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Focus manifold

C

CRZYDRVR

CEG'er
Joined
Aug 4, 2000
Messages
263
Location
Bernalillo, NM
Picked this up in a junkyard off a Focus for cheap. Think its worth installing? To me it seems like it would breathe better than my stock mani. Cat flange is different, but if I put this on, I would spring for an aftermarket cat anyway. I have never seen this type of manifold before, then again I've never really paid attention :shrug:

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I'm not sure that it would match the bolt pattern but it might. The quickest way to find out is buy a gasket for your car and see if it lines up with that manifold. Now I'm almost certain that for the time and expense you will eat up making this fit and work well you would have been better off buying a header. Go look at the location of your 02 sensors and understand that you will need to find a place to re-locate them. You probably will have to fab a straight pipe of some distance between that flange and the new cat. That's where you will need to put the first one.

That all being said I am all for trying wierd and different things.
 
DESIGN said:
That all being said I am all for trying wierd and different things.
Click to expand...

Same here, and I love cheap mods, which is why Im thinking about trying this manifold.

There was a Contour next to the Focus, I was able to test fit all I needed to. It will psysically bolt up, and there is plenty of room, I even got the heatshield for it. As far as fabricating the rest of the exhaust goes, thats the part I enjoy more than the finished product, so all the time spent on it will be fun. I think I can have a finished product for less than $50 total, not including a high flow cat.

Im just going to try it, and if it sucks, I can just go back to stock but still use the new cat.
 
I was curious about doing the same, and looked into it. On the foci the EGR is in the cat, not the header like on the tours. I would imagine, if you got the cat with it, you could sawp the whole thing, then figure some custom flange for the rest. I'm not sure if the bolt pattern is the same or not, or even if my idea will even work. That was my intent, to get a full focus exhaust, and hope the header bolts match.

Lemme know how it goes if you try it.
 
It definitely won't fit... :laugh:



...don't worry guys. It will bolt right up to the block. (This pic is with the header on my new '96 Zetec.)

The problem that you will run into trying to run a full Focus exhaust is the the Contour/Mystiques' oilpan is completely different. The Focus has a shallow pan with a tunnel for the exhaust. We don't.

You are best off having and exhaust shop make you a custom downpipe with the proper O2 fittings. You could then put a high-flow cat where the Mondeo Zetecs have them....under the car.

Look under your 'tour. Notice that big-ass heat shield just past the flange that connects to the flex pipe? Perfect place for a high-flow cat. ;)

HTH,
BP
 
ButtonPuncher said:
It definitely won't fit... :laugh:



...don't worry guys. It will bolt right up to the block. (This pic is with the header on my new '96 Zetec.)

The problem that you will run into trying to run a full Focus exhaust is the the Contour/Mystiques' oilpan is completely different. The Focus has a shallow pan with a tunnel for the exhaust. We don't.

You are best off having and exhaust shop make you a custom downpipe with the proper O2 fittings. You could then put a high-flow cat where the Mondeo Zetecs have them....under the car.

Look under your 'tour. Notice that big-ass heat shield just past the flange that connects to the flex pipe? Perfect place for a high-flow cat. ;)

HTH,
BP
Click to expand...

Guess Im not the first person to look at this manifold as a possible swap :) Looks good. Will moving the cat that far back affect a emissions inspection visually? I thought it had to stay in the stock location.

My plan is to weld a small (about 2-3" piece of pipe) between the mani and cat. My O2 sensor will go there. Then make my own 90 degree bend to take the rest of the exhaust in the stock location. That stock 90 degree bend looks really bad for flow anyway. It looks almost crimped.

After cruising through the Focus boards looking at different manifolds, I learned about the early 2000 Focus intake manifold and that its supposedly good for 5-7 HP over any other stock piece. Might try to get it this weekend after I do a little more research. There is one at the yard I got the exhuast manifold from.
 
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You may want to rethink the intake manifold swap... the contour intake manifold is almost the same as the good focus one.
 
CRZYDRVR said:
Guess Im not the first person to look at this manifold as a possible swap Looks good. Will moving the cat that far back affect a emissions inspection visually? I thought it had to stay in the stock location.
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It depends how strict your state is on emissions. If your state is really strict like CA, you will fail a visual inspection if you've messed with the original factory exhaust. In WI they just do an OBD2 scan and don't even pop the hood. :cool:

The only thing that will happen with having the CAT farther back is that it will take longer to heat up and start working. As long as you've driven your car for a good 15-20 minutes before the sniffer test, you should pass with flying colors.

HTH,
BP
 
Thanks for the info. Emissions checking is almost non-existant here, so I could remove the cat and noone would care, but I want to be legal just in case.
 
CRZYDRVR said:
Thanks for the info. Emissions checking is almost non-existant here, so I could remove the cat and noone would care, but I want to be legal just in case.
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If you decide to travel or move to another state that enforces the emission laws, your going to want a cat just in case.
 
A way to get by visual inspections is to have a cat-converter cut in half, emptied out of it's guts, and welded over some part of your exhaust (near the manifold). It will look like it's installed.
 
Here's what I can't figure out about all of this-- The stock contour zetec exhaust manifold is divided into two parts. There's the upper part with the 90 degree bend that attaches to the head, and then it ends at a flange where it connects the the bottom part that has the cat in it.

I see most of the focus headers sold come in two parts- an upper piece that looks like it could take the place of our upper half, and a lower part that i know wont match the intermediate exhaust pipe under the car.

Does anyone know if that upper half of the two-piece focus headers would bolt up to our cars and fit that flange upstream of the cat? It's been established that it will bolt up to the head, so I'm not worried about that.

Also, would there be any point in doing this? I dont know if replacing simply the top part would gain any power or flow at all, they seem to be basically the same design.

Anyone ever tried this?
 
Ziyad- You are right about the intake manifolds being the same. I got a chance to look at a few 'tours in the junkyard today and they are the same.

mcgarvey- the upper part you are reffering to is the manifold. Under that is the cat-cat flange. Search Ebay for a contour exhaust manifold, then look at the one I posted at the top. Definately not the same design, and I dont see why the Focus part cant breathe a lot better.
 
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