Cast exhaust manifolds LS1 swap

Has any one tried using the cast manifolds that Pro Flow or Hooker make for LS 1 conversion.

They state that they are for conversions for early american cars and hot rods etc but i cant seem to find any info on use in a torana.

 

Looks like they would dump back towards the fire wall similar to factory cast 308 manifolds.

Only looking at this option as youcan get the pro flow ones for around $400 and at this stage not chasing all out horse power as the ls will be a fair upgrade on the thong slapper thats in there now.

 

Conversion is going into a uc torana track/competion style vehicle so no reg and the engine bay has allready been gutted of heater/fan etc.

Still unsure of gearbox at this stage but budget will most probably push me towards factory auto. 

This thing gets beat on so no real problem having to massage firewall if needed.

 

You have to drop about a grand into extractors from what i can find and trying to do this conversion as cheaply as possable due to what the vehicle is being used for.

 

Any thoughts.

 

 

It’s only one side but have you looked at these?

https://www.holmart....ust-extractor-h

You can usually find a set on gumbay for under $3-400 or less with cats.

No idea if they fit your conversion tho

If you're going to go auto, get the ls2 with the 6 speed 6l80e ect, & the ls2 ecu to run it, much stronger than a 4l60e & not much more, run a good brand of cam & valve train like comp, lunati or crane. Std heads in a fresh tuned engine running an auto, you should be around the 390rwhp fairly easy. Factor in around 7 grand for all the upgrades ect. Will be a existing ride though.

I fitted these and they were ok in most places but the flange was too close to the steering column.

Thinking about it afterwards if it was possible to cut the flange off and weld some pipe into the outlet there would be enough clearance but I am not sure about welding to cast iron, could possibly glue a bit of exhaust pipe into it with Devcon or similar

 

As far as I know they are off an LS2 and only one type has the flange pointing down

Another forum member has them in his LS2 powered hatch

 

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Devcon is incredible stuff, have used it to repair mufflers and seal flanges etc, but i don't think you could use it to glue pipe to a cast manifold for very long lol !

 

...but the ls cast manifolds weld very easy, its good cast, have used them for turbo manifolds and cut flanges off and added SS pipe and vbands etc.

Haven't tried welding the cast, is it possible with a mig?

Have tig'd, i think mig would work fine, better if you heat it up a bit with torch/oxy.

It depends whether they are cast steel or cast iron, you can tell by touching it with an angle grinder, if it throws off sparks then it's steel and can be welded reasonably easily, if you just get a black powder off the grinder it's probably iron, which can still be welded but is a lot more of a specialised job.

 

The problem with a lot of American gear is of course that they have the steering column on the other side, which is also why LS engines have the starter motor on our driver's side, making things even tighter around our steering columns exhaust-wise.