

Saturday 6th February 2021
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Can I ask, are they regular tvr headers?
Only asking as the headers on my 4.2 range river are puny in comparison to those short primaries and drain pipe size collector!

Vapour blasting would work really quite well and remove less excess metal than mechanical/ grinding/ wire brush methods. Once cleaned as much as possible you could use electrolysis to ‘get between the tubes’ both inside and out.
Either find a company that can do so or make an electrolysis tank yourself. I made one to totally strip some front inner wings for my Range Rover classic prior to having them zinc plated and it worked a treat! Just a large plastic drum filled with water and some laundry soda, a car battery charger clipped one cable to part to be de rusted and the other to a sacrificial piece of steel dunked in the tank. Leave it for a day or two and watch the magic happen!

wuckfitracing

Original Poster:

990 posts

164 months

Saturday 6th February 2021
quotequote all
Mine are very early TVR Chimaera manifolds with a bolted flange. They come standard with a pre cat in, although a previous owner has removed the pre cat. Which is one job less for me to do. I think I may try the tank method as an experiment.
Cheers Colin

phazed

22,417 posts

225 months

Saturday 6th February 2021
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Or bite the bullet and fit a pair of Tims, (ACT) nice stainless steel ones.

MikeE

1,851 posts

305 months

Saturday 6th February 2021
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I’ve been looking at the ACT ones, do they add VAT on at the end as I added to the basket and no sign of BAT at that point. Asking as 20% more adds up to quite a lot

phazed

22,417 posts

225 months

Saturday 6th February 2021
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Not sure. I went and picked mine up and settled up there and then.

Just contact him. He responds to taxes quicker than any other means.

Mine with a large bore without cats.


wuckfitracing

Original Poster:

990 posts

164 months

Saturday 6th February 2021
quotequote all
Being the 17th Chim built, I`m trying to keep mine as original as possible, whilst improving where I can. £1200 on a pair of manifolds would be nice but there are other things on my list first.

Unlucky48

71 posts

72 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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I would definately try the electrolysis method and spend the other £1150 elsewhere on the car!

When you lift them out of the tank you will need to dry and rust protect them immediately as the metal will be very open to surface rusting before before your eyes. Wipe or heat gun them dry and if nothing else spray a coat of wd40 on them until you can have them coated in whatever you prefer. Once dried I left parts sitting around for a few weeks before having them plated and they were perfect. 12 years on the inner wings I did don’t yet have a single spot of rust on them. Wish I could say the same for the rest of my car..

Classic Chim

12,424 posts

170 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
quotequote all
Unlucky48 said:
I would definately try the electrolysis method and spend the other £1150 elsewhere on the car!

When you lift them out of the tank you will need to dry and rust protect them immediately as the metal will be very open to surface rusting before before your eyes. Wipe or heat gun them dry and if nothing else spray a coat of wd40 on them until you can have them coated in whatever you prefer. Once dried I left parts sitting around for a few weeks before having them plated and they were perfect. 12 years on the inner wings I did don’t yet have a single spot of rust on them. Wish I could say the same for the rest of my car..
The car above had almost 400hp so that £1200 was money well spent matey!

Do you have pictures of the results of your method and coating.

Zener

19,284 posts

242 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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Classic Chim said:
Unlucky48 said:
I would definately try the electrolysis method and spend the other £1150 elsewhere on the car!

When you lift them out of the tank you will need to dry and rust protect them immediately as the metal will be very open to surface rusting before before your eyes. Wipe or heat gun them dry and if nothing else spray a coat of wd40 on them until you can have them coated in whatever you prefer. Once dried I left parts sitting around for a few weeks before having them plated and they were perfect. 12 years on the inner wings I did don’t yet have a single spot of rust on them. Wish I could say the same for the rest of my car..
The car above had almost 400hp so that £1200 was money well spent matey!

Do you have pictures of the results of your method and coating.
A torque increase too IIRC Alun wink look how those longer primaries merge into the collector for starters compared to what we have thumbup

Belle427

11,120 posts

254 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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To me it’s money well spent on the stainless manifolds even though they are expensive they look fantastic under the bonnet.
If the car means something to you and is a keeper it’s a fit and forget solution, whatever you do to the existing ones they will start to look crap after a year or two.
A nicely made system is a thing of beauty to me !

phazed

22,417 posts

225 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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And moved the power peak up by 500 rpm.

Edited to add:

Peak power moved up the rev range which is good as the old RV8 is a bit of a plodder.

The manifolds also added about 12+ bhp

The exhaust note changed to a crisper more angry sound which I liked!

Edited by phazed on Sunday 7th February 13:41

SteveR1979

601 posts

162 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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MikeE said:
I’ve been looking at the ACT ones, do they add VAT on at the end as I added to the basket and no sign of BAT at that point. Asking as 20% more adds up to quite a lot
Yes they do.

wuckfitracing

Original Poster:

990 posts

164 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
quotequote all
Thread drift. Any other ideas.

Unlucky48

71 posts

72 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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As a petrol head I would completely agree that a well made set of headers look fantastic. At least when new, maybe not so once tarnished and been in the car for a while unless you are going to brasso them regularly.
A friend of mine makes a lot of titanium bike stuff and it’s a work of art!
That said if originality and sensible spends are key then £1200 for a set of headers is a lot of money.
400bhp may well be possible from very well fettled rv8 but not by an exhaust alone! If a set of headers alone added more than 10% increase I would be amazed.

The method is very simple, I outlined it above and a quick google will tell you all you need to know, it’s not rocket science and I ain’t selling it just suggesting a cost effective rust removal method which is what was asked for.

DangerousDerek

8,675 posts

241 months

Sunday 7th February 2021
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I just hit mine with a flapper disc then a wire wheel and a quick polish


macdeb

8,715 posts

276 months

Monday 8th February 2021
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wuckfitracing said:
Thread drift. Any other ideas.
hehe a lot of that goes on, unfortunately rolleyes

phazed

22,417 posts

225 months

Monday 8th February 2021
quotequote all
macdeb said:
hehe a lot of that goes on, unfortunately rolleyes
Do you want to see my molehills? smile