Ku Engineering manis

Did anyone end up buying a set of these and fitting to the zed. Remember they have the external wastegate pipes.

Just curious as manifolds are hot on the agenda once more

Jas

 

There was a post from I can't remember where a while back now and the cliff notes were:
*Quality is ok
*Expensive
*Z's don't handle well on tube manifolds
*all tubes crack (even the Greedy one for the Z has been known to crack for example)
*At the end of the day go for MS Manifolds, R&D tested and proven to work. (Its now cheaper too)

 

I bought em, then sold em. Cant give any feedback on perfromance. They looked very nice.

 

I can 2nd to that, greddy manifolds cracking

I friend of mine had them on his Z and was running TD05's, sure they were second hand. He had them repaired before installation and they cracked again in no time. If I was to go aftermarket mani's, I would use Mike Smith manifolds or just keep it stock.

 

the one year warranty put me off. if they were decent they would have a lifetime warranty against cracking like all the big dollar supra and rb manifolds do !! i bought MSP and they are awesome

 

Lol. Where'd you hear that? Z's don't handle well on tube manifolds?

And don't spread misinformation about all tube manifolds cracking.

 

Unless you are willing to spend ALOT on tube manifolds cast is the way to go on a Z. I don't know what you guys can get there so I wont comment on that, but as far as I am aware only tube manifolds that I have seen to last on a Z are escort's which is pretty hefty in price compared to cast ones.

Not sure where you think the misinformation is comming from, I'd thought all Z'ers are well aware of tube manifolds cracking. Info on MS R&D on manifolds is widely available to all, in order for the Z to use tube mani's he had to use inconel for it which was $$$, long story short there cast manifolds with tube flow at the end was the way to go. The tubes cant handle the pressure, heat and the spacing arrangements/shape the lovely VG allows.

Finally I will just quote some outside reference so it does not look like I am making this up. I am sure most tt.net/3zc users will know Nixit.

"Hanging 10 pounds of turbo and 15 pounds of exhaust off the turbo, which is
canterlivered, puts a TON of stress on the welds... that's why our 'tubular'
welded manifolds are far more likely to crack then V8s and other centered turbos
(hondas/240s)."

and Harry (Ztuner) [www.ztuner.com]
"Currently there is NO tubular manifold on the market for the Z that has not cracked. I will list a few that i have personally seen cracked

1. Greddy manifolds (reinforced or otherwise)
2. Specialty Z inconel manifolds (reinforced or otherwise) - they lasted longer than SS
3. Turbo Boss manifolds - crack city

Don't think Supra / DSM manifolds don't crack - they ALL do but they are far easier to fix or replace if they do crack. Even stock na manifolds crack sometimes. I just sold a good used set to a local na z owner. In a Z manifold reliability is critical because you have to pull the motor to replace them. Many hours of labor. I have seen heavily reinforced manifolds crack also."

Hope that answers some questions. No need to accuse people on spreading misinformation...

 

manifold question

Out of these cars (most powerfull i can find) Nissan NPT91 ,GTP ZX-T, Jun/Blitz salt flat Z32 ,Escort racing Z32, Contreras/Lacanzo drag Z32 ,
Does anyone know how many are using the ms or cast manifolds?

 

Pentroof also.

SpecialtyZ created the inconel manifolds. MSP created the cast manifolds and SZ dropped the inconel ones because they saw the MSP cast manifolds as a better alternative. SZ's first gen inconel manifolds did crack, but they redesigned and their second gen did not.

Sure they can. They just need to be designed to handle the weight and thermal expansion.

That's why you use higher thickness stainless steel and flex joints, and appropriate bracing if necessary.

Greddy manifolds are badly designed. The turbo Boss manifolds are a POS, and the SZ inconels design was updated. Pentroof have sold over 50+ for the Z and not had one crack that I have been able to find

It's misinformation because it groups all tubulars into one group. Not all tubulars crack. Pentroof is testament to that.

 

Wrong metal

If big power and or race car or even car that goes to the track they WILL crack and probably sooner rather than later. Stainless steel is brittle and with high heat they become brittle and with bumps and load of turbo and exhaust they crack. Mike Smith ones seem the go for big turbo's. Might work with stock turbo's although you would lose a bit of velocity and not needed really unless 5 bolt T28's really. Being cast iron they shouldn't crack even in racing conditions. The Gibson GTR's ran their own custom cast iron exhaust manifolds. Never find a race car with stain manifolds unless they change them very often and even then risky especially on a turbo car.

 

Would you call 746.5whp big power?



PENTROOF Yellow Z32 TT
Engine VG30DETT
Power & Torque 746.5rwhp at 6550rpm / 119.7kg.m at 4550rpm
Turbines TRUST TD06-20G-L2 8cm x 2
Ex-manifolds PentRoof Special
Muffler Kits 60->70->90 all stainless PentRoof Original
Intercooler Kits TRUST 3raw SPL
Cam Shafts TOMEI IN=270deg Lift : -10.25mm EX=270eg Lift: -10.25mm
Valve Springs TOMEI
Cylinder Head PentRoof Special polish port
PentRoof Special Sylinder Processing
Pistons TOMEI Forged Bore : 89mm
Connecting Rods TOMEI H-type
Crank Shaft Full Balance
Injectors Sard : 850 x 6
Fuel Pump Nismo x 2
Boost Controller HKS EVC
ECU HKS V-PRO PentRoof Original setup
Transmission OS GIKEN 5 speed close mission
Suspension Kits HKS Damper re-tuned by PentRoof
Oil Cooler Kits TRUST 15 laws
Radiator Kits PentRoof Original 3 las [Twin core & Swarl pod tank]
Tires YOKOHAMA ADVAN A048 245/45ZR17, 255/40ZR17
Wheels RAYS TE37 9J-17 10J-17 [special order]
Rear Spoiler PentRoof Full Kits
Seats HKS Limited Full Bucket

or Maybe 759.9rwhp GTR:


Japan Top Speed Record on the street 343.13km/h on 9th Nov, '97
Engine RB26DETT
Power & Torque 759.9rwhp at 7820rpm / 75.1kg.m at 7000rpm
Turbines TRUST TD06-20G-L2 8cm x 2
Ex-manifolds PentRoof Original
Muffler Kits 60->70->90 all stainless PentRoof Original
Intercooler Kits TRUST 2raw Special x 2
Surge Tank TRUST 100mm [aluminium]
Cam Shafts TRUST IN=272deg Lift: -10.5mm. EX=272deg Lift: -10.5mm
Valve Springs TRUST
Valve Retainers : Titan T-get Original
Cylinder Head PentRoof Special polish port
PentRoof Special Sylinder Processing
Pistons TRUST Forged bore: 87mm
Connecting Rods TRUST H-type
Crank Shaft Full balance
Oil Pan TRUST big oil pan
Injectors 444cc x 12
Fuel Pump Nismo pump x 2
Boost Controller HKS EVC
ECU PentRoof Original set up
Transmission TRUST 6 Speed
Suspension Kits HKS 4way Damper
Oil Cooler Kits TRUST 15raw
Radiator Kits PentRoof Original 3raw
Tires YOKOHAMA ADVAN NEOVA 245/45ZR17
Wheels Stillen 9J-17 x 4
Rear Spoiler TOMEI
Seats RECARO SP-G

I'm not saying that MSP manifolds are bad or anything. They aren't. They are probably the best bang for buck manifolds on the market. But, the be all and end all of manifolds are tubular, equal length, as shown by flow rate comparisons on ttnet, and of these, Pentroof is the foremost manufacturer and haven't had a set crack.

 

Not exaclty

I think if you check around there have been some crack both here in Aus and USA. Been there done this years ago, do a search on this and tt.net forum. You can always find stats and info to back up anything. Also some of these cars are road cars that go on dyno and not on track and how long have they been on the car? If going tubular and equal or more equal lenght then go steam pipe and far less likely to crack.

 

Feel free to link me to ONE set of pentroofs which have cracked.

And of course, weld els are always a good option.

 

weld els

what is it?

 

I am not going to continue on the argument but it really looks like you can only talk about 'pentroofs' as an example of a bullet-proof manifold that is mass produced. This thread originally asked about Ku Engineering - and I say those will crack, and for the price its better off doing what Mike Smith made.

Using NPT91 or GTP ZX-T as an example on why tube manifolds don't crack is ridiculous, if you are spending anywhere near that much money on your Z you wont be looking at Ku Engineering...and you can certainly afford the crack tube once and a while. No doubt tubes flow better than most cast, but gotta relate to the subject eh....manifolds are not easily exchangeable in the Z - gotta put stuff in perspective.

End of the day I still stand by my point (and thanks UNIQUE ZED). Tubes WILL crack eventually. Thats my 2c.

I won't reply any further in case things get hot. I like this forum and I like to see people so passionate at something I am equally passioante about. It will be a shame if there is any negative things happening.

So yeah ZX2NV, I won't recommend them.

 

If you check my post, you will see I wasn't referring to the Ku Engineering manifolds but tubulars in general, and your post here shows you don't understand that all I'm saying is that correctly designed tubulars won't, with Pentroofs being the proof.

Also known as buttweld fittings.

 

Here you go

Not sure how to search further back but found one thread and link is below. I warned these would crack a year or so prior to this date. Greddy crack as I found out on my car about 6 years ago or more. HKS crack on GTR's all the time and they are TOP shelf products. Can get away with it short term on road car on some cars but zeds being tight engine bay and requiring tight bends not so good, and destined to crack sooner rather than later.

Here is link.

http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239280&highlight=pentroofs


Despite significant work tig wedling and gusseting and making supports these still cracked.

 

Yeah guys keep it civil please

Most people who are in the Z scene will know of the problems experienced by people using SS manifolds etc. These particular ones grabbed my attention due to there ability to run ext gates bolt on style.

Just for the record I too believe that a cast unit will perform and be more reliable than any SS unit however sometimes people want to do something a little different and for a street car maybe the SS jobs are okay with adequate bracing etc

 

Just for the record, in that thread ZisLuv was not using pentroof manifolds. If you read a few posts down he says:

I'd be interested to know what you are running now Nathan

Cheers,
Dave.