Put your money where your DP is

[eman035]

I have a 3", two piece, Terry Houston downpipe with the integral wastegate that I bought from Bweavy a few months back. I tried to put it on the car this weekend but it hits the a/c box, so I left the stock one on. I would be willing to send it back to him if it will help. It just needs a slightly tighter bend to clear that box. I would also be interested in a new pipe as long as it fits nicely.

Eric

 

[tenright]

Talked to Brian again today, he will probably be joining this post this afternoon...

Cool- I think your pipe will be the one, simply because it clears the Kenn Bell and that means it will also clear the Poston headers. Brian said if we could get more then one to guide off of that would be ideal so Boost231 we may also need yours.

eman- I think your pipe is also a Meese pipe not a TH....

From here though I think I will wait for Brian, I got the ball rolling let him take it the rest of the way.......


T

 

[JOELO'S T-TYPE]

Do you guys think that the DP will clear ATR headers?

 

[tenright]

Kenn Bell's are the worst to clear second to the postons so yes it should easily clear the ATR's...


T

 

[tb3]

I have the stock downpipe on my car. If it helps to get this thing into production... I may be in for buying one too if it will: hook up to my stock turbo, work with my stock uppipe, stock crossover pipe, and poston headers, I also have OEM starter (not the mini, I planned on buying the smaller one when the one I have shot craps). I don't want to do any cutting to my AC box, and also I have a kirban bushing heat shield installed on my control arm that I don't want to take off. If the 3" has a internal wastegate, thats ok with me to delete my stock one, as long as it doesn't affect too many other things as far as cutting and bending goes.
I plan on getting my stock turbo redone this winter.
Keep in mind I'm a newbie around here and I've never upgraded a downpipe before so don't know really to much what I'm talking about. If anybody has any insight for me.... I thank you in advance.

 

[tenright]

The idea here is to create a 3" pipe that will work with most any setup, thats why cool84's pipe is probably the best one to guide off of. His setup is by far the most complex to get around since he has the Ken Bell dual stage headers. Most of the rest of us have Postons, and a similar set up to yours.



T

 

[cool 84]

The idea here is to create a 3" pipe that will work with most any setup, thats why cool84's pipe is probably the best one to guide off of. His setup is by far the most complex to get around since he has the Ken Bell dual stage headers. Most of the rest of us have Postons, and a similar set up to yours.



T

Agreed. If it fits the KBs it will fit anything.

 

[JOELO'S T-TYPE]

Please keep us posted on the progress of this idea, if it goes thru, I know I'll be intalling an aftermarket turbo but since it wont be as soon as I tought it would, a 3" DP would be a great step performance-wise for my ride, I just hope that shipping doesnt make the price go higher than a new turbo setup. I know all of us would benefit huge from this.

 

[Bweavy]

3" down pipes

I have dealt with Lee before & has always been great to deal with. He has also did alot for the hot air cars.I'm not trying to hurt anything he is working on but I believe Lee is not building these.Mease I could care less LOL.

I'm a little leary of this because we have to build a minimum of 60 units!!!
They will build less but the price would be rediculous.I'm thinking I can build these for the same price & the same quality 86-7 our intercooled version.If we can sell 35 on this site I know I can move more off of our site.

So with that being said send me a mease unit.
Send me an Atr 2.5 I can also do with a 3".
Cool 84 you stated:
As I remember more details, after modding it, it rubbed slightly on the inner fender but the fender sort of molded around it from the heat. I'll be happy to ship it off but I just want you guys to realize it will take a little work. One nice thing is without the internal wastegate it's ~$100 cheaper than a comprable one with wastegate. It helps with the hit of having to buy an external gate a little.
Send me pipe & the pics as well.
Our address is on the contact part of our site.

I think between the 3 of these pipes we could build 1 to clear headers & not burn the inner fender well.When the pipe is done it will not be like any of the 3 that are built now.

This will not be cheap on my end but should be available in about 90 days after we submit the drawings.If you think you can live with that price we should be able to be pretty close to it.

Let me know what you guys think.Sorry for taking so long to respond.
I'll either give all 3 of you a free pipe or at the very least our cost.
After I recieve these I'll know in less then 30 days if they can be built & what price.

 

[tenright]

Thanks Brian...as you know I am 100% commited to this. So commited in fact that if it comes down to 1 or 2 I would concider taking those off your hands and sell them myself so your not stuck with them....

So I guess JOELO - your ATR, Cool84-your modified LT, and Boost231- your 3" meese....if all three can spare them for 30 days or so lets make arrangements to send them off.

Aside from that lets get a count of who wants them. From this post I count 10 so far.....


T

 

[Lee Thompson]

Have @ it!!!!

Bweavy, you have my blessing. I believe you will find it impossible to build in less than 3 pieces and still be able to remove and install easily. Just not enough room with the up pipe where it is on an 84-85. The flanges were what were costing me so much to have machined ( after I retired). Mease had a 2 piece unit that required a clamp--fine if you never have to remove.

tenright--I have a suggestion for you--why don't you buy the 35-40 unit--I'm sure whoever builds them would gladly give you a cut by buying them all.
By the immaturity of your one post bashing me ( didn't know it was my chore to supply hard to find parts) I am pretty sure you are of the younger generation and that would give you a way to make some $ in your later years because it will be a LONG time before 35-40 unit sold. Last set I made (10) it took me 4 years to finally sell the last one. People have good intensions when stepping up and saying I want one but when the time comes buyers situations change and they no longer need them. Best of luck

 

[tenright]

Lee- First of all I never ment to bash you personally, the point I was trying to get across is I am more concerned about getting this much needed part available to all then if someone is offended because they're basic design was used as a guide. I made my appologies for that comment in an earlier post, of all people you should be very familiar with the frustration that would prompt such a comment. If someone said I should get permission from Terry Houston my reply would have been exactly the same.....


T

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Politics aside lets get back to the real issue of building a 3 inch downpipe for a hot air. I located an old 2 1/2 inch one which came in two pieces-a center clamp was needed in the middle. My mechanic installed with no problem. He had to put a dent by the Poston Header as well as by the A-frame bracket. If you understand pipeline mechanics this downpipe blows away any 2 inch ever built. The smaller the pipe the more friction means less flow. A 2 1/5 inch downpipe with 2 dents will flow faster. The key to installation is cutting the plastic inner fender which allow easy acces the the center clamp. My 2 cents. Brad

 

[JOELO'S T-TYPE]

so, in conclusion the 3" that will be built will fit OEM turbo as well as some bolt on aftermarket ones, will clear our headers and will retain A/C, right?

 

[tenright]

Yes the idea is any setup that uses the stock wastegate elbow should be able to use the DP, since thats what we need to eliminate. The wastegate elbow is a 2" 90 degree turn, there's simply nothing you can put on that waste gate elbow to make it flow better.....


T

 

[Dwayne]

You'll be lucky IF you sell 5 of them......market is just too small.

 

[85 ttypewh1]

Yes the idea is any setup that uses the stock wastegate elbow should be able to use the DP, since thats what we need to eliminate. The wastegate elbow is a 2" 90 degree turn, there's simply nothing you can put on that waste gate elbow to make it flow better.....


T

A die grinder with a sharp bit and about a half hour worth of work will do wonders.
Dont get me wrong your heart is in the right spot but this has been done many times before. As Lee said it took him forever to get rid of his, then mease made them for people wanting them but when it came time to pay they backed out and left him with finished downpipes laying around. So then he started charging people up front so they would not back out and nobody wanted to cough up the cash. I dont know how much extra money brian has but he stated that they need to make About 60 pipes to keep costs down and have a committed 30-35 sold before hand i bet he will require prepayment or at least large deposits. That is when you will be able to see who is serious. Good luck and i mean that, ask Brian, i wanted one of those pipes as he has tried to get me one b4.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

There is a market for this pipe. I would start by contacting the 89 people who have registered on The Hot Air Buick Registry. The only thing holding back the Hot Air cars is the downpipe since the technology of Alky injection has eliminated the need for an intercooler. My 2 cents. Brad

 

[Dwayne]

Gotta disagree with you Brad, just about everyone that owns a H.A. is on this board and as I see it only 3 or 4 has shown interest and then when it comes time to pony up, they will disappear. As for the 89 people on the registry, that doesn't mean anything. I would guess that 90% of those people could care less about a DP.........only time will tell.

 

[cool 84]

Gotta disagree with you Brad, just about everyone that owns a H.A. is on this board and as I see it only 3 or 4 has shown interest and then when it comes time to pony up, they will disappear. As for the 89 people on the registry, that doesn't mean anything. I would guess that 90% of those people could care less about a DP.........only time will tell.

I unfortunately have to agree but I hope I'm wrong.