We are working on trying to locate a donor GS400 manifold for you.

Keep your fingers crossed.

 

I am in whenever they are released. Hopefully soon! Le me know as soon as thye are available and how much.

 

I'm in, PMed you..

 

RANT ON...

Ok, I am tired and irritated with these greedy wrecking yards. The set of manifolds for the 98 LS400 mysteriously "dissappeared". I was getting ready to drive accross town to pick them up and decided to call ahead and try to get him to drop the price from $150 and have him get them pulled for me. Well... he was like "oh man, I'm glad you called, I looked at that motor and the manifolds aren't there..." Now, I actually believe the guy honestly didn't realize that engine didn't have manifolds but still... sloppy. I would have been seriously PO'd if I had driven out there and no parts.

So, I get on the phone and find a set in South Carolina for $200, OUCH, , As I said before I didn't have anything budgeted for this expenditure and was only doing this because some of you guys helped out and chipped in Of course I said I would negotiate a price discount equal to donations but that still reduces profit and hurts the fabricator.

Anyway, hoping to find a set for cheaper I called locally and found another set off a 2000 GS400 and the guy wanted $125... EACH I said OUCH and he said he could go as low as $200. I said these parts NEVER fail and I doubt they have ever sold a single set. He claimed they sell them all the time BS,BS,BS... He argued they are $400 each new (that is true and compare that against the header price!) I again argued that these things DON'T fail. He wouldn't budge, I called him greedy. I don't want to call him back cause my guess is the price will go back up if I call him back...

RANT OFF...

So, any luck out there finding some manifolds? Thanks guys.

 

Man, you know someone was selling these exact GS400 manifolds a while back on Ebay and nobody even bid on the damn things. I thought about it to have a spare lying around.
I called 11 places around here and found a place that wanted $200 EACH!!!!!!!!!!

I say bite the bullet and get the other set for 200.00 if noone else comes through. I will chip in a little as Im sure others will.
Worst case scenario , in case someone's manifold does go out.....................

 

So you're saying you need some more money? If so, I'll help. Let me know.

 

Well, since no one else has found anything more cost effective I guess our best choice is for me to TRY to get that set locally for $200. I say "try" as I called him greedy for asking so much for a scrap yard part (nobody buys these... really... look at the above ebay example)

So, there goes $200 in the "hole"... and I am still around $50 short if anyone is feeling generous.

GOOD news... we have a guy that is local to and willing to let his GS400 be used for R&D. I emailed him back and told him as soon as we get these manifolds shipped and jigs built we can move ahead.

Guys, I do appreciate all the support.

 

What about buying a set new from a dealer and getting the measurements etc. you need and then returning them. I assume they would be in "unused still like new" condition correct? Just an idea...
BTW, do you have the money together for the manifolds that you needed yet?

 

A $50 check is in the mail.

 

1st mission accomplished...

Picked up a set of factory exhaust manifolds from a 2000 GS400, price, $200

As expected, visually I have yet to notice ANY difference between the LS400 and the GS400 manifolds.

As expected, Lexus/Toyota used the same contruction techniques that I heavily criticized previously. The feed runner meets with a damn created by a sharp edge protruding into the flow. You have heard of antireversion? These are antiflow!!!


Here are some pictures. This first picture shows the new and old sets side by side. You can see how the new ones place the catalyst farther from the engine and therefore would require reworking the catalyst location for early model vehicles.

BTW, the exhaust flanges are an exact match between the early and late manifolds

 

The passenger side manifold has a VERY strange log connecting the back 2 ports.

 

Here is an example of the construction technique that I HATE... the primary connects to the "log" by overlapping a hole cut into the log. This hole is SMALLER than the inside diameter of the primary pipe and this creates a "knife" edge (seen highlighted in white) protruding into the exhaust flow. This is exactly opposite of what you want. Ideally the manifold would flow great but not flow in reverse. This manifold probably flow better in reverse

 

So, what happens now?

 

Well, the plan was to take pictures, make measurements and then ship them to the fabricator for jigs to be built.

BUT>>> having these parts in my hands has helped IMMENSELY as I can visuallize the task ahead much better. Now, the only car l I have easily available for review is my LS400. One thing is becoming very clear... the drivers side removal and installation is going to be HARD. At the minimum several parts will have to be removed including the motor mount and possibly the steering shaft and the A/C compressor. This is assuming it can be done at all without pulling the engine. At the wrecking yard the engine was out of the car and one nut would not come off a stud. The guy worked for 20 minutes to finally get off ONE nut/stud.

Next, the driver side manifold wraps around behind the steering shaft and there is no room to go over the top of the shaft. This means the same must be done with a replacement design. It also has the oil dipstick tube between the 1st and 2nd port and the auto trans oil dipstick over the last port. The rearmost port is the worst as there is very little space to route it. In fact on the factory manifold it actuall travels the wrong way and makes more than 90 degree VERY sharp turns. That said the drivers side manifold is definitely the better flowing of the 2 manifolds. It has 2 full length pipes on 2 of the ports and 2 very short pipes entering at 90 degrees.

 

The passenger side is a different story. Access is MUCH better and may be doable without removing extra parts. It is also the worst of the 2 manifolds with only 1 full length pipe and 3 short runners (2 virtually non existant) that enter logs at 90 degrees. The 3rd and 4th ports are the worst with the 2nd being nearly as bad.