Stainless Exhaust Manifold

[DavidH]

I am considering purchasing a pair of stainless steel exhaust manifolds from SC Parts mainly for cosmetic reasons. They are manufactured "in house", appear to be good value and look "nice" when new, but would be interested to know what they might look like after a couple of years use, if anyone is able to comment ?

[bitsobrits]

I started with lovely stainless manifolds, which turned a nice shade of brownish bronze with blue near the cylinder head. Looked very nice until they started to accumulate the odd bug splat or oil drop which caused a localized stain. These would polish out, but then I had one shiny silver tube, and others with the nice patina. So after a couple of seasons I removed them and had them ceramic coated in a bright aluminum finish, which has dulled a bit over the last many years, but still better in that the tubes remain evenly patinated. And the temp reduction with the ceramic coat is a bonus.

[malcolm]

, except I've left mine with the stains!
On reflection, I probably wouldn't have gone the stainless steel route with hindsite.
Look ok though

[Heuer]

I removed mine for four reasons:

1. They cause more noise and also make an odd tinkling sound at low revs - the cylinders firing!
2. They produce a lot of heat and can bubble the paint on your frames and maybe even the bonnet
3. They discolour as others have mentioned to the point where they look rusty
4. They can produce a torque dip between 2,250 and 2,750 rpm, the most important part of the rev range in an E-Type for overtaking

Best option is bare metal stock cast manifolds with BBQ paint. Easy to refresh whenever you want to. There are reports the latest cast manifold from SNGB retain their ceramic very well.

After 300 miles of hard driving, engine cold:


After 10,000 miles:


State of frames after running tubular manifolds:


More info here: http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php? ... folds+heat

[gtjoey]

I have to agree with HEUER......
If anyone followed along with my rebuild in the states, The pipes LOOKED wonderful, best quality and yes THICKER metal.
The problem was, the pinking sound from the chambers, UNLESS your running straight pipes or sport exhaust, It became very annoying to me.
I went back to SNG porcelin and all was well.
Iliked the look, but the noise was annoying.
I drive 6 to 8,000 miles a year in my 67 coupe.
GTJOEY1314

[Moeregaard]

I'm with David on this one. The factory manifolds were very well thought out by Jaguar. Early in my E-Type "career," I had a set of no-name mild-steel tubular manifolds on my early 4.2 FHC. The mid-range torque suffered, while the top end remained pretty much unchanged. I never did bother having my cast-iron pieces re-porcelained; instead, I just freshened them up periodically with BBQ paint, which holds up surprisingly well.

[DavidH]

I think around 18 months ago I read somewhere that SNG Barratts had changed the black enamel coating on their (original type) manifolds to something much more robust. I hence wondered if anyone can confirm if this is correct, and more interestingly if anyone has any experience of how they perform with the new coating ?

[mgcjag]

Have a look here http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php? ... 62#p136493