Dax Exhaust Manifolds

[Nobby]

Can anyone post a picture of their DAX (Chevy) exhaust manifolds fitted to the their car please? Driver's side in particular.

I'm at the point where I need to buy my exhaust system and I'm a bit concerned about whether the standard DAX manifold will fit in the space between cylinder head and footwell side panel. I have the extended footwell (big mistake) and there ain't much space on the driver's side. I really don't want to start hacking the ally panels about again.

I am also not sure about whether to go for the DAX system (expensive but hopefully will fit?) or the ShinyBitz offering (cheaper, but i'll have to get the car to them for fitting) I've also read a few negative posts about quality of their parts?

Are there any other alternatives available?

Thanks

Nick

[john w]

Hi Nick

I extended my own chassis & footwell & yes their isnt muh space, I am going to make my own pipes & headers, but I am thinking of having the pipe collector in the engine bay, i.e. haveing a 316 4" pipe going into the engine bay, easier to clean,

The headers are tight but I,m sure you can do this.

Get all your flanges laser cut.

John

[ajrnorth]

Hi Nick

Yes there is an alternative but its not form Dax.
Mark (fat boy northern) made a set for me that meant there was no hacking of fibreglass to be done.

The other problem you may have with cutting into the footwell is the pedals and steering column position which is a tight fit to start with.

The pipes sweep up and out of the way of the footwell leaving enough clearance to fit a heat shield (plumbers solder mat or stainless steel perhaps?)

To see some photos go to the 'search' option and type in 'Dax Tojiero' and you'll find an old post titled Dax Tojiero side pipe alternatives' page 2.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Andy

[craggle]

Hi Nick

I have the Dax side pipes on my car and am very pleased with them. They fitted well and they look good.
I will try to take some pictures tonight of the clearance between the standard footwells and the exhaust pipes if no one beats me to it.

I am thinking of changing my pipes to the 3" perforated tube over the standard supplied 2" version. This costs about £130 from Dax. Does anyone know what is included in the kit as this seems a bit expensive for two pieces of tube only.

Craig.

[madjohnny]

Craig, I'm pretty sure Kev Davies fitted those ecact 3" pipes a while ago. I'm sure he'll post you a definative answer.
Otherwise drop him a PM.

[kdavies3]

It depends how old your pipes are.
If they are the fully welded at the front ones that I had then Dax will charge you a mint. :angry:

I did my own mods and it cost me about a £100 from memory, and modded them so that I can repack them as necessary, :thumb:

mine are now pushing 112dB at 4000 according to castle Coombes noise meter. no coombe track days for me.

But it's a great noise. and fine at cruising speeds.

If you search you should find the thread that covered the mods I did including pictures.

I havent had it on a dyno but I can definately feel the difference in performance since going 3".

I think DB knows someone that gained 60 hp witha similar mod.

[craggle]

Hi Nick

As promised here is pictures of the standard dax footwell with the 350 chevy headers. If your footwells are any longer than about 1/2 inch longer than standard you will have problems!

Don't Dax do special headers to suit the longer footwells? If not your only choice may be custom building.

Cheers john and Kev.

I have the later pipes brought this year. They are fully welded at the front with removable tail pipes. I will have a search for the post you mention.

Craig.

[craggle]

On second thoughts my pipes are welded together at the front but there is a bolt through one side of the pipe. I guess if I take this out the perforated tube, cone and fibreglass wadding will fall out. I will try soon and see what hapens. It must be a simple task to buy the tube for £35 ish and then modify the cone to suit.

I had a look for pictures of your side pipes Kev but could not see any. Could you point me in their direction or post them again?

Cheers

Craig.

[Nobby]

Thanks Craggle, Very helpful to see a standard length footwell installation. My footwells are supposed to be 2" longer than yours - Although the DAX had to hack the driver's side off and re attach it as it was incorrectly made - Free Of Charge to be fair.

Based on your pics there is no way I can fit the standard headers then. Great.

I'll give Peter W a ring and see what he suggests.

I would go for the Fat boy Northern or ShinyBitz system but I'm not happy with having to get someone to trailer my (expensive!) baby up north and back again. Also this will probably cost a packet as I would have to use a professional transport company.

Moral of the story: Don't order the extended footwell from Dax!

Cheers

Nick

[Nobby]

I took the plunge and bought Dax headers yesterday. BIG MISTAKE.

I made sure I asked at least 3 times 'You're sure the Dax headers will fit the extended footwell?" Yes was the reply - "These are Dax quality headers"

Guess what? On getting home and trial fitting the pipes - 3 aren't even close to fitting. Looking at craggle's pics posted earlier my rearmost pipe won't slide past the drivers side footwell, let alone bolt onto the head. Seems I need about 30mm more gap. The modified pipe 2 on the drivers side is touching the top of the footwell. Also on the passenger side (this is the standard length footwell) again the rear pipe is touching the aluminium footwell and won't slide far enough back to bolt in place.

I paid through the nose for a 'Quality Product'

Does anyone else have these Bl**dy problems with Dax supplied parts or am I just lucky?

To say im pi**ed off is an understatement. And Dax are closed until 5th Jan!!!

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do to sort this out?