Manifold i've just made

[Rick]

One thing i noticed now. How the heck do you reach welds between the pipes !
I was thinking of building the manifold piece by piece not everything in one go

Thats where things get interesting, if you look closes on the pictures, runner number 1 isn't actually tacked on, this is what i'll remove to give me some room, i'll add runner number 1 last.

Reaching between the pipes is the hard part, can spend half an hour doing 1 weld simply because of access, i've done all sorts of wierd things. Bend tungstens, half them sticking out fully, (a welder i know fused 2 tungsten's together to reach once) Obviously this makes gas coverage poor so you need to think outside the box. (or inside it)

 

[wyn]

Obviously this makes gas coverage poor so you need to think outside the box. (or inside it)

That sounds interesting Rick do you weld them in some sort of sealed chamber full of argon ?

 

[ngt]

Copy paste from his first post
I used 2.4 and 1.6mm filler rod, and the pipes were Vprepped before welding with a back purge

 

[Drains]

Copy paste from his first post
I used 2.4 and 1.6mm filler rod, and the pipes were Vprepped before welding with a back purge

ngt, that takes care of the inside of the pipes. The job should be purged anyway. What about the outside? - still needs gas cover.

A super focussed gas lens ought to do it (just knocking up some inventive sketches now. Not sure about the focal length though )

 

[Rick]

That sounds interesting Rick do you weld them in some sort of sealed chamber full of argon ?

It would produce a massive amount of waste so its avoided unless 100% needed.

 

[zardoz]

Thats where things get interesting, if you look closes on the pictures, runner number 1 isn't actually tacked on, this is what i'll remove to give me some room, i'll add runner number 1 last.

Reaching between the pipes is the hard part, can spend half an hour doing 1 weld simply because of access, i've done all sorts of wierd things. Bend tungstens, half them sticking out fully, (a welder i know fused 2 tungsten's together to reach once) Obviously this makes gas coverage poor so you need to think outside the box. (or inside it)

Thats real inventive thinking, well done. This is where your fabrication skills come in handy. Fabricating can get you doing all sorts of strange things to get a job to work. This is what i meant about you being a better fabricator than a welder. I was trying to pay a compliment. but it looks a little different on the page. What i meant was your welding skills are good, but your fab skills are better.

Rick - that looks great, really piece of art, but how do you manage to prevent distortion after the welding?

I was told that distortion can be minimized by lightly peening the weld with a small hammer straight away before it cools.

Is this rubbish or can it really help. anyone ?

 

[Rick]

Thats real inventive thinking, well done. This is where your fabrication skills come in handy. Fabricating can get you doing all sorts of strange things to get a job to work. This is what i meant about you being a better fabricator than a welder. I was trying to pay a compliment. but it looks a little different on the page. What i meant was your welding skills are good, but your fab skills are better.






I was told that distortion can be minimized by lightly peening the weld with a small hammer straight away before it cools.

Is this rubbish or can it really help. anyone ?

Thanks for the compliment Theres always room for improvement and I learn new tricks etc all the time.

I've never tried to be honest, I imagine it has its place but I think it would be very difficult for me to execute on a manifold, i'd also be scared of starting small cracks.

 

[Pete.]

Peening should reduce the chance of cracks starting. It's one of the purposes of shot-peening:

http://www.metalimprovement.com/shot_peening.php

 

[Rick]

Peening should reduce the chance of cracks starting. It's one of the purposes of shot-peening:

http://www.metalimprovement.com/shot_peening.php

Shot peening is a very different process to hitting it with a hammer though

 

[newton]

Oh yes, sorry.

The machine i set to 130 amps for the pipe and 160 where it joins the flange.

But, I don't spend much time on full pedal, so it would be very hard to say without having somebody watch the machine readout. i don't know, maybe 70-80 amps average i guess.

Ah right, looks alright then, looked a bit "burred" but it will clean up.

Remember the blade will defect more with stainless. Expect each cut to take 30 mins!

I sell precut collectors, and might be able to get you a better price on your straight and elbows as i buy in bulk. (if this is seen as trading mods delete)

price on pre cut collectors please,btw brilliant work

 

[Rick]

Heres a few pictures of the finished Evo manifold.

 

[JayRS4]

Nice work Rick, now stop messing around with little cars and make one for a Skyline, topmount, with a flange to fit a TO4Z, pretty please.

 

[newton]

rick,my pm wont work mate,what degree collector is the one in the pic you sent?

 

[Rick]

Nice work Rick, now stop messing around with little cars and make one for a Skyline, topmount, with a flange to fit a TO4Z, pretty please.

Haha, if you promise to use a real turbo i will. T04z on a 2.6 6cylinder ppffttt

 

[JayRS4]

Haha, if you promise to use a real turbo i will. T04z on a 2.6 6cylinder ppffttt

Who said anything about a 2.6 Seriously though, it`s stunning work, how long do you think it`s taken?

 

[Rick]

Who said anything about a 2.6 Seriously though, it`s stunning work, how long do you think it`s taken?

Haha, I was going to put a T04z on my Evo but went for the GT40 in the end.

That manifold took around 1 and a half days i'd guess start to finish.

 

[BO0557]

Has anyone on here got any contacts or any exhaust places that will supply 3" mandrell bends, straight pipe and 3" 2 bolt flanges???

 

[Rick]

Has anyone on here got any contacts or any exhaust places that will supply 3" mandrell bends, straight pipe and 3" 2 bolt flanges???

You have PM.

 

[keithyboy]

You have PM.

Rick, im new here, about to knock together a downpipe 3" for my Audi S2 (only 450bhp), what gas are you using for purging and what sort of flow? also any ideas where I can get stainless steel flanges made up?

any other useful tips you could give me?

this is the tig welder i bought, any tips on setting it up for welding 3" 316 1.6mm thick

any help very much appreciated,
Keith

 

[Rick]

Rick, im new here, about to knock together a downpipe 3" for my Audi S2 (only 450bhp), what gas are you using for purging and what sort of flow? also any ideas where I can get stainless steel flanges made up?

any other useful tips you could give me?

this is the tig welder i bought, any tips on setting it up for welding 3" 316 1.6mm thick

any help very much appreciated,
Keith

What welder is it you've got?

You need to use argon for the back purge and the shielding gas. Flow would depend on the length of the pipe how tight the gaps are etc. You might need quite a high flow for the back purge.