Up-pipe clarification woes

Austen · Dec 22, 2016

In September of this year I was contacted by mikeeg02, active member here, who was looking to sell their L99 turbo parts and was in the process of doing a T4 setup. My truck is an E99 and I had posted some questions at the time on the board in regards to turbos and that's where he came across the idea to contact me I'm sure. The parts included an as described one year old low mileage 38r with high flow outlet, welded shut pedestal, International bellowed up pipes, y-pipe connector, and FRX kit. We discussed it online and off and settled on a deal and he was and has been even recently very helpful offering advice, etc.

I received the parts looked them over and they appeared to be as described. Unfortunately due to my schedule and traveling conflictions at the time, doing the install was just not going to be in my schedule for some time so the parts have been in storage in the garage since September. Now that it's the holiday season, I've carved out some time to do the swap. As I was laying everything out tonight, I noticed the up-pipe collector has "China" stamped on it... hmmm. I then Googled the part number and sure enough it pulled up as a Dorman kit. https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-679-005-Turbocharger-Up-Pipe/dp/B009AA6Y1U https://www.amazon.com/APDTY-780116-Powerstroke-Hardware-Upgraded/dp/B00BLV6Q0U

I then contacted Mike asking if he had caught this too when he removed them and and if he was originally told they were International up-pipes. His response was "I wasn't sure about the collector. I assumed they were all made in China. Though I'm pretty sure the pipes themselves looked to be stainless. And IIRC, the doormans are mild steel?"

Anyway, I find it a little hard to believe the International bellowed up pipes or the factory collector for that matter happens to have "CHINA" stamped on it and also share a Dorman part number on it as well. I was wondering for my sake, out of curiosity, if these are Dorman parts or in fact they are made by International?

Anyway, is it deal breaker? No, worse things have happened, it is what is, life will move on, but had I known this in the beginning it would've been a different story. I've done my research and I know that the International bellowed up-pipes are the best you can buy for a factory setup replacement up-pipe and it was one of the selling points going into this; it was one of the highlight features of buying these parts, and the price reflected it too. Dorman replacements are considerably less as you know vs. the International bellowed pipes....

Anyway, this will still all be a nice upgrade and improvement to my E99, absolutely, no doubt about it. Perhaps a future smaller size CC injector upgrade may be a future addition. I'm not going drag racing but rather looking for a nice little bump in performance and lower EGTs. I don't believe my findings should have ill effects but am rather just dissapointed I hadn't known this going into it (assuming they are Dormans), but, it's one of those risks you take when purchasing on the internet.

Everything together. (I purchased the plenums, boots and HPX kit separately.)

jtgf250 · Dec 23, 2016

The collector itself is Dorman. Has their logo cast right into it. Not sure about the pipes but would assume so. Those pipes will work fine though.

I spent the extra money when replacing my waterpump by getting a one through a vendor from ford. I was disappointed to see Made In China right on the Ford/OEM box. But lots of parts these days are made oversees.

Ottawaair · Dec 23, 2016

Just like the UVCH I replaced last week.
Motorcraft parts, harness made in China.
Hard to get away from it these days.

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mikeeg02 · Dec 23, 2016

I do apologize about that, when I'd bought the truck I was told they where. When I put a set of internationals on my old truck years ago, I'm also about 99% sure the collector said China on it as well. So I hadn't second guessed it. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

David N · Dec 23, 2016

How much did you pay for them?

mikeeg02 · Dec 23, 2016

If you're referring to me, this set came with this truck when I purchased it a year and a half ago. The set I purchased years ago was ~450? If I remember right. Its been probably 8 years.

I'm not the type to intentionally do something like this, and I don't want any hard feelings. If there is something I can do to help the situation please let me know and maybe we can work something out.

mandkole · Dec 23, 2016

The parts look to be in excellent condition and should bolt up good. You have the manifold to support the E99 to L99 conversion? (I thought there was a change required there but maybe that's just OBS..)

These are 16-17 year old trucks now and lots of OEMs have their legacy parts made in lower cost countries. Production volumes are sucky low, distribution costs high and support of these requires low cost and flexibility. Id like to see more of this work come back to the US, but the foundry business has been dying for a long time. At work, we source lots of casted parts from asia in our business and there are very good suppliers there.

As for your questions of the seller, Im sure you can work that out. We are all here to help each other. Get crackin on installing that kit!

Austen · Dec 23, 2016

Thanks for the positive and supportive feedback, guys. I am definitely looking forward to getting everything installed and seeing the improvements.

The exhaust manifold shouldn't be a problem. The OBS has the different drivers side manifold that has to be switched out to the SD style if you do this swap on one of those.

Swaan · Dec 23, 2016

I wouldnt hesitate to bolt up that kit and ride. Looks to be in good shape and im sure be just fine..
The international collector probley has made in china on it too, just like perrty much every thing now a days.
I wouldnt worrie about it personally. Jmho

lincolnlocker · Dec 23, 2016

Swaan said:
I wouldnt hesitate to bolt up that kit and ride. Looks to be in good shape and im sure be just fine..
The international collector probley has made in china on it too, just like perrty much every thing now a days.
I wouldnt worrie about it personally. Jmho

agreed.

mike even said he is willing to make it right but everything is made in China these days.. I dont remember what my bellowed kit from riffraff said on it when I did the swap from ford's abomination..

live life full throttle

god bless america and the farmer who feeds your fat ass

ToMang07 · Dec 23, 2016

I could be wrong, but i thought the international kit had more bellows to it, being one of the biggest differences between it and the Dorman kit?

Considering I doubt someone bought both kits to combine parts, smart money says that's definitely a Dorman up-pipe setup.

David N · Dec 23, 2016

Yeah I wouldn't let it bother me.

I bought a set of DI Stainless uppipes, which I believe were made by BAE. Well, after a couple of months they needed to be rewelded in several places. They were $550 if I recall correctly.

1badpsd · Dec 23, 2016

I've installed numerous sets of the dormans with no issues. The only problem I ever heard of anyone having with them is when they first came out the collector bolta were just a C-hair to long and it didn't completely seal the gasket

ja_cain · Dec 25, 2016

ToMang07 said:
I could be wrong, but i thought the international kit had more bellows to it, being one of the biggest differences between it and the Dorman kit?

Considering I doubt someone bought both kits to combine parts, smart money says that's definitely a Dorman up-pipe setup.

These are the Dormans. Here is a set that has been coated.

Anyone here wrap their up-pipes? Just wondering if it's worth it. If I end up going with a KC turbo, I may have my Dormans ceramic coated and then wrapped before putting them on. Just waiting to see if they come out with a turbo similar to the sxe series in a package that uses the factory mount.

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psduser1 · Dec 25, 2016

I wrapped mine, just for heat control on the firewall.
Cheap enough, and it made me feel good, lol. No idea if it is "better".

ja_cain · Dec 25, 2016

psduser1 said:
I wrapped mine, just for heat control on the firewall.
Cheap enough, and it made me feel good, lol. No idea if it is "better".

Thanks for the info Joe. I would think keeping the heat in the system whould mean more energy to drive the turbo. Could be negligible effect though. I read that wrapping also helps reduce the noise too (comming from the guy who just got 5" exhaust Lol!). May look and see what the ceramic coating costs around here as I think this will increase the longevity of the mild steel.

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ToMang07 · Dec 25, 2016

ja_cain said:
Thanks for the info Joe. I would think keeping the heat in the system whould mean more energy to drive the turbo. Could be negligible effect though. I read that wrapping also helps reduce the noise too (comming from the guy who just got 5" exhaust Lol!). May look and see what the ceramic coating costs around here as I think this will increase the longevity of the mild steel.

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I sprayed mine with 2000*F primer/paint, sanded it, cleaned, primed, painted, baked to spec. Within 100 miles all the paint peeled off. So IF you want to do ceramic....be sure it's done professionally, lol

psduser1 · Dec 25, 2016

ja_cain said:
Thanks for the info Joe. I would think keeping the heat in the system whould mean more energy to drive the turbo. Could be negligible effect though. I read that wrapping also helps reduce the noise too (comming from the guy who just got 5" exhaust Lol!). May look and see what the ceramic coating costs around here as I think this will increase the longevity of the mild steel.

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ToMang07 said:
I sprayed mine with 2000*F primer/paint, sanded it, cleaned, primed, painted, baked to spec. Within 100 miles all the paint peeled off. So IF you want to do ceramic....be sure it's done professionally, lol

I used some hi-temp "ceramic" paint on the turbine housing, with minimal prep, like, spray it off with brake clean prep, and it stayed fairly well for about a year. Now, four years later, the paint is pretty well done.
Definitely something to be said for a professional job!
I used DEI wrap and paint, I'll try to get a pic of the rattle can if I can find it. I want to say less than a bill into the whole thing?

ToMang07 · Dec 25, 2016

psduser1 said:
I used some hi-temp "ceramic" paint on the turbine housing, with minimal prep, like, spray it off with brake clean prep, and it stayed fairly well for about a year. Now, four years later, the paint is pretty well done.
Definitely something to be said for a professional job!
I used DEI wrap and paint, I'll try to get a pic of the rattle can if I can find it. I want to say less than a bill into the whole thing?

I plan to wrap mine if I ever have to pull them, which will probably be sooner rather than later. Hopefully for a 38r in another month or 2...

psduser1 · Dec 25, 2016

ToMang07 said:
I plan to wrap mine if I ever have to pull them, which will probably be sooner rather than later. Hopefully for a 38r in another month or 2...

No t4 setup?:swordfight:
J/k tom. How's the hpop working?