Sidepipes nearly finished

Aussie Mike · #1 (**permalink**) 05-03-2010, 04:32 AM

Great work Hogster, Those merge collectors look awesome are they an off the shelf collector or did you weld them up?

I really enjoy TIG welding stainless. It flows so nicely and you can produce some really nice welds.

For the ends where the large diameter pipe slides over the flange you might want to add a clamp setup. If it's not clamped up tight you will find that over time the pipe will fret as it flexes up and down. The pipe end will slowly enlarge letting exhaust gasses out and leave sooty marks on your nice pipes. I'll post a pic of how I clamp mine. It's not visible from the side of the car and dead easy to make. It will also let you machine the flange OD a little smaller so the pipe slips on and off easily. Once they carbon up a bit the can be difficult to get apart.

I've recently been machining more stainless and starting to get the hang of it. You need to run slower speeds and plenty of coolant. Tungsten carbide tipped tooling helps too.

I use a synthetic coolant these days. You buy it in a 5L container and then run it about 20:1 with water. It's way better than the old vegetable based coolants because it's not prone to growing algae and other bugs in it (If you've ever had to clean out a coolant you'll be happy about that). It also stays clear rather than going milky white like the old coolants. The advantage is you can have your workpiece bathed in coolant and still see what you're doing. It's in the tanks on the Lathe and mill but I also keep a spray bottle handy for when I'm drilling etc.

Some one told me once a little rhyme to help identify where your going wrong when turning on a lathe. Talking about the swarf coming off the work piece: "If it's blue or brown slow it down".

Keep up the good work and keep us posted with progress pics.

Cheers

Zedn · #2 (**permalink**) 05-03-2010, 05:23 AM

Mike,

The next project on my list is to make a stainless steel fuel tank. I am going to use 1.2mm sheet and i recently purchased a DC pulse tig. I found an old post of yours about this, what size sheet did you end up using and how did it go? pics?

I am going to spend some time practicing with the tig before starting as i have only done mig and arc welding in the past. What sort of tig tip would you recommend for this job?

(sorry for the thread jack)

Liam

David Hodgson · #3 (**permalink**) 05-03-2010, 03:22 PM

Hogster, looks great. One thing i found when trying to keep them quite was perf tube with more holes like your 3" worked far better than perf with larger but less holes.

Aussie Mike · #4 (**permalink**) 05-03-2010, 09:52 PM

Hi Liam,

I haven't got back to the fuel tank project yet. Once the new shed is up and I've moved in I'll be able to get back into it.

I was thinking about using 1.6mm stainless. It's a bit heavier but easier to weld. Plus the fuel tank is reasonably vulnerable under a low car like a cobra so I thought a bit of extra strength wouldn't go amiss.

Cheers

hogster · #5 (**permalink**) 05-04-2010, 04:28 AM

Hi Mike,

The collectors are off the shelf from Burns Stainless in the USA.

They turned out to be as cheap as anything I could buy in Australia, but with fairly good quality.

I am just going to leave the primaries as a slip fit into the collector, with spring tension. Should work OK.

I will by me a decent TIG welder when I have finished pumping money into the car, and can recover a bit. I have always wanted to learn to weld proper,,,,,,alloy, stainless and all.

Cheers

hogster · #6 (**permalink**) 05-31-2010, 04:37 AM

A bit closer to having the sidepipes finished.

Bling bling..................

More photos in my gallery of how they go together.

Territorian won the Aussie Sprintcar Championships.......Had it all, rain delays, dry track and dust, thrills and spills and driver punchups, didn't finish the main race till the a.m. this morning. It was greeat......

Cheers
Hogster

boxhead · #7 (**permalink**) 05-31-2010, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hogster

A bit closer to having the sidepipes finished.

Bling bling..................

More photos in my gallery of how they go together.

Territorian won the Aussie Sprintcar Championships.......Had it all, rain delays, dry track and dust, thrills and spills and driver punchups, didn't finish the main race till the a.m. this morning. It was greeat......

Cheers
Hogster

Looks great Andrew, I still have your brake pipe tool, have not heard from Paul, tell him I plan on having Cobra at work on Thursday and Friday (although it was 1 degree on the way to work this morning)

And James McFadden is not just a Territorian, he is an Alice Springs local.

Rob. Smith · #8 (**permalink**) 06-01-2010, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zedn

Mike,

The next project on my list is to make a stainless steel fuel tank. I am going to use 1.2mm sheet and i recently purchased a DC pulse tig. I found an old post of yours about this, what size sheet did you end up using and how did it go? pics?

I am going to spend some time practicing with the tig before starting as i have only done mig and arc welding in the past. What sort of tig tip would you recommend for this job?

(sorry for the thread jack)

Liam

Liam Go to welding tips and tricks .com they have all the answers.
Rob