changing my exhaust manifold.

[soka]

Hi

I'm about to swap out my stock exhaust manifold for this ichiba manifold.

http://www.optionimports.com/icvemas13s14.html(anyone have any opinions on this manifold? )

I have a kouki s14 sr20det(t28) motor in an s13. I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips or suggestions before i do this? I've never done this before. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to doing work on cars so any help would be appreciated.

So far i just have all the heat shields removed from the stock manifold and i have some of the intercooler piping unhooked.

Are there any special tools that will make this easier?

Thanks alot!!!!

[CoupedUp]

I would reccomend a racheting wrench for the exhaust nuts. Id also reccomend either getting new or upgraded Exhaust studs for the head as theyre prone to breaking. But other than that...maybe a swivel socket for the exhaust nuts, theyre 14mm on the KA, id imagine theyre the same on all Nissan engines.

[soka]

Hey

Thanks for the reply. for the studs are you talking about something like this?

http://www.srownersclub.com/Me...e=ARP

or this?

http://phase2motorsports.store....html

Do you just use a wrench to unscrew the old ones? im just kinda curious.. what happens when one of these breaks?? heh how do you get it out.?

Also I'm assuming im going to have to take the turbo off with the manifold to remove the manifold from the turbo? What's going to happen when i disconnect the ..uh oil lines? going to the turbo. Is alot of oil going to come out of that? Is there anything i need to do when i reconnect those lines?

Heh again pretty clueless. The most i've done on this car so far is change the oil myself. Changing the manifold should be easy right? ^_^

Thanks alot!

Stephen

[CoupedUp]

I would try to put some kind of penetrant on them to prevent breakage.

Wow those ones at Heavy Throttle...whoa...

http://storesense.megawebserve...l.bok

Those are the ones I have. If an exhaust stud breaks hope that it doesnt break off in the head. Hope theres something left to hold on to. Remove the studs youll take one nut and thread it on upside down and take another nut and thread it on right side up and ONLY apply torque to the nut(upside down) nearest the engine to loosen the stud. Same as if you were just trying to remove the bottom nut with the top one in the way.

Id remove the turbo elbow and downpipe. Youll need new gaskets for them...or i would get new ones. Then youll remove the manifold and the turbo after disconnecting the oil and coolant lines. Yes, coolant and oil will both come out. More coolant than oil. But yes, quantities of both will.

[soka]

Wow.

Hey this is great advice thanks so much! I will definitely look into the head studs.. haha the ones you recommended are much more in my price range. heh.

So for the oil and coolent lines (again totaly ignorant), is dissconnecting those going to significantly drain my radiator and engine oil supply? Or are we talking like less than a quart of oil or coolent being lost? I just want to make sure i have something big enough to catch the fluids when i disconnect the lines.

thank you!

[CoupedUp]

Oil lost should be minimal(i believe), now coolant i dont know...but it may be more near a quart.

[soka]

Okay by some crazy miracle i was actually able to get the manifold and turbo off! Dang, that, was, tough.. i dont even want to think about how hard its gunna be to put all that back together.. >_<

now that ever thing is off i was thinking a bit more about the stud replacement you suggested. I tried to pratice the technique you described with the bolts to get the studs off but so far ive been unable to make it work. Every time i put a bolt on the stud upside down then put another ontop of that one right side up, when i torque the bolt lower bolt the upper bolt just moves with it and the stud doesnt rotate.

here is an example of how im putting the bolts on the stud. is this right?



Do i need to tighten the two bolts together more? im really worried about messing up the threads on the bolts or stud.. maybe im too worried?

[soka]

okay nevermind for now.. i got it to work in practice. i think the problem was the bolts in the picture lock together when you thread them like that. So i think it was kinda making it more difficult. ill give it a try tommorow on the real studs and let you know how it goes.

Thanks. >_<

[CoupedUp]

okay nevermind for now.. i got it to work in practice. i think the problem was the bolts in the picture lock together when you thread them like that. So i think it was kinda making it more difficult. ill give it a try tommorow on the real studs and let you know how it goes.

Thanks. >_<

Ha, yea i didnt know youd be trying to use locking nuts. That is funny. Good job though. Reassembly will be easier than you think.

[Morph]

Not sure if its been suggested before, but ss oil and coolant lines for the turbo make it 10000000 x's easier to work on in the future.

[soka]

Okay i tried to take off the manifold studs today but i was unsuccessful.. they seem to be on there pretty tight. i tried to use some wd40 on them but it didnt seem to help. Any other ideas on what i should try to do when i taking these off? Even if it seems obvious to you, since i dont know what im doing it might help. THis is REALLY difficult right? heh did you use some massive wrench?

The studs look like they are in good shape.. im kinda leaning towards maybe just leaving them alone.. >_<

i got a couple other questions if you dont mind.

Do i need to put anything on the gaskets when i put manifold on the turbo or motor? Like a sealent or something?

I just found this post and he doesnt mention anything.zerothread?id=221802

Here are the gaskets that came with the manifold

Also does this need a gasket? i dont remember seeing one when i disconnected it.. it looks like there was some sealent on it before..

Finally for the different oil and coolent lines is this what you are talking about Morph?http://storesense.megawebserve...l.bokDo these bolt on with no mods needed?? something a total, know nothing, noob could put on? heh after you put them on do they just kinda hang loose?

heh Sorry about all the questions, i just dont EVER want to have to take this stuff off again. . The reason i took all this off in the first place was to try and get rid of a buzz at 2k rpm. >_<

THANKS as usual for all the answers!!

I cant wait to get this all put back together... correctly.. >_<

Stephen


Modified by soka at 5:55 PM 6/24/2007

[CoupedUp]

Yea, I guess just go ahead and reuse the studs they are reusable. Just make sure when torqueing them back down to try to only put a rotational force and not downward or upwards or sideways.

Also the gaskets need no sealant or special attention. Make sure the plce where the manifold meets the head is clean, use a box blade or something sharp with a point to clean it off. It doesnt have to be pristine clean just get all the old gasket off.

[soka]

Cool! that means i can start to put this all back together!

Quick question(always something >_<).

Just started to put the new manifold on the turbo when i realized the bolts that came with the manifold, to attach the manifold to the turbo, are different than the stock bolts.

Heres a pic of what came with the new manifold. THey have little groves on the bottom and they also came with special washers.



heres a pic of one i started to put on.

It would appear that the washer plus the rounded base of the bold makes it so you can't use the locking tabs that hold the stock bolts. Do you know if the groves and the special washers eliminate the need to use the locking tabs?? like does the special washer prevent the bolt from moving? i could have sworn i heard a clicking noise coming from the bolt when i was tighting it down..

thanks for the help!!

Stephen

[CoupedUp]

LOL...Wow super anti-slip...

Im sure that Nut has a anti-slip taper towards the top of the threads, has the grooves in the bottom and now a lock washer!

Ha, yea no use for those pesky tabs now man. Just bolt that stuff up like that.

[soka]

The manifold is on the turbo... Woot!









Tommorrow im gunna try and get some new washers for the banjo bolts so hopefully by tuesday i can start to put this all back on the car.

I'll keep you posted!

Stephen

[soka]

Hey

So heres the latest on my my manifold installation.

I got everything bolted back on finally!... WOW reconnecting the hardlines to the engine was pure hell. they didnt line up when i put everything back on and then getting the banjo bolts to actually catch in the sockets was incredibly difficult. i had to take the manifold and turbo off multiple times to try and re align the hard lines. probably spent over 3 hours just trying to get the banjo bolts back on.. : (

Uh... if another novice like me ever reads this as reference in the future before putting on a new manifold i highly recomend you follow Morph's advice and get the ss lines..

Anyways now that everything is on I started the car and i am getting a .. >_< very slight leak from the coolent hard line connection thats right under the manifold. Its like a drop a minute forms around the bolt. I did use all new copper washers when i re attached that evil connection. Ive also tightend the bolt down... pretty firmly i think. I'm a bit worried about tightening it any more because of some of the other stories ive read on this forum about the horrors of over torquing those bolts...

Does anyone have any thoughts on the leak? Should i tighten just a bit more? if so should i do it when the engine is cold or warm? will the leak maybe just go away later after things settle? should i just not worry about it or will it get worse?

ill try and post some pics tonight

Thanks!!

[DrifterProdigy85]

probably needed to use some thread tape. i had the same problem when i first put on my Circuit Sports Lines. Redid them with tape and now everythings good.