Department of Boost manifold issues

[graystang01]

During my install I noticed my thermostat housing doesn't sit flush against the manifold. Has anyone else ran into this issue with this kit? I tried emailing Department of Boost since I don't have a phone number for him but he isn't returning my messages. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[07graygt]

You might try and pm gmitch it crownvination.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

What year car is the thermostat out of?

 

[BruceH]

What year car is the thermostat out of?

He's talking about the housing.

 

[eighty6gt]

Is there a way to determine the problem by inspection or analytically?

IE: measure the OD of boss on the housing vs. the ID of the thermostat hole in the intake? Look for interferences due to other components, fasteners, seals, etc..?

 

[BruceH]

During my install I noticed my thermostat housing doesn't sit flush against the manifold. Has anyone else ran into this issue with this kit? I tried emailing Department of Boost since I don't have a phone number for him but he isn't returning my messages. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Have you taken a straight edge to parts to see which one is warped?

 

[Nsane44]

Your suppose to shave a little off the heads i think for it to fit I can try looking in my instructions.

 

[Nsane44]

Using a grinder/Dremel/file/etc (we used a file) shave the edge off of the front DS cylinder head by the water passage for manifold pan clearance. Like the step before this is not rocket science. Your goal is to remove enough material so the manifold will sit flat on the heads. The pics below will give you a good idea what you want to accomplish. At the end of the day as long as the manifold will sit flat on the cylinder heads and you can line the bolt holes up you removed enough
material. Please note that in the pictures below the ports in the cylinder head are not sealed up like they should be (the heads in the pic are “scrap” test units). You DO NOT want any shavings in there. See pics below.

 

[Nsane44]

I don't know how to post pictures

 

[Nsane44]

I read that wrong whoops

 

[Dubstep Shep]

Yea pics are gonna be the easiest way to asses what's going on here...

 

[crownaviation]

I assume you have one of the new (latest) manifold designs? I installed one the other day that was a real tight fit but it went on. I am assuming you are talking about the cover for the t-stat? Take the o-ring off and see if the cover slides in. We had a hell of a time getting that to fit on the new manifold. We had to freeze the damn thing and lube the o-ring just before we tapped it in gently with a mallet. Once we ensured the o-ring was properly seated and inside the manifold without any kinks or pushed out anywhere we were able to get it down enough to use the fasteners to help drive it in. Did not leak. If you "had to" for a temporary solution you could just use sealant under the flange that sits on the manifold. Not ideal but it would work till you could get this resolved. Would suck to wait for a part and have the car down over this.


This is the part I am talking about. I will try to message Jason for you. I have installed a bunch of these and the only other problem out of a dozen or so I have installed has been one coolant fitting (under the manifold) was tapped the wrong size but was able to work around it.

 

[99horsey]

If I understand the problem correctly, the same thing happened to me. I think crownaviation saw the same thing. The thermostat housing/cover is really tight in the thermostat cavity on this latest run. I tapped mine in with a mallet (making sure the O-ring didn't get jacked up). Jason later told me I should have just sanded the cylinder of the housing/cover a but to get it to fit easier. The O-ring is what seals, so you can safely remove some material of the cover part (not the manifold!) to get it to fit easier. Should have done that because now I'm probably screwed if I should ever have to replace my thermostat. I don't know how I'd ever get the cover off with it so tight.

 

[Kylar]

Any updates graystang01?

 

[crownaviation]

If I understand the problem correctly, the same thing happened to me. I think crownaviation saw the same thing. The thermostat housing/cover is really tight in the thermostat cavity on this latest run. I tapped mine in with a mallet (making sure the O-ring didn't get jacked up). Jason later told me I should have just sanded the cylinder of the housing/cover a but to get it to fit easier. The O-ring is what seals, so you can safely remove some material of the cover part (not the manifold!) to get it to fit easier. Should have done that because now I'm probably screwed if I should ever have to replace my thermostat. I don't know how I'd ever get the cover off with it so tight.

The groove for the o-ring (on the new manifolds) were not cut deep enough imo. The cylinder slides in fine until you put an o-ring on it. You can make the cylinder smaller but the 0-ring is what binds. They will fit and future manifolds will be corrected from what I am told.

Any updates graystang01?

Only one post and has not been on since 5/29/14. My guess is he was irritated from not getting a timely response which as a customer I understand. Those guys are busy over there and do not have resource to man a phone for tech. Part of what I used to offer when selling kits was tech support. It was quite the challenge to say the least. I would spend countless hours helping those guys out with info that was easy to find with a simple search. This is why they created a forum which has tons of info for most subject matter... or someone on there has an answer for about anything you can ask. Even without a "tech support" to answer calls all day this is still the best supported kit you can find. Try calling KB sometime and tell them you bought a used kit off some dude and need help figuring out what "the doo-hickey" goes to.. lol

 

[durr4456]

I know him I'll shoot him a message


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[99horsey]

The groove for the o-ring (on the new manifolds) were not cut deep enough imo. The cylinder slides in fine until you put an o-ring on it. You can make the cylinder smaller but the 0-ring is what binds. They will fit and future manifolds will be corrected from what I am told.

Mine definitely bound before the O-ring got down in the hole. It was about halfway in before it stopped and that's when I started gently tapping with a rubber mallet. It still kept going with very light tapping until I got to the O-ring. Then I had to tap a little harder, but watched the O-ring clear the opening as I did. I'm still probably screwed if I ever have to get to the thermostat...

I conveyed my experience to Jason so I'm glad the future manifolds will be corrected. There are a number of things I relayed to him during/after my install so I'm definitely one of those PITA customers. But I totally agree this is the best supported supercharger install out there. Good luck finding this kind of help and support with a mass produced (and MUCH more expensive) kit!

 

[crownaviation]

Mine definitely bound before the O-ring got down in the hole. It was about halfway in before it stopped and that's when I started gently tapping with a rubber mallet. It still kept going with very light tapping until I got to the O-ring. Then I had to tap a little harder, but watched the O-ring clear the opening as I did. I'm still probably screwed if I ever have to get to the thermostat...

I conveyed my experience to Jason so I'm glad the future manifolds will be corrected. There are a number of things I relayed to him during/after my install so I'm definitely one of those PITA customers. But I totally agree this is the best supported supercharger install out there. Good luck finding this kind of help and support with a mass produced (and MUCH more expensive) kit!

Hmm.. the one I just installed fit great other than the o-ring. It was one of the first manifolds from the new shop tho