Can anyone answer, put my mind at rest? I have fitted a wrapped mild steel manifold today to my MK1 Caddy with a DX 1.8 Gti lump. Solid rear engine mount used also. Having fitted it, the inner CV joint of the drivers side is touching the wrapping of the manifold. Is this normal fitment, or should it be positioned towards the bulkhead more?? Any tips or advice would be great, as I'm off to Germany in 7 days....(meant to be) in the truck & I want to be 100% happy with it.
What make of manifold is it? It should not be very close to the CV. A pic to show the proximity would be good if you can manage this.
As far as I'm aware it's an Ashley, 2nd hand when I purchased it. I will describe the position of the CV boot.................it's just touching the wrap. Not heavily impacted into the wrap but still touching it. Wrap is 2 layers, no more, so minimal amount there.
Well the Ashley is a true 4 branch design and has 4 primary pipes passing the driveshaft, unlike a 4-2-1 design. Here is a pic from TonyB's thread. Is it similar to this?
Yes, it is just like that, but I have no gap between wrap & the boot!! Just seems too close for comfort for me?? Especially having a road trip of 1000 miles to do! I was just concerned about the steering rack boot, but that looks ok to me!
Just to add also, all manifold bolts are tightened correctly & the manifold is seated correctly on the head.....I triple checked this!!
They are not referred to as Gashley for nothing! The steering column gaiter is the usual candidate for melting, more so than the CV boot. Does it look like the manifold is damaged or twisted in any way? It could just be a badly made one. I presume they use a jig for fabrication, but the two I have had the delight of seeing both needed modifying, but that was mainly for the steering column gaiter clearance.
Doesn't look damaged at all, checked all that too. With never having experience with them before I just wanted some people with some knowledge to give me a general idea whether it should be the way it is. Looks like with the time frame I have I will bin off this one & get a replacement ASAP, as I need the car through an MOT by the end of the week. It was going to go off down the exhaust place tomorrow for an exhaust. Any advice on which 4 branch I should be using? Any issues with fitting (I am using a standard ARB) too Thankyou for your help so far!!! At least I know I need it swapped now!
The 4-2-1 design work well, as do the oem std gti twin downpipe with cast 6 bolt flange type exhaust manifold. Supersprint and an ebay copy (hottuning?) make 4-2-1. No idea on quality of the ebay one. But there was this Janspeed one for sale earlier this week. Easy to fit too with the separate section going over the antirollbar. http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239057
Shame I have gone & sheared off 2 of the bolts that hold on my down pipe otherwise I would get that straight back on now & maybe heat wrap it too. Many thanks for your help.
