Manifolds

[lrg_machine]

Bought one of the SWLC manifolds around 5 years ago and mid last year it developed a hole pic attached. have since bought another and fitted, been in contact with SWLC and they've offered £50 voucher.

They say it's rotted due to water collecting in that area, I can't personally see water sitting there, if anything it would sit further down in the recess and the hole would be a lot lower.

What do you guys think.

I'm not knocking SWLC, they have always given good service, but I'm now down another £1000 in 5 years for exhaust manifolds

Closer view

Edited March 29, 2011 by lrg_machine

[karmavore]

Holy Christ! Does the car sit out side? Drive underwater? With that much corrosion I don't think you can expect it to stay whole.

[lrg_machine]

Lucas

The car does live outside but it does get driven a lot.

Got to remember I live in the "Sunny" UK

[karmavore]

Maybe consider a stainless manifold? The biggest issue with these is rust, no?

[910Esprit]

I'd say hogwash... Looks like the casting wall is too thin. How many miles has it done? If

[Bazza 907]

I've had mine replaced on the S3 NA last week. The lotus one on there had been on for 10 years almost to the month.

Just purchased a replacement from SWLC which looks much stronger, fitted well and was 'only' £275 plus VAT.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Bazza 907

[lrg_machine]

Cheers Steve

Number of miles isn't really the issue. I live about 12 miles from work so consider that for about the last couple of years the Esprit has been pretty much my only means of transport, so at least 5 days a week 24 miles, to and from work + weekends flitting about etc.

I know 12 miles is not a lot but it's more than enough to get the engine hot

My conclusion was that the casting was at fault here as well, and I've heard of a couple of others that have had issues with weak castings.

Just looking for other opinions.

Barrie

'only' £275 plus VAT.

mmmm ! cost me £525 which was including the LEF discount

£140 for gaskets

+ fitting

adds up to around the £1000 pound mark

You can see why I'm a bit miffed

[jonwat]

Surly, any water that 'collected' in that hollow whilst driving would immediately boil off because of the temperature of the manifold and once the manifold cools down the car is stationary so short of getting under there with a hosepipe no water can get anywhere near it!

That's got to be a faulty casting, with the metal being too thin.

When you get the new manifold off them, give it a good examination by tapping. You should be able to hear if the metal is thinner in that area.

[mr.oogieboogie]

I agree casting wall too thin same as happened to the swl one on mine. I would go stainless

Edited March 30, 2011 by mr.oogieboogie

[GordonMasson]

Not liking the sound of this.

Just fitted a SWLC manifolds this month... could be wrong but i think they told me they would guarantee it for 5 years but you would still have the cost of taking it off.

[lrg_machine]

Thanks guys

New manifold is already on the car, so stainless not really an option.

[gghc87]

Just to be clear its it right to say you bought the first manifold approx 5 yrs ago and have now replaced it, not sure when but from last summer onwards, with second manifold from the same supplier which is currently in good order?

[mr.oogieboogie]

Be interesting to see if these are from the same batch. I was offered a replacement at 50 percent discount if I sent mine off And the foundry confirmed it was a casting fault. But I said if I buy one at 50 percent and then I send this so you can check it if it's not a casting fault I would pay the balance. That way I was not waiting a couple of weeks to get the car back on the road but they were not keen on it. Tried having it repaired but cast too thin and it blew the repair apart so stainless it was

[lrg_machine]

Cliff

Yes bought 1st Manifold approx 5 years ago, which went early last summer.

I had to buy the second manifold because they wanted the old manifold back and I had no way of getting the old one off for them to decide one way or the other without something else to put on the car.

The new one was put on the car early Feb this year along with a load of other jobs that needed doing, new fuel tanks, C service etc.

I just think a £50 voucher is a bit mean.

[Splodge s4]

Just spotted this thread, my 5 yr old SWLC manifold is now making a ticking noise, I thought they were supposed to be better than the original Lotus manifold?! Ive prob done 15,000 miles

So SWLC offer a £50 voucher? anyone had any luck with a slightly better deal? Stainless manifolds, where does everyone get those & are they £275 for an S4?

Cheers chaps

[mr.oogieboogie]

They are not £275 I'm afraid you will be looking nearer the £800 mark

[Splodge s4]

They are not £275 I'm afraid you will be looking nearer the £800 mark

Thought so! So SWLC are just shrugging their shoulders at the fact the casting for their manifolds is to thin? If they have so many that have failed after a fairly short time arnt they interested in sorting them out?

I'm pretty annoyed really as I believed at the time the manifolds were a better grade of Iron & should be repalced once & they could last the life of the car. My rear brake pads last longer....

[mangel]

offer on at south west Lotus at the mo' £475!!

Just bought one myself. Was going to go with a stainless tubular but couldn't live with the price!!

[Bazza 907]

Just to be clear, the £275 for mine was for my NA S3.

[OwenGT3]

My manifold has just gone, I've noticed it getting noiser when I went to Brands Hatch. My old manifold ain't a normal fitment, it was a home made job out of mild steel, but it has still lasted five years of all year use, stored outdoors under a carport. Compare this to some of the cast lumps it's not done too bad. As I discovered some time ago when I first repaired it, it wasn't made to the highest of standards, but after my repair it's held up well, the downfall was cracking at the edge of one of the welds.

I did reweld it up, but discovered several more holes so decided to get another manifold. One of the best bits about this manifold is how quick it was to take off. From jacking up the car to manifold off, 1.5 hours, so not bad. OK I have taken it off twice before so knew how to do it, but stil not a bad time. Considering the new Lotus original version has taken me the best part of 3 evenings to fit it and so much hassle as every nut has to be done up with an open end spanner and not wrench and sockets, I can now see why these manifold have a reputation as a bad ass job in the car.

I'm not going to wast the old manifold. The flanges are still good and I have an old cast manifold which looks like a SWL manifold. I'm going to make a jig from this, use the flanges and make another mild steel version. If it has to come off every five years, I want something that takes an hour and a half to fit as well as take off, not three evenings and lots of spanner turning and grinding as I suspect it will be. My mild steel version has lasted five years, so for a lot less investment compared to a stainless steel, the easy of welding with regular mild steel welder and the best bit, I can make it myself, I will have a spare all ready for next time it goes.

The only thing I've noticed with the new manifold is the extra webbing, is this the remodified version I keep reading about? I reckon made properly the mild steel version I will make will last the five years again and cost less than £500. This time around Stratton did a good deal for me and matched SWL price with an original manifold and fitting kit, Rob has been very helpful, very pleased with the service. Plus I never get tired of popping in the showroom and looking at all the cars.

Also replaced engine mount while I was at it!

You can see my blow repairs, these were done as a temporary measure as I plan to take the car off the road next May and take the engine out for a full engine bay restoration and engine clean up, so was not to concerned with neatness. It just had to last until next May.

The engine mount wasn't easy. One bolt head sheared off so I had to grind the mount away then heat the block to get the remains of the bolt out. Lots of copper grease on the bolts now.

New one.

New manifold in

And all the work done on axle stands, oh the joy!

[Vulcan Grey]

I never get over the amount of rust that you guys have on your cars in the UK...

This is my original 1989 manifold in 2006 after 74k miles. Just light surface rust

Now ceramic coated (Techline)

[OwenGT3]

Simple, it's rubbish weather!

[s4simon]

My original Lotus manifold lasted 45,000 (English weather) miles. I replaced it back in 2005 with a SWLC version pic below. Still on the car now.

[Scotty2]

I now have my car back on the road following a rather longer than planned maintenance period.

It all began with a cracked exhaust manifold for the second time so I chose to have an Alunox tubular manifold fitted.

 

Due to corrosion issues, the engine had to come out, and while the engine is out you might as well change {insert long list of stuff} as well. There were a large number of age related issues with perished hoses, cracked wiring and duff vacuum pump and siezed bolts. The new manifold looks the biz and following a major overhaul and a good seeing to by PNM the car is driving like a new one. I've since had to tweak the (new) wastegate actuator to avoid overboost but the overall feel of the car is such that I just want to go out for a blatt. So much smoother and refined.

Thanks to Leon and Pete for getting the old gal back to tip top condition and a joy to drive. Will wait till spring to try and get the air con working again once the war chest has recovered...

 

Might try a run on a rolling road to see power output.

[Qavion]

I just opened the box of an exhaust manifold that South West Lotus Centre sent me (I bought it last year) and was not impressed with the ugly casting marks and ground down areas on the manifold (as seen in Simon's photo above). Actually, mine seem worse than Simon's.

 

Is it possible to completely remove these casting marks and make the surface more uniform in texture. Ceramic or powder coating? Travis' looks nice, but I don't know what the pre-coating surface looked like.

 

I haven't compared it with the original yet. Perhaps all these imperfections are hidden from view by heatshields and angle?

 

Thanks.

Cheers

Ian. 

Edited July 13, 2015 by Qavion