DIY Compact Turbo Manifold

I document how I made the compact Turbo Manifold for my Toyota Corolla running a Chevy Vortec 4200 Inline 6 engine. This engine is also known as the Ameri-Barra. This is not the most efficient manifold design, this is simply how I opted to make mine. This design is great for tight engine bays where a log manifold is not wanted. If you have any questions regarding why I made certain decisions feel free to ask and I will give my best answer. I used thick wall stainless tube in all areas. The main sizing was 1.5 Schedule 10 pipe. Turbo Manifold How to and tutorial all rolled into one.

[@calmbeforethestorm4380]

As a header builder I can appreciate the 3d printed jigs that's actually very cool however the header is very poorly done and ugly.

[@km6832]

Yea its sad that no one else says anything about it either. Those two cylinders are literally pointing towards each other and air takes the path of least resistance so that exhaust pulse will flow right into that other tube and creat a lot of back pressure. The ugliness im neither hear nor there on its his first go at it but surely he could see that the pulses will butt "heads" so to say

[@darrynjames]

Just found your video and I can definitely appreciate the process. I just finished building my first manifold myself and it’s quiet the journey. Plenty learned for the next time 👌

[@ttsupra87]

Aayyyyy!! A atlas build!! Cheers! KZbin random suggestion for the win. I was watching you out it together and thought "that valve cover looks familiar......" lol

[@Einimas]

I know its a learning process, but you can always rotate the primary to decrease the amount of the pies.

[@802Garage]

Welp... Another channel subbed with notis on. All of this is right up my alley. Where you located?

[@slightedengineering]

I'm in southwest Michigan.

[@802Garage]

@@slightedengineering I'm in VT, but have been doing a lot of work in NJ. Still looking forward to see what you do this build!

[@geoffcbr929]

Well i'm gonna say fair play!,ya not gonna get it perfect off the bat or everyone would be doing it!....if i can offer a couple pointers... for flow it always works smoother if you half your angles on the ends of the pipe.....drop your amps a little it looks hotter and for your welding torch spend some dollar and get a "Furic cup" this will enable you to draw the tungsten out literally about an inch or so yet still give you a stable shielded arc....don't be afraid to set your welder to each job....on stainless you are looking to get a nice gold colour...best of luck to ya buddy....you are doing it after all!👊

[@rockobukkako813]

Can't wait to see the car

[@slightedengineering]

Me too! I'm hoping to have it running by the end of the year.

[@ttsupra87]

I love the d.i.y. tackle it mentality. I hope the manifold holds with the lack of penetrations. Doyou know about the I.C.E. manifold blocks?

[@slightedengineering]

Should have plenty of penetration on the welds. Every tube was chamfered before welding, and they are all 0.120 wall thickness.

[@gorkuhmork]

definitely going to have a interesting sound

[@slightedengineering]

I hope so, I don't expect anything crazy. I'm just hoping the turbo works well.

[@UNKNOWN-zb3qm]

Will sound interesting for sure.

[@slightedengineering]

That it will.

[@That.red.seat1]

Not too fussed about looks as it’s hidden 99% of the time but I would be worried about the major differences in tube lengths per cylinder, the sudden sharp corners that are going to disrupt flow and the two tubes facing each other either side of the concentric. I’m sure it’ll only be a small percent of horsies lost and nothing catastrophic but for future projects I’d keep bits like that in mind before going straight into the build. Spend longer on the design phase than the build phase in my opinion

[@bernardhendrikovergang5430]

You should be proud of your work, i learned a lot is there a follow up where we can hear it roar ?

[@slightedengineering]

Not yet. I hope to have it running in the next few weeks. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

[@derekguenette6642]

Good to see people building their own stuff however I don’t see him using a purge kit or fill a rod that manifold is going to break very easily

[@slightedengineering]

I didn't record all the welding. I used filler rod when it was necessary. When it wasn't, I welded it autonogenous, which is plenty strong and widely used in stainless fabrication. Didn't back purge since this was thick walled material, which is less prone to internal crystalline structures, and back purging has a significant expense. I used this same method welding the hotside for a 1000 hp LS build, and 3 years later, it's still perfect. But sure, if you think it'll break, then obviously it will crumble to dust in no time.

[@incolink]

I have several criterium's but as I'm to chicken shit to make videos myself i will withhold them I do appreciate you sharing your journey and your learnings i will give one bit of advise for those having a ago .. its often tempting to skip ahead and weld a big gap made by unfinished fit up on a stainless manifold this makes it move a lot and creates a lot of trouble Its a hard lesson i learned witch you seem to have under control

[@slightedengineering]

I can confirm things move if you rush things. Nothing was fully welded to the flange until the full run was tacked together. That mixed with tight fits helped things to move minimally. I realize I didn't document all the welding, and some things were left out. After everything was welded, I saw maybe 1 mm of warping in the center of the flange and once bolted down it was pulled to flat. I knew my method was a bit more risky than other processes but the results were quite good.

[@mrb.5610]

Agree. On my 3rd manifold now - no gaps means no shrinkage means no distortion. Or at least minimal distortion !

[@ExtremePowerWheels]

To have a efficient and high performance turbo manifold you need to understand how the gases flow. Every time you increase or decrease the size of the pipe you change the properties of the gas. You change the speed, pressure and temperature of the gas. On your manifold you move from small pipes to big then to small that changes your exhaust gases properties witch makes your manifold very inefficient. Also each pipe should from a cylinder should be welded to point towards the turbo not to another cylinder because it can create positive pressure on some of the cylinders. A more compact manifold and using same size pipes when you connect between cylinders would be more efficient and would spool the turbo much faster.

[@slightedengineering]

For starters, this was never being sold as "high performance" simply my approach in a very cramped engine bay. If that was the goal, I would need a much larger area to work with. I could have the best manifold, but if it doesn't fit in the car, it's useless. It's hard to see, but everywhere the tubes merge, the tube area increases. The increase in area will reduce the pressure, but that low pressure will create a pressure differential and aid in the air flow out of the cylinders. High velocity air moves more like a fluid than a gas. I ran compressed air through all the runners and had no airflow back through the other runners.

[@ExtremePowerWheels]

@@slightedengineering the point i was making was that you dont need to increase the pipe size when you join the pipes because it is going to get smaller anyway at the turbo inlet and all the pipes shoud be pointing towards the turbo when they join. That way you have a smoother flow and your manifold can be smaller and tidier. For turbo it does not make a lot of diference if you have equal length pipes but flow is important. And some of your joints direct the gases towards other pistons.

[@user-fl6xw8hx7i]

Оборудование хорошее! Для сварки используй поддув и сопло возьми хотябы №16 лучше 24. Желаю удачи!

[@vwpac]

whats that yellow tool name ? & thanx for the inspiration .

[@slightedengineering]

I found it at harbor freight, it's just a little angle gauge. It's less than 10 dollars if my memory is correct.

[@paddyladdd9395]

Whats thd yellow angle finder called

[@slightedengineering]

It's just an angle gauge, I'm pretty sure. I got that from Harbor Freight.

[@prestonedmonds4128]

What blade are you using on your band saw?

[@slightedengineering]

That would be an Amazon special. It was 17 dollars. A 10/14TPI variable teeth. Imachinist is the brand.

[@kurtdobson]

Clever fixture design... lots of pipe segments.

[@slightedengineering]

I've used 3D printed fixtures a lot in my fabrication. It helps make things a bit more repeatable.

[@kurtdobson]

@@slightedengineering I spent two years working on engine optimization for Hendricks Motorsports ( NASCAR ) and F1. Designed and built a lot of headers. It's harder than most people think. Wrote software to automatically design headers with desired lengths, flows within packaging constraints. Most v8 designs were only two welds on primary tubes... 3 worst case. The solutions are perfect with no cutting trimming to fit. Meant solutions were repeatable. Anyway nice work.

[@slightedengineering]

@W. Kurt Dobson thanks for the words of encouragement. This was my most challenging fabrication yet. That sounds like really interesting but also incredibly challenging work. Especially with how fine the margins are at that level of motorsport.

[@jonathanwambeck7800]

If I was you I wouldn't worry about equal length to start with your first manifold. Just make them flow smoother... I would restart.

[@slightedengineering]

Even if I restarted, I don't think I could make it better. Maybe marginally, but that's not worth 400 plus dollars and another month of my time. It's going to flow better than a log manifold, I passed air through all the runs and had no backpressure through any runs, so we'll see. Won't truly know until I test it.

[@steventurner476]

Equal length has been well proven to be the best for performance on these motors.

[@nasty3145]

Minimal difference on a turbo. N/A would make a difference. By the time he hits low boost the lengths wont matter. There will be a whole bunch more exhaust to spool a turbo. Length doesnt matter as much when under boost. Its more get it out asap.

[@Marco-yk8kp]

stl for the fixtures?

[@slightedengineering]

I haven't put them anywhere, I could add them, but they're very material specific.

[@konigvonpreuen8065]

Good effort, but you should make a new design with proper collectors and don't use pie cuts.

[@slightedengineering]

Sure thing, I'll scrap it and make it how the internet tells me to.

[@konigvonpreuen8065]

@@slightedengineering Someday you'll realize we're actually trying to help you. Learn from the people who came before you.

[@mariuszkowalsky9802]

Stary przecież to jest okropnie i źle pospawane.

[@darrenharber6711]

The front should go straight in ,,al those fucked up bends look shithouse

[@slightedengineering]

Thanks for the concern about how it looks. It really wasn't my biggest priority.

[@matthewmoilanen787]

​@@slightedengineeringNice effort on this manifold as learning is only done by trying with success or failure both teaching lessons. While appearance may not have been a big factor smooth bends without angle cuts and super small radius turns lead to poor flow and loss of performance. This manifold won't flow very well and will probably crack due to the sharp angle cut turns and welding that could be improved. Don't get frustrated and keep working on it until u get a good looking and great performing manifold u can be proud of. I'm a Senior Master ASE but one that understands "everyone" can and should learn every day. That includes me and I try to treat every day as a school day. Now get back in there and make that bad boy look like a pro made that manifold!

[@makantahi3731]

my welds look worse