Author Topic: Finally! My TWE "true" equal length header is here! (Read 7299 times)

Johnson_420 · « **on:** March 18, 2015, 11:57:51 am »

Well folks I am pleased to say that I picked up my TWE header from Tom yesterday. He made his 4-2-1 header and an up pipe combo out of stainless steel from vibrant.

After having a closer look at the welds, they seem to be pretty well done. You will notice the collectors and flanges are spot welded on the outside and fully welded on the inside. I asked Tom about this and he said that if there ever was excessive fatigue on a flange, having to repair a spot weld that cracked would be better then having a crack on a full weld. I am no fatigue or stress engineer, but either way it seems to be pretty solid.

On another interesting note, one of my friends bought a perrin equal length header. Out of curiosity he took a string and measured each collector to the end and quickly found out that this equal length header was not actually equal length. It was unequal by several inches! I did this same test with Toms "true" equal length header to see... and they are all equal!!! I am quite pleased with that.

Other than that I don't know what else to add right now. I will be adding a lot more to this review. Like how fitment goes when installing it, what my sweet ol betsy will sound like with this piece in, and the performance aspects.

I will be installing it today on my 06 wrx! I might do a before and after video for a comparison of how she sounds.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #1 on:** March 18, 2015, 12:06:16 pm »

How much was it?

cmyles · « **Reply #2 on:** March 18, 2015, 02:19:57 pm »

My gawd they sound phenomenal.
You won't be disappointed.

Asstuna · « **Reply #3 on:** March 18, 2015, 02:43:08 pm »

Check your gasket bores against the OD of those flange face inside welds. Make sure you have a complete flat surface seal on the crushable ring and the gasket can't shift the crush ring into the weld. I think you will find the majority of exhaust manufacturers will make that flange bore as tight and as round as possible in case your gasket shifts during bolt up.

Your UP turbo flange looks a little beat up after it was resurfaced. Make sure it's flat.

What size are the collector pipes? Might be a fair bit of volume to fill for spool up?

Johnson_420 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 18, 2015, 11:50:38 pm »

Not only is the turbo flange a little dinged up, but it doesn't even fit the turbo!!

When I start 2 studs through the turbo flange, 1 stud is off by almost a 1/2 inch. This forced me to reinstall my OEM up pipe to the TWE equal length header just to get ol Betsy drivable. As far as the header goes there is no issues really. It bolted up and fit fine and the gaskets did thier job...

I took a short rip with the new header and it seems to have made a noticeable difference. I will post more details tomorrow and a exhaust sound comparison video when I have more time. And figure out this up pipe situation!!!!

Asstuna · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2015, 07:56:34 am »

Quote from: Johnson_420 on March 18, 2015, 11:50:38 pm

Not only is the turbo flange a little dinged up, but it doesn't even fit the turbo!!

Oh man, sorry to hear that.

Here's an image of the flange face I'm more familiar with. See how it's a slip fit inside with a perfect bore:

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #6 on:** March 19, 2015, 07:59:45 am »

Quote from: LilDrunkenSmurf on March 18, 2015, 12:06:16 pm

How much was it?

funk32 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:24:17 am »

I would have expected to see something a lot better come from tom, those flanges look off. granted they probaby work but the finish is not of a top quality product.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:28:33 am »

Looking at it from the outside, I'm surprised the weld doesn't go all the way around the flanges. I get it does on the inside, but it looks unfinished.

funk32 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:38:42 am »

my fujitsubo twin scroll headers had extra beads around the outer edges like the ones on these. Ill see if I can pull a pic.

rith · « **Reply #10 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:55:56 am »

Should have just shell out the few extra hundred and bought a killerB ELH.

Asstuna · « **Reply #11 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:56:39 am »

Quote from: rith on March 19, 2015, 10:55:56 am

Should have just shell out the few extra hundred and bought a killerB ELH.

There's one inbound... after the original locked thread is re-posted with photos.

funk32 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 19, 2015, 11:00:14 am »

20150126_173603 by Funk32, on Flickr

cmyles · « **Reply #13 on:** March 19, 2015, 11:17:38 am »

Yeah I'm not too crazy on the quality, but everything is solid, works great, and gets wrapped regardless.

Johnson_420 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 19, 2015, 11:32:26 am »

Yeah those collector flanges definitely look more finished. As long as they seal up with the engine I should be ok.

My wideband at idle is reading 15.2/1 which is a little on the lean side. This could be because the manifold flanges are not sealed (used new gaskets) or because I reused the old up pipe and turbo crush gaskets until the TWE up pipe is fixed and my wideband is actually getting false air. I will check the A/F on my ECU when I get home and if it's reading stoich then I know the wideband is getting false air.

I will be dropping by TWE after work today and hopefully have this issue resolved so I can use my new gaskets and have the TWE up pipe in.

pyro6314 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 22, 2015, 02:53:53 pm »

I'll just leave this here...

TWE Header

funk32 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 22, 2015, 02:59:40 pm »

eww, not what I expected from Techworks

pyro6314 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 22, 2015, 03:10:31 pm »

This is Johnson's header. We already put it on the car, the head side flanges were good on the crush rings, didn't think to check this side but it's coming back apart after his $300 uppipe is hacked together by supposedly 'moving' a stud over and welding it in place. Something I did on a $50 eBay uppipe and was not happy with myself.

FYI, it took 1.5 months for him to deliver on this header and he did it in what sounds like one day after he'd told Johnson it had been 'started' on for weeks. While the design is nice, paying $1000 for something like this is not in my books.

Asstuna · « **Reply #18 on:** March 22, 2015, 06:14:43 pm »

Oh god, can he walk away with his money back?

Johnson_420 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 22, 2015, 07:42:53 pm »

We will see how it turns out. I'm enjoying the header at least.

Johnson_420 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 22, 2015, 11:05:06 pm »

Here is my youtube video of a sound comparison! check it out and let me know what you guys think!

Dazzle · « **Reply #21 on:** March 23, 2015, 05:58:39 am »

So, first run was original?
Second was JWE??

Johnson_420 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 23, 2015, 08:46:39 am »

Quote from: Dazzle on March 23, 2015, 05:58:39 am

So, first run was original?
Second was JWE??

Yes.

cmyles · « **Reply #23 on:** March 23, 2015, 09:00:47 am »

https://instagram.com/p/un5WJ_j7gC/?taken-by=chasemyles
https://instagram.com/p/r8s8jlj7qL/?taken-by=chasemyles
https://instagram.com/p/t-xDvYj7qW/?taken-by=chasemyles
https://instagram.com/p/tCILSij7v7/?taken-by=chasemyles

This is what mine sounds like with an HKS Downpipe and Invidia N1 Race Exhaust

Ambystom01 · « **Reply #24 on:** March 23, 2015, 10:22:20 am »

Wow, the quality is pretty terrible, especially for $1000. I don't care if they get the job done, I would expect a lot more, even from just a pride standpoint.