ABF custom exhaust manifold

Discussion in '16-valve' started by Matas, Nov 3, 2020.

  1. Matas Forum Member

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    Are there people who sell some kind of custom abd manifolds? Is it even worth to have one?
    Anyone has any experience with them? Any gain in power?
     
  2. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    Is it for a mk3? I got an eBay stainless one for not much money as the seller had a massive sale on during the first lockdown. Haven't fitted it yet as only just got up to there on my build. Hopefully tonight.

    The one I have won't fit with factory heat shield on the engine so you will possibly need to wrap it or make a custom one. If I do manage to get it on later I'll take some pics to show clearance and if it is just "bolt on".

    The reason I got a new one was that all 4 runners were cracked pretty horrifically on the cast iron stock one. I believe this is common with them being old now.

    I seem to remember a forum post from a while ago that suggested there is a oem 4 branch that some of our brothers and sisters got on the continent got that is supposedly "better" but I'm half remembering something from years ago. And it might be lhd only.

    So in short if your original cast one is leaking it will be an improvement. And different manifold designs promote better efficiency at different revs. How much of a difference that makes on a stock 150bhp NA engine is probably debatable. If you port and polish the engine then it might be more noticeable.

    My one might be up for sale in a few months as I haven't even finished getting the abf in to the vento and I'm already considering scrapping my daily for its 1.8t.
     
  3. Matas Forum Member

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    I have an ibiza, but the engine is same as mk3 golf, i can hear leaks from behind the engine and I'll be redoing my exhaust system anyways.
    Let me know how it fits, also if you look forward to selling it, let me know :)
     
  4. Tristan

    Tristan Paid Member Paid Member

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  5. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    Tristan thanks for that I knew had seen it somewhere

    Matas isn't that ibiza based off the polo chassis rather the golf one. If so you might have clearance issues. I'm sure someone smarter than me will be along to clarify this if you don't know.

    If I manage to get it on later I'll post my findings for you no problem. If you do take it off I would order up a new set of studs and bolts that can be found on ebay or autodoc as mine were all goosed, could have been age or previous owner. They were like 5 quid to source for me for a full set. Tps or dealer can probably still get these too as they weren't just limited to the abf.

    I'm dubious of the bolt on claims for the price I paid but will happily be proven wrong. You could check on 7zap.com for the diagram of the exhaust system and see if the manifold part numbers match the golf ones.
     
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  6. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    So you know the only fitment issue i had was not taking into account how much longer the exhaust manifold studs needed to be for the new manifold. Its much thicker than the stock one. As you can probably see its ridiculous. Plenty of clearance on a mk3 golf chassis. First eBay "bolt on" that actually was, for me anyway
    20201103_195931.jpg


    By all means if yours is cracked get it replaced mine was cracked on all 4 runners so went in the bin. While you're there do the studs and nuts if they've never been done as they are 20+ years old and will help you make a better seal. Obvs throw a new gasket on too. They still pretty easy to source

    Also don't know if it will save you a lot of time googling round about how to get more power out of an abf on stock management or without spending obscene amounts of money on forced induction it's to have the final drive changed out on the gearbox.

    You can get small efficiency gains here and there that will add up but a lot of time and expense for little return.

    Don't get me wrong if you have real deep pockets abf's sound mega on forced induction and I've seen some mega fast ones. I love the engine but yeah they cost a lot to extract more power out of especially if your paying for labour.
     
  7. Tristan

    Tristan Paid Member Paid Member

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    One important thing when fitting a 4 branch, especially a budget one... Check the mating face is actually flat, with a straight edge.
     
  8. Jon Olds Forum Junkie

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    On my race, rally, autocross cars I add a brace strut to the bottom of the block on 4 branches, making them less likely to crack when the engine
    jumps around due to sudden landings from height etc
    Just a thought...
    Jon
     
  9. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    Yeah Tristan good shout, mine was. With how much of a thick boi mine is would take a lot for it to warp later.

    Jon that is also a good shout if the op gets something a bit thinner or even cheaper than what I paid. Either that or if he gets into a blues brothers style car chase on the regular lol

    Mine came in at around 100 quid I think but the seller had a ridiculous sale on during first lockdown on their whole eBay shop.

    Matas, did you figure out if your car is based off the polo like I suspected?

    Getting back to op's question does anyone know for sure will a mk3 golf abf manifold fit an abf ibiza and clear everything or would he need to source a ibiza one. The seat toledo would probably fit a golf one and vice versa as that's just a vento with a seat badge. But yeah iirc from my diesel polo, the polo bay is a lot more cramped than the golf one as the mk3 golf was built with the room for a vr6 from the factory. Not that a vr6 won't fit in other/ older cars if you are determined but they weren't designed for it.
     
  10. dodgy

    dodgy Paid Member Paid Member

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    Isn't the ibiza the same as polo saloon, estate, caddy, inca etc not the 6n polo, its mk3 golf based I believe so larger than the polo hatchback
    Ibiza is mk3 subframe but still mk2 wishbone setup so narrower track than a mk3 golf iirc.
    When I did my inca all mk3 designated parts fitted.
     
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  11. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    yeah ibiza is 6k chassis which is a funny one, its kinda front half of a mk3 with the back half of a polo grafted on. it runs a mk3 golf subframe with mk2 wishbones so a mk2/3 exhaust should fit fine, but you would need ibiza specific exhaust system to fit to it
     
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  12. Jon Olds Forum Junkie

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    As Rubj says, I run an 16V Ibiza rally car with tubular mk2 system.
    Very under rated cars IMHO
    Jon
     
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  13. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    I rest my case on much smarter people chiming in.

    Learned a few things myself there :)

    And yeah the ibizas were really fun. To me they felt a lot quicker than the golfs but don't know if that is due to less sound insulation and stuff or if they were substantially lighter. Never looked into it.
     
  14. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    Just to clarify for OP did you mean a mk2/3 exhaust manifold should fit to an ibiza specific exhaust system
     
  15. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    yes, the ibiza manifold and downpipe is basically same as a mk3 golf item. may have to fit an adaptor to get the front silencer on if say, the mk3 cat is a bit longer or shorter than the ibiza cat if you get me. apart from that it'll go right on no problem.

    to put it another way people use the ibiza 20v downpipe on mk2/3 20v swaps :)
     
  16. mrgr_18 Forum Member

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    Sound just thought was best to clarify for op and anyone else who stumbles across thread. And once again you have taught me something with the 20v comment.
     
  17. Toyotec

    Toyotec CGTI Committee - Happy helper at large Admin

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    Been there done that, wrote about it and recommended it to several. I still run one today.

    See the link Tris shared.
     
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