So I'm taking things off to clean my egr valve this weekend and I notice this great epoxy that Frankencar used on my midpipe is cracking so I go to pull a tube off and almost pop one of the pipes off. I'm thinking what the heck kinda crap is this. So I look inside the pipe and originally when I first got the product there was also some epoxy inside the pipe where the other pipes connected kinda built up around the base of those pipes. Well low and behold that epoxy isnt there anywmore and I can see where it just broke off. Now this scares me cause there is only one place it can go and thats straight to the intake manifold. This is at least the third franken car intake I have seen that the epoxy has started to crack and the pipes coming off.......I'm troubled by this. Anyone else see these problems?

 

Yup, my original one broke before I finished the installation. He replaced w/o hesitation. I thought maybe I pulled/pushed to hard and he said that I had a "pre-production" model that had not recieved a new process.

But the second one, during a removal/cleaning, also fractured a bit. Its still on there, but I know its going to break. So I removed it and went back to stock. It was on there a whopping 3 months. Oh well, live and learn.

 

Yeah I'm thinking about taking mine off to......either that or buy some jbweld and fix those cracks.

 

Just be careful you dont get into the same spot

Make sure to prep the surfaces really well in order to insure adhesion.

 

I'm confused, anybody have a pic of where this epoxy is?

 

I clean my mods before installing them

 

gtr there really wasnt anyway to clean the epoxy on the inside of the pipe. It wasnt like it was just something that spilled in there or like a couple dots of dropped epoxy it looks like he stuck the pipe thru the hole...then epoxyed around the end of it to hold it in place. That epoxy is no longer there though. So really I didnt want to mess with it when I first got it, thought it was part of the pipe being held in place. Hope that made better sense

 

Hopefully it was small amount that it burned up in the engine combustion..

 

Hm.

 

Any info from Frankencar folks, or from anyone in the know about this potential hazard?

 

frankencar made ****ty stuff like that??that was pretty cold...i was gonna order an intake within the next 2 weeks too...now it makes me wanna change my mind.i guess ill just have to go y-pipe instead.

 

Any news about this from Frankencar?

 

the tubes on my injen midpipe are welded on.


**corrected**

 

You probably mean welded on...soldering is usually for smaller projects...This thread makes me think twice about getting a frankencar and going with the Injen instead!

 

Yeah, the pipes for the vacuum lines should definitely be welded on. It's not like welding is a difficult process.

On early Frankencar models, the fittings were JB Welded on. Steve admitted to this and said they were preproduction I think. But then the later ones were supposed to be welded.

JB weld or epoxy definitely isn't cool on what is supposed to be a "production" part. That stuff is more for DIY'ers making Home Depot intakes and such.

 

Yeah it kinda makes me mad this is what I ended up with is an epoxy version I bought it ona group deal back late last year. I would suggest everyone to check their intakes for cracking etc..

 

Shadow-thank you for the clarification.

Yes we did admit that some pre production models were epoxied. ALLL intakes and any part of our current production line are TIG welded and then powdercoated. if anyone has any concerns i can post pictures of some of our un powdercoated midpipes to see the welds and the quality of the welds.

infinitiblast-please call 413-883-3575 and leave me your Year and Color of your midpipe and i will get a new one with the TIG welds out immediately.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Steve.

 

so dmbmaxima2k2,let me get this straight...if i ordered a full intake kit at this time,i will recieve a tig welded powdercoated one?i will be ordering one within a couple weeks and i just wanna make sure im not gonna have the same experience as infinitiblast.

 

Thanks steve I appreciatte u responding and clarifying about your current models. I also appreciate your willingness to replace mine.

 

all of the intakes are definetly tig welded on every part every time and all the welds are checked before we have them powdercoated. our welded we use now is very good and he always does a high quality weld.

infiniti-your welcome

 

dmbmaxima2k2: On my intake the small nipple is starting to have a crack running all the way around. Why would a good weld start to go bad?

 

dmbmaxima2k2 check PM

 

Hello Steve,

I sent you an e-mail about the same problem I have with these guys. I haven't had your response to my e-mail just yet.

I looked at the website and my intake from you is not powdercoated.

Let me know how we want to take care of this.


Armand

 

Best solution for this minor error is to weld it, Its very reliable, I welded the intake I made, But i didnt like it so I just bought a cai

 

Umph...well I never did get a replacement intake. Going back to my stock resonator...

 

thank god i bought a used PR CAI, slapping that bad boy on asap and if anything i'll just keep the midpipe of it and sell lower half....

 

I e-mailed him and no reply. It's been more than a week now. My intake is still broken. Steve, I thought you stood behind your product. I thought wrong.

 

Yeah he wont even respond to my IM's oh well. I think he is afraid suddenly everyone will start jumping on the I want my intake replaced banwagon....

 

So would everyone recommend picking up the Injen CAI vs. the Frankencar at this point? That was my first choice, then I heard the Frankencar added more hp. Thoughts?

 

You can still get a frankencar as they are welded now just dont buy a used one, as you wont know if its tig welded or epoxy.

 

i've had my injen on for almost a year and no complaints here whatsoever. great sound, awesome looks, and no breaking parts.. no offense intended to Steve 'cause i met him at the Frankencar meet and he was a great host. hopefully this is just a mishap that can be corrected leaving everybody happy.

 

guys, steve is really busy as crap......if you need to talk to him, best bet is call him...he'll do anything he has to do to keep you guys happy....but you have to understand...if you don't know how to install something maybe you should get someone who does.....i've had my frankencar on over a year and have had no problems, if anyone has any questions about their intake they can instant message me to take some slack off steve, b/c i know how busy he is with 2 jobs

 

Is your intake epoxyed or tig welded? Get someone to install my intake..........hahahahahahahahah thats a good one. I think I got it covered done a couple engine swaps, tranny swaps.........so to install a small pipe I think I got it. So I guess your saying I probably broke it myself? I'm not getting angry here or mad at steve. I just had hoped it would be here since he told me it was on its way. That was quite some time ago. Perhaps you could check into it for me. I even offered money to ship it.
If its an install issue then all the other people with this same issue must not know how to install either.

 

Just put you stock resonator back on and you'll be much happier with the performance results


Dave

 

Yeah I think thats my plan. Then again the duck tape I was thinking of using sure does match this silver intake..haha.

 

Yes, it's the same here. I have installed my suspension a couple of times and did brake job, so I know what I am doing. I believe the pipe connection is not strong enough to hold that little tube, and I just knew that it was not welded.

I wish he could say something on this thread, but I guess he is busy.

Dave B., perhaps I would be happier with my stock resonator regardless, but we did buy the intake and now we are expecting he would stand behind on what he made.

 

my midpipe is tig welded

 

How can you tell the difference between epoxyed or tig welded? I've had mine for 3 months and I wonder if that will have any problems.

 

If you have only had yours on for three months its more than likely tig welded.

Johnvt- We are talking about epoxyed intakes here just in case you werent aware of that. I will be happy to swap with you. Make sure you install mine right though cause otherwise the two remaining in place tubes are gonna break off since they are already cracking.