Down pipe clearance

fever35

New Member
Joined
May 3, 2010
Has anyone had any problem with clearance between the down pipe and the heater box with a 3" pipe? I just upgraded my turbo to a 5857 and I need about 1/2" to clear the box. Any ideas?
 
Has anyone had any problem with clearance between the down pipe and the heater box with a 3" pipe? I just upgraded my turbo to a 5857 and I need about 1/2" to clear the box. Any ideas?

what down pipe r u running i have a th 3" and mine fits fine you just have to put it in at a wierd angle than it falls into place
 
I have a TA. It needs to come up at least 1/2" to bolt up to the turbo but it hits the bottom of the heater box.
 
I have a TA. It needs to come up at least 1/2" to bolt up to the turbo but it hits the bottom of the heater box.

mark where it hits and get a torch heat it and lay a pipe across the down pipe and hit the pipe to dent the down pipe
 
I've got the TA 3" pipe as well on a PTE 6162 turbo, everything fits like a glove. I would never expect to hear that there would be a fitment problem. Hope everything works out for you.
 
I think heat will be my next move. I bought one two years ago. When I received it, it was worse than the one I have now. They sent out another one and it fit but still touched the bottom of the heater box. I have new body bushings, poly motor mounts, the turbo is clocked as far as it will go and the car has never been wrecked so I dont understand the clearance issue.
 
The clearances and dimensions vary on stock cars, but when parts are changed, these clearances can get worse.

The biggest problem we have had with downpipes over the years is when a non-stock turbo is used. We even had to exchange some aftermarket turbine housings as the bolt pattern was WAY off. I would guess a 5857 turbo does not use a stock Garrett turbine housing? :confused:

In your case there a 2 remedies to try before hammering the DP.

First, open up the 4 mounting hole in the DP flange. A little movement there will give a lot of movement at the frame.

Second, if the first does not move it enough, then remove the turbo and elongate the 3 mounting holes in the header/turbo flange. This will allow you to "rotate" the turbo so the DP can move up and down.

I know this can be frustrating, but remember you are modifying a stock car, and it is not unusual to "cut-and-fit" for aftermarket parts to work in that situation.

Ask the guys that build race cars what we have to go through most of the time! :biggrin:
 
would heating the pipe and bending it in 1/2 inch be the easiest and best thing to do. i mean if he was running better than 10's i would recomend doing this another way but its not going to affect the air flow at all and you wont have to worrie about messing up anything else along the way
 
Gaining Down Pipe Clearance

Listen to Nick,

He's given you your answer.

Here's a suggestion though and may be a quick fix before you go hogging out your bolt holes. Just loosen up the 4 down pipe to turbo bolts and also your 3 bolts on the turbo to header flange and see if there's enough wiggle room already there to make it clear your a/c / heater box. Just might be enough clearance in those holes already. Who knows, you may not even need to remove and drill them to get it to clear.
 
Thank you guys for all of your input. I will listen to Nick. I agree aftermarket parts may require some "altering". I don't like doing things half ass so I'm gonna do some fabrication and make it look and function correctly. It's not on the top of my priorities right now but I'll post again when I get it figured out. Thanks again!
 
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