Some interesting pics of a 355 exhaust manifold rebuild here: http://www.jpexhausts.co.uk/Site/Features.htm
Here's a company that is in the UK that actually makes/rebuilds them for one of the above UK suppliers in the UK. http://www.stainless-exhaust.com/ So cut out the middle man in the UK and go straight to these.
And here I thought it was because of the radical bend in that tube all along! It might be, but it sure doesn't help having the collector right below. I wonder what the operating temp is between the tube and collector... BTW, the price doesn't seem too off to me, but I am assuming we in the US escape the VAT.
You could really do that at home with probably less 100 bucks in tube and a tig welder. The hard part is getting the old heat shield off cleanly and reusing it. The rest is pretty simple. You can buy torus SS tube in any diameter and cut the angle you need to fab and recreate the OEM bends. But the price is good for the labor and materials it would take to do.
+1 A lot of 355 Brothers were sold a bill of goods about having to replace failed exhaust headers only with new ones, when exhaust headers have always been repairable with a little welding.
Its actually a bit of a pain to remove the sheilds in re-usable shape. I think those guys are doing a good job........ paying for the failure prone factory replacements is where money is mis-spent IMO.
Agreed, I have the QV London units and have seen a couple other QV London units and this is not "just a little welding" as Mr No Doubt says. This is a good deal of work, plain and simple. For a "one off" this would be extremely time consuming, look at all the jigs that were built; necessary if you expect the thing to fit and line up correctly again. I've seen the threads about other aftermarket exhaust manifolds and the occasional fitiment issues. Even rebuilt factory units could have the same issues if care is not taken during the rebuilding process.
No one was sold a "bill of goods", there has not been any reputable rebuilders in North America that will perform the necessary work. When someone steps up to the plate, and advertises, I think they will get plenty of business from 355 owners in the USA and Canada.
The work shown in the link for this thread is well done, especially for the price being charged. Likewise, QV London puts out a product worth the money. However, you can get 99% of either job for $100 if you follow the instructions below: Image Unavailable, Please Login
No this is easy but take some time. Anyone with a tig welder and sawall and a 1/2 round mill bastard file can do it. The jig is no big deal but needed for multiple production. The whole header is a jig and you can just replace one tube at a time and never use a jig. The trick is to remove and reuse the old heat shield.
That's an interesting comment. I never think of things like that - why tear the whole thing down, when u can use the whole piece as a template for the repair by going slowly? Anyway, FBB, not all of us can handle a TIG, or any welder for that matter.
That's OK. Every exhaust shop in the country can bend new exhaust tubes and weld them, one at a time, into place when they have the existing broken/melted exhaust headers in front of them. In this manner a factory jig is used by default because the original headers provide the exact shape and template required as one new pipe (or pipe section) goes on. Repeat for each damaged exhaust tube. After 4 pipes are done, then the left-side headers are repaired. After 8, then both left and right side headers are fixed.
I saw a TV program showing custom high performance headers for some exotic car that were made completely by hand using sand packed tubing that was heated and carefully bent. Apparently this is how they did it in the old days. Cheesh those guys were awesome! We take for granted that this was the norm.
It's not so much that we take it for granted, it's that someone spread myths about 355's for years...myths that have cost 355 owners very large sums of maintenance money that could instead have been "optional" fixes. For instance, one myth that 355 owners were told was that **ONLY** new exhaust headers could be used...that the damaged headers couldn't be repaired. FALSE! Another 355 myth is that you can bend/break your valve guides without burning oil and pouring smoke out of your exhaust. FALSE! Another 355 myth (1995 and Challenge models) is that you can't repair Motronic ECUs and MUST replace them in matching pairs. FALSE! One 355 myth was that you couldn't change the manual or F1 clutches, except at an authorized dealership. FALSE! Another 355 myth was that you could only acquire F1 hydraulic hoses from the factory. FALSE! The list just goes on and on of the total and complete snow job that has been perpetrated onto our 355 brothers. It's no wonder that 355 maintenance costs spiked so high for so many years!
Can you remove the factory manifolds without pulling the motor? Has anyone tried the Swain Technology exhaust coatings on these headers? If you are not familiar with their work, they make that bleach white coatings you often see on race car exhausts. I would think if you had a good set of headers, the Swain Tech coating would protect the weak areas from getting too hot. The only downside to these coating is a lot of heat would be transferred to the catalytic converter and muffler.
Yes! One has to remove both LH/RH wheel well liners, the RH radiator fan and the CV heatshield on the left. It takes some creative maneuvering but I have seen it done first hand !!!! BTW alot easier on a lift .
Good to know. The manifolds were replaced with factory units about 2,000 miles ago. Might be worth looking into pulling them off, having them coated. Friend of mine has a very nice heated garage with a 2-post lift. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a 355 in his garage for a few days. They cannot be any harder to remove than headers on a 928.
You say this all the time. Your examples are just not realistic for most people. I do not own grinder with a cut off wheel, nor do I have tube bending equipment. I do not have welding equipment. Nor do I have the skills to operate any of this stuff. I would believe that 90% or more of the people on Fchat are similar to myself. So telling people that they can repair their exhaust manifolds for $100 each is incorrect. Is it possible? Perhaps, in the grand universe of possibilities, but from a practical sense, I believe not. Now peforming a alternator swap, or replace brake pads are well within the scope of most DIY, myself included. And there are tons of threads here on how to do it. Heck I even replaced my exhaust manifolds with the help of a couple good friends. I could point to a crunched fender on your car (for example) and tell you, that you could fix it yourself for $80 in materials, but is that realistic for you to perform next weekend? Would most people even want to? And what would the quality of the result be, for most....satisfactory? Now transfer that example to a critical part on your car that could effect not only the performance of the engine but also its longevity, and I think most would not even want go there, without thorough knowledge of the skills required, material data, and some good old experience of working on cars a LOT. Yes, there are a few people on Fchat that can and have repaired their exhaust manifolds themselves, the can also swap out they valves in the heads of their engine before dinner time.
