Turbo Headers: $2500?

[stevechumo]

I've recently read a thread on www.clublexus.com that a member is making & selling each set of turbo manifolds for $2500. :Eyecrazy: He said they're made of stainless steel but are wrapped up and the material can't be seen. Any inputs? Are they really worth the pieces? The link is here: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281222

For $2500, I can have a whole turbo system running. The above set of manifolds will still require of lot more fabrications (more $$$) to make it to the turbos.

 

[SC400TT]

Steve:

He covered them up for reasons...I can tell you that those manifolds are exact copies of mine...Because the fabricator used mine to make up the jigs necessary to make several more sets. The only difference is he is using a high quality stainless steel on these, and the tubes are 1.75 instead of 1.50. The collector is still 2".

They are great headers, but they are expensive....

BTW, I am putting a set of those SS ones on my built motor as well...:happysad:

Ryan

 

[Death By Bass]

umm... they arent turbo manifolds if you cant actually bolt a turbo onto them, they're just exhaust manifolds...

that point in the wrong direction? lol

 

[SC400TT]

umm... they arent turbo manifolds if you cant actually bolt a turbo onto them, they're just exhaust manifolds...

that point in the wrong direction? lol

I can see your point that they aren't "turbo manifolds", but exhaust manifolds pointed in the wrong direction??? That set up requires another pice of plumbing to be fabbed that connects from the manifolds to the turbos, it is about 8" long, and also helps to support the weight of the turbos, plus it is used to fine tune the fitment of each turbo within the engine bay. It is very effective, IMHO.

Ryan

 

[stevechumo]

Ryan,
You already showed your manifolds so why did he cover them up when he's using the same design as yours?
Will you have the patience "again" not to enjoy the precious moment with your current setup and take time to change to those SS manifolds? You're really tough to beat. :hail:

 

[JustenGT8]

They are very nice gear for sure but the price :Eyecrazy:

Their choice the charge what they like though and if people pay then more power to em. I wouldn't say they were good value.

 

[Lextreme II]

That must be a joke. They are log style. Any average fabricator can make these. Even Steve and I have no formal training can make them in few hours. I think $500 would be a fair price.

The headers are wrapped because the weldings are not done yet. I think they just tack weld the pieces together. So wrapping it would hide the weldings. Its way over priced.

 

[Jim Rhone]

I saw them on Supraforums, they look like they are TIG welded completely




Jim Rhone

 

[Smitherz]

HAH that's pathetic. They take such a small amount of work. Yeah that adds up to $125,000 for 50.... yes 50 pairs of headers. What a good business. Maybe they will take him 2 years to make that many and that's why he decided on that amount. :bandit: He's raping the supply and demand system for sure. He needs to learn production techniques so he can cut his time in half and make them somewhat affordable. And how much for ceramic coating? He'll probably charge $500 when it actually costs under $100. Sign me up!

 

[Lextreme II]

As far as I read it. Its not a complete set of headers. Its a partial headers. The header stop where the V-Band ends. The other part connect from the V-and to the turbo is not included.

These headers can be made in china for $100 each.

 

[cribbj]

Steve:

He covered them up for reasons...I can tell you that those manifolds are exact copies of mine...Because the fabricator used mine to make up the jigs necessary to make several more sets. The only difference is he is using a high quality stainless steel on these, and the tubes are 1.75 instead of 1.50. The collector is still 2".

They are great headers, but they are expensive....

BTW, I am putting a set of those SS ones on my built motor as well...:happysad:

Ryan

Ryan, I'm sure you weren't too pleased to see TTC taking credit for the R&D you paid for, unless they're giving you a commission on every set sold (hehehe)? Glad to see you posted and clarified things. Some things and some people never change do they?

 

[sniper]

Price gouging?

 

[SC400TT]

I gotta tell you...I don't agree with the price of them, I think they are way too high, but, to make them for $100 apiece from China? They would more than likely crack within a few runs of installation.


To call them incomplete headers? I do not agree. They are complete, just not a complete turbo kit. Did you ever stop to consider why these were built the way they were??? Consider if the headers were made longer, and had a 90 degree northward bend to connect directly to the turbos and clear everything. Now you have got to remove not only the turbos to perform certain maintenance, but also the headers...My system was designed to be modular so that it would be easy to remove one piece to service parts under the hood...Alot of forethought and engineering went into this design. And although these fit like a log would as far as taking up space, they are not a log style header...Each runner is an individual tube merging into a collector. These are far better designed and built than logs. I am not attempting to defend Erics pricing strategy...but, these are certainly not pathetic...What a ridiculous statement. If you think they are so poor, go and build a better set, one that not only flows as well and produces excellent velocity, but that also clears the V8 power steering pump and the AC compressor.

Also consider the cost of the stainless the fabricator used here...far more than $200 for a complete set from China. The flanges were more than $100.

These are indeed TIG welded, and extremely good welds. It seems to me that the average set of stainless steel headers is a minimum of $1000 to $1200 per set from any good fabricator. $2500, well, I won't defend that.

Let's just be sure to call a spade a spade...Don't dis the headers just because you don't like the price. Remember, I am not selling them, nor am I involved in the production of them. That is not my Gig, I know better...I just build my own car...

Ryan

 

[SC400TT]

Ryan, I'm sure you weren't too pleased to see TTC taking credit for the R&D you paid for, unless they're giving you a commission on every set sold (hehehe)? Glad to see you posted and clarified things. Some things and some people never change do they?

Cribbj, no, I was not pleased at all. I did the hard work, and spent the hard money, time and effort to get these made...On ClubLexus, I was only given credit after I posted up a reply that his headers came from my efforts with Frank. And I get ZERO dollars or benefit from Eric selling them. In fact, I loaned out my set for free, to jig them. I wanted to help the community because I know how hard it was to find a person that actually was skilled enough to fab these up. Yeah, I paid a lot for the first set, but my car is still unique....

Ryan

 

[Lextreme II]

Ryan,

Please don't take offense to the above comments. We call it as the way we see it. I only see the partial header, therefore I call it that way. As far as the style is concern. Its a log style regard how u see it. Its 4 in 1. Recently China headers are very good.

I have connection in China that can produce a set of stainless steel headers with coating for about $87 each plus shipping. Yes, stainless tig weld. Obviously, that is wholesale price. However, $2500 would be daylight robbery.

Ryan, you put in time and lots of money into this. Why the credit is not giving to you or Frank? TTC failed few times trying to make a set of headers. He finaly give up and use your design.

 

[SC400TT]

That must be a joke. They are log style. Any average fabricator can make these. Even Steve and I have no formal training can make them in few hours. I think $500 would be a fair price.

The headers are wrapped because the weldings are not done yet. I think they just tack weld the pieces together. So wrapping it would hide the weldings. Its way over priced.

Lex, no dis intended here, my friend. But I highly doubt that you could fab up a set of these in surgical grade 304 stainless in a few hours. Remember, fabbing up a set of headers in mild steel is easy compared to stainless. You can have very unprecise cuts with mild steel and get away with it. But working with stainless takes a lot more skill...The cuts need to be precise, and each welding joint needs to mate up cleanly and precisely with the other to produce a high quality product.

I do happen to know the price of the materials with these headers, and zI can tel you, they are expensive. Let's just say that $500 would barely cover the materials costs on these sets.

And I believe he wrapped them because he did not want people to see that they were identical copies of mine that were already posted up on the forums.

Just my thoughts...

Ryan

 

[Lextreme II]

Ryan,

The goal is to make a protype. It can be in any material. After that you make a jig for it. From there you can use any material you want. Yes you can make it in few hours even with stainless steel if you have all the material and equipment.

 

[SC400TT]

Ryan, you put in time and lots of money into this. Why the credit is not giving to you or Frank? TTC failed few times trying to make a set of headers. He finaly give up and use your design.

Lex, you're right on that...When he first posted his original claims, I was not happy. Also, remember when he posted up the pic of that original design he was going with...the one with the massive merge collector, and the wildly looping tubes? I knew they would never fit in the SC or Supra engine bay, and told him so, but he did not believe me.

Yes, he finally gave up and called me to ask for Frank's number.

BTW, all is cool...

Ryan

 

[SC400TT]

BTW, can anyone please post up the link to the thread he posted those pics up on Supra Forums? I would love to read that...

Ryan

 

[Lextreme II]

Those were failed design. I hate to say it but " I Told You So"