The exhaust manifold in my '73 1800ES is broken in two pieces right now, so I need another. I could go down to the volvo junk yard and try to find a decent used manifold but a used one runs about $90 and is more likely to break then u new one. So I’m considering but a new exhaust manifold but I was wonder which is better, John Parker's or IPD's? The two are nearly the same amount of money. The head on my car is stock but I would like to have shaved, ported and polished one day. I'd also like to throw out the original exhaust system in favor of a freer flowing less rattley system. Any suggestions or advice on this job would be great. Thanks again guys.

Curious, where'd it break?

I suspect someone had an exhaust leak and tried to fix it by overtightening bolts instead of cleaning and trueing the mating surface. A poorly installed exhaust system can also put a bit of stress on the manifold when it is pushed and pulled to get it to attack to the car.

The stock (separate) 4-2 manifold is pretty hard to beat (except for its weight).

A used one should be less than $30 at your local Pick-n-Pull. Heck, I just tossed one aside 'cause I got no room and no one wanted to ship the (heavy) bugger.

Mike!

If you are getting headers I would choose the smallest ones of the 4-2-1 from John Parker.

4-1 headers are for race engines.

Cheers,
Paul.

Colin, did you just find this out? Cause where i was selling my stuff, Lee had a bunch of manifolds for sale. Shoot him an email and see if he has one that'll work for you. It was nice meeting you yesterday! Good luck,
--
Kyle - attending Ore. State, while my lil 68 142 (74 b20, broken m40) AWAITS ME OUTSIDE!!! (check out my cardomain site, kneedsacar)

A replacement for the one you have (73-75) is a pretty good manifold.
They are not exactly a wear item; that is a new one is not a lot better
than a used (not abused) old one. Headers involve a different set of
problems, not serious but still a lot different from a simple manifold
replacement. $90 sounds pretty extreme for a B20 FI exhaust manifold.
I would think $25 or 30 would be more like it.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US

What kind of problems are involved with a header?

Leaking at the head, cracking at the various welds. They also seem to put a lot more heat under the hood.

From what I hear the 4:1 style headers might be better for a race engine, but they are tuned for an RPM too high for a street engine. The 4:2:1 style is said to work better in the PRM ranges you use in the street.

In my case this is just hearsay. I have a 4:1 header on my PV because no matter what it is an improvement over the original single downpipe manifold, and I bought it from someone who pulled it off a PV, so I knew it would fit. (IPD has a note in their catalog next to their header saying that it will not fit 544, 210, or 240 models)

You can also have interference with the a-arms.

Per