What are my options?

[Craigerz]

Have a cracked exhaust manifold on the drivers side. Use to quiet down after it got warm but its slowly taking longer and longer. I have the GT-40 heads with internal EGR. I've been reading for about 4 hours I'm over it.

What are my options for this? I would like to steer clear of the Dorman tube style if possible.

Will the cast iron manifolds fit on my 97? I'm worried about the spark plugs fitting not so much plugging the EGR. I know the cast iron manifolds flow better but by a lot? But 120 bucks for the set sounds better to me.

The only header option left is some ebay TM knockoffs I don't recall the name, and total buy ship and install price being around the 600 mark. I checked TM website and its up so I don't know if they are still being made, but at almost 900 bucks now I'm not even remotely interested. On a bone stock 97 are these worth the money? My truck rarely sees over 3500 RPM.

My only argument is that good or bad quality, 5.0 Ex headers are becoming harder and harder to find and IF one day my endless project is complete and the headers are the last thing to do there might not be anyone making them anymore.

 

[imp]

Have a cracked exhaust manifold on the drivers side. Use to quiet down after it got warm but its slowly taking longer and longer. I have the GT-40 heads with internal EGR. I've been reading for about 4 hours I'm over it.

What are my options for this? I would like to steer clear of the Dorman tube style if possible.

Will the cast iron manifolds fit on my 97? I'm worried about the spark plugs fitting not so much plugging the EGR. I know the cast iron manifolds flow better but by a lot? But 120 bucks for the set sounds better to me.

The only header option left is some ebay TM knockoffs I don't recall the name, and total buy ship and install price being around the 600 mark. I checked TM website and its up so I don't know if they are still being made, but at almost 900 bucks now I'm not even remotely interested. On a bone stock 97 are these worth the money? My truck rarely sees over 3500 RPM.

My only argument is that good or bad quality, 5.0 Ex headers are becoming harder and harder to find and IF one day my endless project is complete and the headers are the last thing to do there might not be anyone making them anymore.

@Craigerz
Are you sure it's cracked and not just badly warped? Has it a gasket leak? Just thinkin'. imp

 

[Mbrooks420]

Tubular V8 manifolds are notorious for cracking, although it’s much more commonly the passenger side.

 

[boominXplorer]

Torque monsters are still available and are cheaper for the internal EGR trucks. Yes they are more than the OBX ones but they are American made and have $200 of ceramic coating on them.

Not to mention dude stands behind them 100% and resale value after being used for a few years is still at $600+.

 

[Craigerz]

I haven’t pulled the heat shield off of it but I thought I could feel air coming out of it. I unscrewed the fan last night and will try to feel again. But if I’m taking it off to do a gasket I’m putting a new manifold on just to be safe.

I’m not questioning the quality they get nothing but positive reviews... it’s just the funds. I can’t pull the trigger on that much cash for a truck I’ve put about 15k miles on in the 3 years I’ve owned it.

 

[boominXplorer]

In your case I'd swap in some cast manifolds. They really aren't much better power wise, just don't crack as easily.

 

[410Fortune]

the dorman cast manifolds work well and are a great value at $90 a pair
These would be perfect for your situation IMO
I have a set downstairs I am using on a 5.0 Sport Trac and i was impressed with the quality

 

[Turdle]

You may need new bolts to attach the cast manifolds due to their thicker material. There will be 2-3 lengths. Use the manifold as a guide , take it to home depot with you to get them.
Go for 1/2" - 5/8" thread penetration to avoid bolts bottoming out before the flange is tight to the head. A backing washer or 2 is acceptable if the bolt is too long. Don't forget the lock washers.

PS edit, I think I would go ahead and get 4 new downpipe bolts also and just cut the old ones off since you are replacing the manifolds. Just saved you 3 hours time.

 

[Craigerz]

Thanks all

 

[410Fortune]

The dorman manifolds came with hardware, not sure if it will get used, but they did send manifold bolts and down pipe bolts

 

[Craigerz]

I'll start ordering them and if they don't come with it I'll be heading to Home Depot. Going to have to wait a while though, our month of winter is blowing in tomorrow